Roadside Shoulder Mowing & Iowa's Shoulder Mowing Law
Adel, IA - Dallas County Secondary Roads’ shoulder mowing operations will begin this month and will continue through the growing season. Shoulder mowing is done to provide visibility, especially around curves and intersections, as well as delineate the slope of the foreslope and expose hazards like culverts in an event a motorist needs to leave the traveled surface. Please slow down and be cautious when approaching roadside mowers! Mowing roadsides is more difficult than mowing a lawn, and an operator uses much focus identifying and avoiding obstacles like rocks and large trash that may be concealed in the grass while avoiding culverts, signs, guardrails, edge-drains, mailboxes, etc.
Our office would also like to remind residents of Iowa’s Mowing Law. According to Iowa Code 314.17, mowing roadside ditches is restricted until July 15, to protect young pheasants and other ground-nesting birds until they are ready to fledge. The law, which applies to county secondary roads as well as state primary and interstate highways, also protects habitat for pollinators and other beneficial insects, including crop-pest predators.
Exceptions for shoulder mowing are built into the law, but non-essential mowing – including cutting for hay – is prohibited.
Iowa Code 314.17 states: Mowing roadside vegetation on the rights-of-way or medians on any primary highway, interstate highway, or secondary road prior to July 15 is prohibited, except as follows:
- Within 200 yards of an inhabited dwelling
- On right-of-way within one mile of the corporate limits of a city
- To promote native species of vegetation or other long-lived and adaptable vegetation
- To establish control of damaging insect populations, noxious weeds and invasive plant species
- For visibility and safety reasons
- Within rest areas, weigh stations and wayside parks
- Within 50 feet of a drainage tile or tile intake
- For access to mailbox or for other accessibility purposes
- On right-of-way adjacent agricultural demonstration or research plots
While mowing is necessary on shoulders, mowing is a disturbance that weakens perennial vegetation and creates openings for weed invasion while also damaging valuable grassland habitat. The mowing law serves as a reminder to only mow shoulders and leave the rest of the roadside for the birds. For more information, see a brochure called Iowa’s Mowing Law for Roadsides, available at: https://tallgrassprairiecenter.org/roadside-management-brochures
For more information contact:
Jim Uthe, Roadside Biologist
Dallas County Secondary Roads
Jim.uthe@dallascountyiowa.gov
515-993-4289
Photos courtesy of Jacob Gish, Roadside Technician
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