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Iowa program to help farmers refine nitrogen use, protect water resources

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship has announced a nitrogen soil sampling project that aims to help farmers save money and improve water quality.

State Ag Secretary Mike Naig tells Brownfield the three-year initiative will target areas upstream from the Des Moines metro.

“There’s higher levels of residual nitrogen available here as we come into spring,” he said. “A variety of reasons: warmer temperatures over the winter and those types of things. We’re trying to get a better understanding of that.”

He says the effort should help producers cut input costs and deliver meaningful water quality benefits.

“We have a good foundation laid in our efforts to be better stewards of the land,” Naig said, “but also we need to recognize that if we’re going to achieve our water quality goals in the state and significant reductions in nutrient loss and provide Iowans with that clean water they need and deserve, then we’re going to have to see a systems-wide approach to doing that.”

IDALS is launching the project with the Iowa Nutrient Research & Education Council (INREC) this spring. The first phase will enroll farmers in Boone, Calhoun, Greene, Hamilton and Webster counties.

Participating farmers will be asked to provide basic field information such as crop rotation, nitrogen management, manure use and cover crop history, and complete a short, post-season survey. All data will be anonymized and shared with Iowa State University to support ongoing nitrogen research and the Iowa Nitrogen Initiative’s N-FACT rate recommendations.

Naig says the project will expand later in the fall to include fields in the Boone, Des Moines, Middle Cedar, and Raccoon River watersheds.

“Really looking to both go out and recruit farmers to participate because we want a distribution of samples across these counties and watersheds, but also we want to open it up for folks that might have an interest in participating.”

SoilView, LLC will conduct the soil sampling and laboratory testing to help inform in-season nitrogen applications, the department said.

Mike Naig: