Jeff Pape, owner of Rubly Farms and chairman of the Hewitt Creek watershed council, is one farmer who has been testing cover crops on his land. He will host a field day in partnership with Iowa Learning Farms, Practical Farmers of Iowa and the Hewitt Creek Watershed Improvement Association on Wednesday, June 26, from 10 a.m. to noon, at his farm near Dyersville. The field day, Cover Crops in Hewitt Creek Watershed, is free and will include a complimentary lunch. The field day is sponsored by KB Seed Solutions.
Topics covered will include cover crops and soil health, cover crop management and strategies to reduce nutrient loss. Attendees will have a chance to learn about the history of the Hewitt Creek Watershed Project and opportunities for participation. The event also will feature talks by Jerry Hatfield, plant physiologist with the National Laboratory for Agriculture and the Environment; Mike Castellano, assistant agronomy professor at Iowa State University; and area farmers participating in the Hewitt Creek Watershed Project.
The field day site is located at Rubly Farm, one-half mile west of the intersection of Dyersville East Road and Pape Road, northeast of Dyersville.
Practical Farmers of Iowa 2013 field days are supported by several sustaining and major sponsors, including Albert Lea Seed, Bio Till Cover Crops of Saddle Butte Ag, Calcium Products Inc., CROPP Cooperative of Organic Valley/Organic Prairie Family of Farms, Gateway Market, Featherman Equipment, Grain Millers Inc., Green Light Renewable Services, Harvest Innovations, Klinkenborg Aerial Spraying Inc., the Iowa Beef Center, Iowa Food Systems Council, Iowa Learning Farms, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at ISU, Midwest Organic Services Association, Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service, the National Center for Appropriate Technology, USDA North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education, Platinum Supplemental Insurance, SunRackSolar, and the Wallace Chair for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University.
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Contact: Tamsyn Jones, PFI communications specialist, 515-232-5661
]]>Water is a critical issue for the continued development and prosperity of Iowa, the North Central Region and the United States. Agencies including the United States Department of Agriculture, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Natural Resources, Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, and Iowa State University Extension and Outreach have actively funded and are engaged in a variety of water programs designed to address the complex water concerns faced in Iowa. Each of these partners has distinct missions, goals and public mandates. The challenge is to link and integrate how issues are framed, subsequent planning for better stakeholder understanding, and to motivate learning and action that leads to improved water quality.
Lois Wright Morton received her Ph.D. in development sociology at Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. She is currently a professor of sociology in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Iowa State University. Morton’s areas of research include civic structure, social connections and human dimensions of natural resource management, performance-based agricultural environmental management in local watersheds, impacts of long-term weather change on agricultural land use management, rural communities and rural quality of life. Her most recent book, Pathways to Better Water Quality: The Citizen Effect (2011) focuses on farmer-led watershed management and citizen solutions to agricultural nonpoint source pollution and represents a summary of her water quality research and extension work. Morton is the project director for several grants including the nine-state USDA climate and corn-based cropping system coordinated agricultural project (2011-2016), the four-state Heartland Integrated Regional Water Coordination project, and Developing Local leadership and Extension Capacity for Performance-based Agricultural Environmental Management.
To connect to the webinars, go to https://connect.extension.iastate.edu/ilf/. Morton will be able to answer questions from webinar “attendees” via the Adobe Connect chat box. The ILF website contains links for archived webinars from previous months at http://www.extension.iastate.edu/ilf/Webinars/. The webinar archive also will be available in a podcast through iTunes.
Iowa Learning Farms is a partnership of the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Iowa Natural Resources Conservation Service and Iowa Department of Natural Resources (USEPA section 319); in cooperation with Conservation Districts of Iowa, the Iowa Farm Bureau and the Iowa Water Center.
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At the rescheduled field day, area farmers will discuss the benefits of no-till and strip-till compared to traditional tillage using a 150-foot soil root pit dug across these three practices as a visual aid. Visitors can compare the soil quality and root depth between these practices. Also, attendees can see and learn about cover crops and bioreactors. These in-field and edge-of-field practices will lessen nitrogen and phosphorus entering the waterways in accordance with Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy. Local Natural Resources Conservation Service field staff will share work being done with buffers and streambanks to lessen erosion for improved water quality. Demonstrations of the Conservation Station’s rainfall simulator will be conducted as well.
Iowa Learning Farms takes a grassroots approach offering innovative ways to help all Iowans have an active role in keeping the state’s natural resources healthy and not take them for granted. A goal of Iowa Learning Farms is to build a Culture of Conservation, encouraging the adoption of residue management and conservation practices. Farmers, researchers and ILF team members are working together to identify and implement the best in-field management practices that increase water and soil quality while remaining profitable.
