Iowa?s Nutrient Reduction Strategy has reached new heights. Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig states, ?We?ve never had more being done. We?ve never had more partners, and more public and private work being done in the state than we do today.?
A co-founder of the science and technology-based approach to assess and reduce nutrients delivered to Iowa waterways and the Gulf of Mexico reflects on accomplishments made over the past decade.
U.S. Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation Bill Northey helped establish the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy. Northey wanted farmers to make a conscious effort to protect natural resources, such as waterways before elected officials mandated such undertakings. Iowans have since made great strides with voluntary conservation efforts.
?Ten years ago, we had less than 100,000 acres of cover crops in Iowa. The latest numbers are over a million acres. That?s out of 23 million acres of cropland, (roughly) seven-percent. That?s a huge increase from where we were, and that wasn?t mandated. That was producers pulling money out of their own pockets, and private folks, watersheds, the state and federal government partnering together,? Northey says.
Northey admits, ?If you would have told me 15 years ago that I?m supposed to try cover crops, I would have laughed you out of my field.? However, Northey grew fond of cover crops, similar to 30-percent of Iowa?s producers, who are finding ways to make this practice work for their farming operations.
?We have to fit it in with our regular life,? Northey says. ?You have to make money on that farm, and I think there are some pieces that we?ve discovered in splitting nitrogen rates, using cover crops the right way, and managing things that make us more profitable as well. But also let us be able to show that we?re improving water quality.?
