Wallaces Farmer

Iowa corn farmers and landowners are invited to join the Iowa Corn Stewardship Advocate Program.

Rod Swoboda

May 1, 2019

2 Min Read
Craig and Bob Floss
SIGN OF TIMES: Craig (left) and Bob Floss installed a sign on their land to inform the public about the farm’s efforts to improve water quality. 

When Bob Floss installed a bioreactor on his central Iowa farm last spring, he knew it wouldn’t make him money. He did it to protect and improve water quality.

Tile drainage systems lead to larger crop yields, but higher amounts of nitrates in water draining from fields negatively impact streams, rivers and lakes. Conservation practices such as wood chip bioreactors and saturated buffers can reduce nitrates in drainage water. 

Because it fit better in his field situation, Floss chose a bioreactor, a trench filled with wood chips that is covered with soil and seeded with grass. With edge-of-field practices, typically little or no land is taken out of production. Bioreactors tend to be long and narrow, fitting well in field-edge buffer strips and grassed areas where a waterway or tile line empties into a creek or drainage ditch. 

Getting the word out 

A sign on the Floss farm — with Iowa Corn and Iowa Agricultural Water Alliance (IAWA) logos — alerts passersby that a bioreactor is in the field. “We need to get this message out to the public,” says Craig Floss, Bob’s son and CEO of Iowa Corn, which plans to put more such signs on farms where the practices are used. 

“These stories need to be told. Farmers really do care, and many are trying to do the right thing,” Craig Floss says. “This bioreactor installation on our farm has helped stir conversation in the neighborhood. More of these kinds of practices will be installed on farms in Iowa, and they are needed. If the first few in an area are successful, that’s the key to get other farmers and landowners to follow suit.”

Related:Bioreactor helps nab nitrates from fields

Organizations offer help

Iowa Corn supports several environmental initiatives that protect land and water. IAWA was created and is funded by Iowa Corn, the Iowa Soybean Association and the Iowa Pork Producers Association to advance Iowa’s voluntary Nutrient Reduction Strategy. IAWA secures resources, promotes conservation practices, and supports research and data to show progress. 

Another partner is the Iowa Nutrient Research & Education Council. INREC was formed by farm organizations, ag retailers and crop advisers to support NRS by demonstrating progress, fostering new technology, and enhancing crop advisers’ and retailers’ work with farmers. The Soil Health Partnership, led by the National Corn Growers Association, also fosters improved soil health to benefit farm profit, the environment and a stable food supply. 

To continue its soil and water goals, Iowa Corn launched Iowa Corn Stewardship Advocates. The program helps its members stay up to date on hot topics, field days and meetings relevant to their operation. Learn more at Iowa Corn.
 

About the Author(s)

Rod Swoboda

Rod Swoboda is a former editor of Wallaces Farmer and is now retired.

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