Farm Progress

Large-scale adoption of edge-of-field practices will help Iowa reach Nutrient Reduction Strategy goals.

Rod Swoboda 1, Editor, Wallaces Farmer

June 27, 2018

3 Min Read
EVALUATING OPTIONS: “We need a number of different kinds of conservation practices put in place on the land to meet the goals of the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy,” says ISU’s Matt Helmers.

The Iowa Learning Farms program at Iowa State University has added a new Conservation Station education trailer to its fleet. It focuses on teaching about edge-of-field practices: saturated buffers, bioreactors, wetlands and controlled drainage systems.

These practices play a crucial role in helping meet the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy’s goals of reducing nitrogen and phosphorus by 45% in Iowa’s streams, lakes and rivers.

Farmers and landowners attending a recent ISU Extension meeting in central Iowa got a look at the exhibit. After listening to an indoor presentation about cover crops, ISU’s Matt Helmers took them outside to look and listen as he explained the edge-of-field options using models of the practices carried and displayed by the trailer. Helmers, an ag engineering professor, works with the ILF program focusing on water quality and water management.

“The trailer helps us better illustrate what we are talking about for these practices,” he said. “We can show a slide photo of a bioreactor or saturated buffer to people in a classroom, or go to a field day and talk about the practices. But edge-of-field practices are mostly underground; the only part that’s visible for a bioreactor, for example, is the control structure. By having this on-the-edge Conservation Station, we’ll use it as an educational tool to help people understand what these practices are, how they work, what is belowground that they can’t see when they visit a bioreactor or saturated buffer already installed in a field.”

Newer ways clean up water
The models displayed are helpful in answering questions about how edge-of-field-practices might be managed. With the saturated buffer display, Helmers adjusts the plates in the control structure to show how to route the water. “We also show and discuss a new practice: drainage water recycling,” he said. “That’s a separate practice, related to controlled drainage, but takes it a step further by using drainage water to irrigate crops.”

A few farmers in Iowa are using drainage water recycling either through a center-pivot irrigation rig or through subirrigation, trying it on their own. “We are starting to see some evaluation of this practice,” Helmers said.

The Iowa Department of Ag and Land Stewardship has an EPA grant to put these newer types of edge-of-field practices on some farms to demonstrate. They’ll be on farmers’ fields in Iowa; evaluations will be done where the practices are installed.

Installing a bioreactor costs from $7,000 to $15,000, depending on size to dig it and install wood chips. They can last for 10 to 15 years with minimal maintenance. After that time the wood chips in a bioreactor may need to be replaced.

Saturated buffers are somewhat cheaper; they don’t have the wood chip expense, and you’re not digging a large trench. “We’re mainly trenching or plowing in subsurface tile, and that’s less expensive than installing a bioreactor,” he said. “Maintenance cost is also less for a saturated buffer than a bioreactor. A saturated buffer with tile should last a long time.”

In-field practices such as no-till, strip till and cover crops are needed in addition to edge-of-field practices, Helmers said. It will take a combination of conservation practices to reach the goals set by the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy.

The Conservation Station “on-the-edge” trailer and display is made possible through support from Iowa Learning Farms, Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Iowa State University Extension, Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Iowa Ag Water Alliance, Iowa Corn Growers Association, and Agri Drain Corp.

About the Author(s)

Rod Swoboda 1

Editor, Wallaces Farmer

Rod, who has been a member of the editorial staff of Wallaces Farmer magazine since 1976, was appointed editor of the magazine in April 2003. He is widely recognized around the state, especially for his articles on crop production and soil conservation topics, and has won several writing awards, in addition to honors from farm, commodity and conservation organizations.

"As only the tenth person to hold the position of Wallaces Farmer editor in the past 100 years, I take seriously my responsibility to provide readers with timely articles useful to them in their farming operations," Rod says.

Raised on a farm that is still owned and operated by his family, Rod enjoys writing and interviewing farmers and others involved in agriculture, as well as planning and editing the magazine. You can also find Rod at other Farm Progress Company activities where he has responsibilities associated with the magazine, including hosting the Farm Progress Show, Farm Progress Hay Expo and the Iowa Master Farmer program.

A University of Illinois grad with a Bachelors of Science degree in agriculture (ag journalism major), Rod joined Wallaces Farmer after working several years in Washington D.C. as a writer for Farm Business Incorporated.

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