"Soil is one of our most precious natural resources.
It is the foundation of our whole ecosystem. It is the basis of all plant growth providing us food, clothing and other materials. Soil filters water, decomposes waste, stores heat and exchanges gases."

--"Don't Call it Dirt: A Passion for Soil"

Click here for FAQs about soil and conservation

Read about the Value of Soil Erosion to the Land Owner
by Mike Duffy

Read the Iowa Learning Farms' publication series "It Begins With You." Economics of Residue and Transition to No-Till Cover Crops To receive printed copies of these handouts, email Iowa Learning Farms: ilf@iastate.edu   Other publications in this series include: Cellulosic Biofuels and Your Farm Language of Conservation Iowa Watersheds Water Quality and Conservation Practices and eight supplement sheets (by soil region). See the "Water" section on this web site for the supplements.

Resources for Cover Crops

Small Grain Cover Crops for Corn and Soybean (PDF)
Iowa State University Extension publication

Midwest Cover Crops Council web site offers excellent resources for cover crops education as well as networking opportunities for cover crop users.  

Iowa Learning Farms/Practical Farmers of Iowa
Cover Crop Study
"Several studies have been conducted but few have involved planting the cover crop in the same location in consecutive years. This five-year study will measure the yield of corn and soybeans in cover and no cover treatments to determine if the cover crop has a negative effect on the cash grain yield."

Practical Farmers of Iowa web site has several reports on various aspects of cover crops.

Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture web site has a cover crop page that lists several additional resources.

Plant Cover Crops website contains information from Midwest cover crop expert Dave Robison

Cover Crops -- part of the Iowa Learning Farms' publication series "It Begins With You"

Information about Strip-tillage

For information and profiles of Iowans, including two ILF farmer-partners, using this conservation practice visit the Iowa-NRCS Web site: http://www.ia.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/StripTill.html

NEW! Read the latest information about Prairie Conservation Strips on Row-cropped Farms

The four-page fact sheet from the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture offers guidelines for planting and maintaining prairie conservation strips on row-cropped acres. The recommendations are based on research from STRIPs Research Team at Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge. 

Download the PDF

Information about Wetlands

Restoring Iowa's Wetlands, Iowa NRCS

Wetlands and Conservation Compliance: What Every Iowa Farmer Needs to Know, Iowa NRCS

Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP), Iowa NRCS

Other Resources

Department of Agronomy, Iowa State University

Agronomy Extension, Iowa State University
    Soil Management and the Environment,
    Iowa State University Extension

Residue Matters web site

Ag Decision Maker web site

Science-based Trials of Rowcrops Integrated with Prairies (STRIPS) at Neal Smith Wildlife Refuge

"Incorporating Prairies into Multifuncational Landscapes"  booklet available for download

Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Soils page