2021 December Stewardship Advocate

Posted on December 27, 2021 at 8:23 AM by Stewardship Advocate

MONTHLY UPDATE FROM BEN GLEASON, IOWA CORN SUSTAINABLE PROGRAMS MANAGER

December 2021

Happy Holidays! Wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas and a happy new year!

There are some significant funding announcements to share and looking forward to potentially more funding from the state and federal legislatures in the coming months.

Governor Reynolds has announced $100 million in federal ARPA funding for water infrastructure and water quality efforts. A new grant program will utilize $75 million for the Water Infrastructure Fund to reduce nutrient loss, improve resiliency, reduce flooding and more. The Iowa Department of Agriculture has been allocated $25 million for the Conservation Infrastructure Project. This will provide cost share incentives for wetlands, oxbows, saturated buffers, bioreactors and grade stabilization structures. Visit your local soil and water conservation district for more information about these structural practices.

Farmers who planted cover crops this fall may be eligible for a $5/acre discount on spring crop insurance. The deadline to apply is January 14. Sign up at apply.cleanwateriowa.org.
For those who missed out on the last Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) sign up, expect an announcement in the next month or two about the next sign up. A reminder that some CRP practices like buffer strips and grass waterways have continuous sign ups that are open year-round.

Input prices are rising across the board. Make sure your expensive nitrogen fertilizer is used by the crop and not lost to the water. Here are some considerations for efficient nitrogen use:

Verify soil nitrate levels with soil testing.

Use a nitrogen stabilizer e.g. N-Serve.
Reduce nitrogen rates and apply in-season.

Iowa farmland values have risen 29% so expect land rent to rise as well. This is an opportunity to talk to your landlords about how your conservation practices are protecting their land assets. If your landlord wants to raise the rent, make sure new conservation practices are part of the discussion. Visit www.iowacorn.org/rentedland for resources and success stories for win-win conversations with non-operator landowners.

A group of people sitting at a table

Description automatically generated with medium confidence

Finally, Iowa Corn is excited for this year’s Iowa Ag Expo. Stop by our booth (#852) and attend one of our soil health seminars on February 1 and 2 at 10 am in room 401 of the Community Choice Convention Center (Vet’s Auditorium).