Iowa Learning Farms is a partnership of the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Iowa Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Iowa Department of Natural Resources (USEPA section 319); in cooperation with Conservation Districts of Iowa, the Iowa Farm Bureau and the Iowa Water Center.
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]]>Fortunately, more than 90 percent of the insured corn and soybean acres in Iowa are covered by MPCI, which includes replant, delay and prevented planting coverage.
Q: What should a producer do if their planted crops are affected by the flooding?
A. Notify their crop insurance agent within 72 hours of the loss. If they qualify, the replant option provides a payment reflecting 8 bushels of corn or 3 bushels of soybeans per acre times the projected price of $5.65 per bushel corn and $12.87 per bushel soybeans, respectively. So replant will provide about $45 per acre for corn and over $38 per acre for soybeans in 2013.
Q: What if a producer didn’t have their crops planted yet, what are the late planting dates in Iowa?
A. May 31 – Final planting date for Corn
June 15 – Final planting date for Soybeans
In Iowa, the crop insurance “late planting period” for corn begins on June 1. Corn can still be planted after this date, but the insurance guarantee on those acres is reduced by 1 percent per day until they are planted. Corn acres planted after June 25 will receive insurance coverage equal to 60 percent of their original guarantee. Producers should keep accurate records of planting dates on all remaining acres. The late planting period for soybeans in Iowa is from June 16 through July 10.
Beginning June 1, corn producers with unplanted acres have three choices: plant corn as soon as possible with a reduced guarantee, shift to soybeans with full insurance coverage, or apply for prevented planting. Prevented planting acres are insured at 60 percent of their original guarantee. Those acres may have a cover crop established on them or may be left idle (black dirt).
Q: Isn’t there a 20-20 rule for coverage?
A. Yes, to qualify for an indemnity payment under the replanted, delayed or prevented planting provisions, a minimum area of 20 acres or 20 percent of the insured unit, whichever is smaller, must be affected.
A unit could be a field or a farm – if you elected an optional whole farm or basic unit. An enterprise unit could also have been elected. This choice reflects the insured's corn acres combined in a particular county to determine loss or their soybean acres.
Q: I chose enterprise units to save on premium. Can I now change to basic or optional units because flooding has damaged my planted crop acreage?
A: Because unit structure impacts the premium cost, and in the case of enterprise units, also the premium subsidy, the policyholder’s decision to elect enterprise units is made no later than the sales closing date to reflect the binding contractual agreement between the two parties on or before March 15, 2013. Changing the enterprise unit structure would be a contractual violation between the approved insurance providers and the policyholder, and leave the government vulnerable to a breach of contract. Therefore, any change to the contract at this time shifts risk to approved insurance providers from previously negotiated financial commitments within the terms and conditions of the Standard Reinsurance Agreement.
Q: If I am physically unable to get to a field for planting am I covered by prevented planting?
A: Prevented planting payments can be made if an insured cause of loss resulted in there being NO way into a field that otherwise could be planted. These types of cases are expected to be very limited. If there is ANY way into the field, even if it means the producer has to drive out of the way to reach the acreage, then the producer would be expected to do so if the field was dry enough to plant. Prevented planting payments would not be made if there was any access to the acreage. Producers, however, are not expected to go to extreme measures like airlifting equipment into a field.
Q: If I am prevented from planting by the final planting date, what are my choices under the terms of my policy provided I meet all other policy provisions and I do not qualify for double cropping?
A: You may
Q: If my first insured crop was planted and failed, what are my choices under the terms of my policy provided I meet all other policy provisions and I do not qualify for double cropping?
A: Several choices under what is called “first crop-second crop coverage.”
If it is not practical to replant the first insured crop:
ISU Extension Resources
More details can be found in the ISU Extension publication “Delayed and Prevented Planting Provisions,” file A1-57 on the Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Ag Decision Maker website, at www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm/.
An electronic decision spreadsheet is also available to help analyze alternative actions. Producers should communicate with their crop insurance agent before making decisions about replanting or abandoning acres.
Additional flood recovery resources are available from ISU Extension and Outreach at Dealing with Flooding - 2013.
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The field day includes a complimentary evening meal. The event is free and the public is invited to attend. The field day is sponsored by Iowa Learning Farms in cooperation with the Webster and Hamilton County NRCS and the Ann Smeltzer Charitable Trust. The Smeltzer farm is located approximately 2.5 miles south of Otho on County Road P59.
Iowa Learning Farms takes a grassroots approach offering innovative ways to help all Iowans have an active role in keeping our state’s natural resources healthy and not take them for granted. A goal of Iowa Learning Farms is to build a Culture of Conservation, encouraging the adoption of residue management and conservation practices. Farmers, researchers and ILF team members are working together to identify and implement the best in-field management practices that increase water and soil quality while remaining profitable.
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