Welcome!

The Iowa Learning Farm (ILF) is a statewide initiative, begun in 2005, involving farmer cooperators, agency partners, and project personnel. The goals of this initiative include:

• To build a Culture of Conservation that strengthens our individual and collective commitments to a set of values, beliefs, and attitudes about the centrality of natural resources to our standard of living and quality of life

• Demonstrate field trials so producers can evaluate agronomic and economic information, share local wisdom, and provide a place where "seeing is believing"

• Utilize locally-led networks

• Conduct a state-wide educational program on the importance of residue management

• Perform water quality modeling for estimating pollutant load reductions

• Offer educational materials related to the social, agronomic, environmental and economic aspects of residue management and other conservation practices.

What is a Culture of Conservation?

A Culture of Conservation encourages us to more fully appreciate our environmental and natural resources--not take them for granted. The overall goal of the ILF project is to increase the understanding between individual farm-level decisions and the aggregate impact on the environment. This includes proven practices such as residue management, reduced tillage, buffer strips, cover crops and stream bank stabilization. Adoption of these practices is dependent upon increased producer understanding of the connection between their individual prctices and how they contribute to improved sustainability statewide.

Watch Building a Culture of Conservation: Iowan to Iowan, a 7-minute video that provides an overview.

Iowa Learning Farm Project Manager Jerry DeWitt gives his impressions after viewing flood-ravaged farms in Northeast Iowa. Read DeWitt's comments.