Cover crop grants have been allotted to several soil and water conservation districts in western Iowa.
Six districts ? including Shelby, East Pottawattamie, Montgomery, Mills, Page, and Fremont ? recently received grants through the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship?s Water Quality Initiative Program.
Dan Case is the environmental specialist with Montgomery County Soil and Water Conservation District. He told KMA Radio the grant totals $800,000, and that his county will focus the funds on the Walnut and Indian Creek Watersheds, as well as cover crops in those areas.
“In 2009, we started with the Walnut Creek Watershed,” Case said. “It was a priority area from Highway 6 to Highway 34. When the Water Quality Initiative came along, we started dabbling in cover crops and working with farmers to see what worked best in the area and trying to see what grew best with cover crops.”
Case says the watersheds cover approximately 187,000 acres, benefiting cover crop farmers all along that stretch.
?”Everyone will receive $25 an acre,” Case said. “No matter if you are a first-time user or veteran cover cropper. The purpose of that is we want to see you have very little expense or risk and we want to see you be able to use it for multiple years until you can see the benefits of the practice.”
Case adds cover crops offer many benefits.
“It makes your soil more healthy,” he said. “It betters your microbial community. The land isn’t really meant to sit fallow. It always wants something growing. When it sits fallow, you’re starving your microbes and they are dying off. Your soil will have more water holding capacity and it will make it more resilient to erosion.”
A group fly-on program will be available for those producers who do not wish to line up seed or application. A July 15th deadline has been set for participants who wish to participate in the fly-on program. Participants who wish to arrange seed and application themselves should apply by September 1st.
To apply, contact your local Soil and Water Conservation District.
