One of the programs available to producers in Iowa to assist in reducing soil erosion and improving water quality is the Water Quality Initiative (WQI). This program, like all the programs administered by your local Soil and Water Conservation District, is voluntary and incentive-based.
WQI was established during the 2013 legislative session to help execute Iowa’s Nutrient Reduction Strategy. The strategy established a suite of practices that, if adopted, would result in a 45% reduction in the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus reaching the state’s waterways. Water Quality Initiative cost share funds help farmers and landowners install nutrient reducing conservation practices. Funds can be used to offset the cost of cover crops, no-till/strip-till, or the use of a nitrogen inhibitor with fall applied anhydrous ammonia, all of which help improve soil health, reduce erosion, and improve water quality.
People are also reading…
In 2019, nearly 3,000 farmers participated in the program and invested approximately $10.2 million in funding to match $6.1 million through the state’s WQI cost share fund. This included 1,200 farmers using a conservation practice for the first time. For fiscal year 2021, that would apply to crops planted in the spring of 2021. The state is challenging each Soil and Water District in Iowa to implement at least 2,000 acres of WQI funded cover crops in 2021.
Producers should be aware that there are several additional funding opportunities for cover crop implementation through other state and federal programs. Participation in other programs may have an effect on funding available through the WQI. There are many watershed projects in north Iowa that offer very attractive incentive payments because of the huge positive effect that cover crops have on water quality.
For first-time users, cost share rates for cover crops are $25 per acre, for no-till and strip-till the rate is $10 per acre. For the use of fall applied nitrification inhibitor the rate is $3 per acre. All of these practice payments are limited to 160 acres. For second year cover crops, the payment available is $15 per acre, limited to 160 acres maximum.
It is of course the hope that if producers receive cost share for trying these conservation practices, they will be more likely to continue using them after seeing the economic and environmental advantages. The use of cover crops and no-till/-strip-till are dramatic money makers when the reduced inputs are taken into account. Both practices require several years of continuous use to truly reap the economic benefits of lower machinery expenditures and reduced use of commercial fertilizers.
If you are interested in learning more about these cost share opportunities, contact your local SWCD office. In Cerro Gordo county call 641-424-4452. All SWCD/NRCS offices are still closed to the public due to COVID19, but we can still take your information and get you the signup information.
Our Environment: Winter 2019-2020
Stay in tune with the land you live on. These are some of our environmentally-related stories from winter of 2019-2020.
What will the weather look like in the year 2020? The answer might as well be one big shrug.
Lime Creek Nature Center is open again to the public after a number of enhancements were made to the interior of the building.
Mason City was just a couple degrees away from breaking a temperature record on Christmas Day.
Lime Creek Nature Center provides visitors of all ages hands-on education about our area’s wildlife and natural resources.
Take a video tour of the newly updated Lime Creek Nature Center, located immediately north of Mason City.
Numerous new displays and exhibits were recently installed at Lime Creek Nature Center.
Sub-zero temperatures. Drifting snow. Winds gusting to forty-five. Near zero visibility. How’s that for a chilling winter combo? But those wer…
The scene is timeless. At the edge of a shallow marsh, two hunters crouch in the cattails. The sunrise is fast approaching and a rising breeze…
I was beginning to feel the pressure. With the Thanksgiving holiday less than a week away, my turkey dinner was still running wild and free in…
For Iowa’s 70,000 archery deer hunting enthusiasts, November is the grandest month of the year. By now, the annual rut is slamming into overdr…
I heard the ducks before I saw them. Not the usual quacking normally associated with waterfowl, but rather the screeching “Whoo-eek, Whoo-eek”…
For about as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated with the birds of prey. And of all the hawks, falcons, and eagles there were to ch…
DULUTH, Mn. -- In the dense evergreen forests of America’s North Country, the fall raptor migration is gathering a full head of steam. Pouring…
A bald eagle flying a parallel path on a sunny afternoon provide wonderful live theater.
Dennis Carney is a Cerro Gordo Soil and Water District commissioner. The local office can be found at 1415 S. Monroe, Mason City. Online: cerrogordoswcd.org.