Farmers are growing their water quality initiatives by implementing wetlands, saturated buffers and bioreactors.

There have never been more resources focused on conservation work across Iowa, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig told a standing-room-only group of farmers last month at the Iowa State University Northeast Iowa Research Farm field day near Nashua.

As the state continues to shatter records for the adoption of conservation measures each year, Naig encouraged those in attendance who haven’t yet implemented a conservation practice to consider doing so — and urged those who already have to explore additional efforts.

“When it comes to conservation adoption in the state of Iowa, we’ve set records the last three years, and we’re going to set another record (this year),” said Naig. “That means we’ve got record levels of funding … Every public dollar gets matched with a private dollar.

“State resources, federal re­sources partner with industry, philanthropy. There’s never been more actual work getting done. We ought to be proud of it, but that should also then inspire us to say, 'Now what next?' That’s a good place to be.”

Naig noted that farmers are doing their part to implement practices that promote soil health, water infiltration and nitrate reduction. 

Fourth consecutive year

While data collection continues, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS), working with Iowa’s 100 Soil and Water Conservation Districts along with farmers and landowners, is on track to break previous records for conservation and water quality practice adoption for the fourth straight year.

“There’s never been more awareness about the need to do more,” Naig said. 

“We’re right at 4 million acres of cover crops,” he said. “We’re excited about that number. We’d like to double that … triple that … think big about where we go with cover crops.

He noted the department offers various cost-share programs up to $30 per acre to encourage cover crop usage, along with a program offering a $5 per acre reduction in crop insurance premiums for planting a cover crop.

“It’s innovative … Perhaps it can be a model for the federal farm bill at some point. We know there are many benefits to cover crops … protecting soil and water, forage for livestock.”

Naig pointed to opportunities for integrating cover crops into cattle production through rotational grazing. 

“We’re exploring those things,” he said. “We’ve done this in southwest Iowa … How do we pay a rate that gets something seeded down that can still be production, can still be used for cattle?”

He added that financial assistance also is available for implementing edge-of-field practices such as bioreactors, saturated buffers and wetlands.

“We’re making good progress there … We’re partnering with new folks in ways that we haven’t before,” Naig said.

He highlighted IDALS’ innovative batch and build concept, which modernizes project management by installing batches of practices on multiple farms across a watershed simultaneously — accelerating water quality improvements.

“We’re trying to build more nitrate-reducing wetlands in parts of the state where they can be built,” Naig said. “You can take a piece of ground that is some of the worst-performing acres… put a pond or wetland there… and you can treat thousands of acres with that one structure.”

Nitrogen initiative

Naig also discussed the Iowa Nitrogen Initiative, a public-private partnership that conducts hundreds of on-farm nitrogen rate trials across Iowa with a goal to better understand how environment, genetics and management affect the optimum nitrogen rate.

Most recently, the initiative unveiled the N-FACT tool, which uses thousands of data points from those field trials to help farmers make more informed nutrient application decisions.

The tool considers multiple field-level variables­ — including field location, weather, residual soil nitrogen and estimated planting dates — and recommends an optimal nitrogen application rate. The aim is to help growers balance productivity, environmental stewardship and input costs.

“Every acre and every farm are unique, and that’s why the N-FACT tool is a game changer for Iowa corn growers,” Naig has said. “This customized, field-level data provides valuable insights to help farmers make more informed crop management decisions.”

Accelerating progress

In addition to conservation, Naig fielded questions from attendees on a range of topics — from the impact of tariffs on the economy and potential U.S. Department of Agriculture funding cuts to diversifying export markets and the ongoing need for farm labor.

“I love these field days because I get a great opportunity to share what we’re doing at the state with conservation but also hear from folks about their own experiences with conservation practices,” Naig said. 

“We really have had a concerted effort, never had more awareness and resources, to get conservation done and farmers are responding. We’ve got a great foundation laid in terms of conservation adoption in the state.”