Excellent piece. If Iowa would boost cover crop cost share to $30 per acre with no acreage caps, we could see a far greener state, far healthier soil, better moisture retention, more helpful underground “wildlife”. But we must have a legislative branch and a Governor who lead us. Maryland puts us to shame. Thank you for keeping this crucial issue before us.
Once again thank you for distilling a complex issue into very understandable language. I would add precision agriculture to the menu, using yield data to remove from production land that is losing money when farmed. The other problem is outcome measures. We need to know that what we are putting into practice is actually making a difference. Currently outcome/output improvement is very poorly documented, if at all. We need empiric data. As I heard one conservationist say, you don't measure yield by the number of seeds planted.
I first met Ruth when she spoke at a Practical Farmers of Iowa Conference a hear a go. She was smart and engaging. I wish we could clone her for our local cooperative. Great article.
Excellent piece. If Iowa would boost cover crop cost share to $30 per acre with no acreage caps, we could see a far greener state, far healthier soil, better moisture retention, more helpful underground “wildlife”. But we must have a legislative branch and a Governor who lead us. Maryland puts us to shame. Thank you for keeping this crucial issue before us.
Great post, with excellent proposals to improve conservation in Iowa!
Thanks for writing this so a city boy like me could understand it.
You're welcome! One can get into the weeds pretty easy!
Once again thank you for distilling a complex issue into very understandable language. I would add precision agriculture to the menu, using yield data to remove from production land that is losing money when farmed. The other problem is outcome measures. We need to know that what we are putting into practice is actually making a difference. Currently outcome/output improvement is very poorly documented, if at all. We need empiric data. As I heard one conservationist say, you don't measure yield by the number of seeds planted.
You make excellent points, Diana. Thank you!
I first met Ruth when she spoke at a Practical Farmers of Iowa Conference a hear a go. She was smart and engaging. I wish we could clone her for our local cooperative. Great article.
Thank you! Yes, we need more conservation agronomy teams at co-ops!