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For Immediate Release: Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2018
DES MOINES – Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig today
announced the extension of two water quality demonstration projects that are
focused on innovative ways to encourage adoption of water quality-focused
conservation practices. The projects were initially funded in 2015 and are
being extended for three years to scale-up their efforts and accelerate
practice implementation in support of the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy.
“These
extensions will allow us to build on the strong foundation that has already
been established by these projects,” Naig said. “From the start we have
recognized we will need innovative approaches to engage farmers and encourage
adoption of water quality-focused practices. Extending these projects allows us
to add new partners and continue to work with local farmers and agribusinesses to
achieve water quality improvement goals,” Naig said.
The projects receiving extensions are:
Driving Cover Crop Adoption through Education and
Technical Assistance and Showing Environmental Benefits – The project is led by the Conservation
Technology Information Center (CTIC) and encourages farmers to integrate cover
crops into their operation through partnerships with ag retailers and supply
chain initiatives. Starting in 2018 this project will integrate a training
program and incentive structure for agronomists and Certified Crop Advisers (CCAs)
to encourage farmer adoption of water quality focused practices.
Integration of Cover Crops into Livestock Operations – The project is led by Practical Farmers of Iowa (PFI) and
works with livestock producers in the Floyd, North Raccoon and East Nishnabotna
River watersheds to demonstrate value of incorporating cover crops as part of
farming operations with livestock. The project is being expanded to assess soil
health metrics along with economic benefits of cover crops.
More details about these projects and other
demonstration projects that are part of the Iowa Water Quality Initiative can
be found at https://www.cleanwateriowa.org/farm-1/.
These projects will receive over $1 million
in additional funding through the Iowa Water Quality Initiative over the next
three years. In addition to the state funds, these two projects will generate
an estimated $4.5 million in matching funds to support water quality
improvement efforts as well as other in-kind contributions.
These funds will allow the projects to focus
on scaling up implementation of conservation practices identified in the Iowa
Nutrient Reduction Strategy. The projects will continue to build on the
development of new and innovative practice delivery mechanisms within the
project areas.
Background
on Iowa Water Quality Initiative
The
Iowa Water Quality Initiative was established in 2013 to help implement the
Nutrient Reduction Strategy, which is a science and technology based approach
to achieving a 45 percent reduction in nitrogen and phosphorus losses to our
waters. The strategy brings together both point sources, such as
municipal wastewater treatment plants and industrial facilities, and nonpoint
sources, including farm fields and urban stormwater runoff to address these
issues.
The
Initiative seeks to harness the collective ability of both private and public
resources and organizations to deliver a clear and consistent message to
stakeholders to reduce nutrient loss and improve water quality.
The initiative is seeing
some exciting results. Last fall, 2,600 farmers invested an estimated $8.7
million in funding to match $4.8 million in state cost share funds to adopt
cover crops, no-till or strip till, or use a nitrification inhibitor when
applying fall fertilizer. Participants include 1,000 farmers using a practice
for the first time and more than 1,600 past users who are trying cover crops
again and are receiving a reduced rate of cost share.
A
total of 64 demonstration projects are currently located across the state to
help implement and demonstrate water quality practices. This includes 14
targeted watershed projects, 7 projects focused on expanding the use and
innovative delivery of water quality practices and 43 urban water quality
demonstration projects. More than 250
organizations are participating in these projects. These partners will
provide $42.2 million to go with the $31.5 million in state funding going to
these projects.
More than $420 million in funding has been
documented for efforts in support of the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy last
year. This represents a $32 million increase of funding in support of Iowa
water quality programs and conservation efforts over the previous year.
More
information about the initiative can be found at www.CleanWaterIowa.org.
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For more information, contact Dustin Vande Hoef, (515) 281-3375 or (515) 326-1616 (cell) or Dustin.VandeHoef@IowaAgriculture.gov
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