AMES —It's the work of organizations such as the Iowa Soybean Association through its Environmental Programs and Services and On-Farm Network that will make the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy/Water Quality Initiative successful, said Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey.
Speaking at the recent On-Farm Network Conference in Ames, Northey quoted Isaac Newton's "If I have seen a little further, it's because I stand on the shoulders of giants," as he talked about water quality improvement.
"One of the ways we got here is all of you building on efforts to become better farmers and have better environmental impact," Northey said. "You have learned so much from each other, and you are taking it to the next step."
Northey said the initiative grew out of the Gulf Hypoxia Task Force, which involves 12 states along the Mississippi River meeting to find ways to reduce the Gulf of Mexico dead zone.
"States are figuring out their own strategies to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus loading to the Gulf," Northey said.
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Iowa's strategy, which looked at ways to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus loading into rivers, lakes and streams by at least 45 percent from point and non-point sources, has evolved into the Water Quality Initiative, which is the implementation plan. It adds to ongoing work by watershed projects, farm groups and the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship Division of Soil Conservation.
"We brought together a bunch of folks from Iowa State University, IDALS and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to find solutions," Northey said. "That's what the On-Farm Network has always been about, looking for solutions."
Researchers are determined that cover crops can reduce nitrogen and phosphorus loading by 30 percent, Northey said. They also calculated reductions from no-till, improved nutrient management, wetlands and bioreactors.
"It's not perfect," Northey said. "We don't know what the final solution will be and where all the funding will come from and who will participate, but we can't sit on our hands and do nothing because if we do, we're going to be the next big Chesapeake Bay, where someone outside of agriculture decides what we're going to do on our farms."
Officials sought cost-share finding from the Legislature for the science-based voluntary water quality program.
Regulation, recipe for disaster
"This is about engaging producers and figuring out better ways for each farm," Northey said. "If a regulator came out here and told us that everyone had to seed a cover crop by Nov. 1 or we wouldn't farm next year, we'd seed a cover crop, but it may not be a good stand. We'd be trying to stay legal, and water quality improvement would be up to someone else. Regulation is a very blunt instrument."
The Legislature provided several millions of dollars for the program.
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On Aug. 1,100 farmers applied for $2.8 million in cost-share to plant cover crops, implement no-till and strip-till and use nitrogen inhibitors on 100,000 acres. Iowa had twice as many cover crops planted last fall as in 2012, which doubled from 2011.
Another program targets eight watersheds where farmers and conservation officials are working to get bigger nitrogen and phosphorus runoff reductions by using a variety of practices including cover crops, nutrient management plans, wood chip bioreactors, wetlands and saturated buffers. The state leveraged $4.1 million, with partners providing twice that amount. More watersheds will be chosen in the coming months.
Solutions also may come from technologies not even in use today.
"I think we will have very dependable ways of looking at how much nitrogen the crop will need late in the season and ways to get it on the crop," Northey said.
He's heard about unmanned vehicles and robots that can apply nitrogen.
Farmers have to keep telling people what they're doing on their farms to protect water quality, Northey said.
"There are a handful of folks who believe that no matter how successful we are, ag can't do it," Northey said. "We have to overwhelm that negative with positive stories about what we're doing."
For more about the Iowa Soybean Association On-Farm Network, go to isafarmnet.com.
