News from Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship

For more information contact: Tess Capps, 515-281-8606 or (Cell) 515-401-8282

Iowa Soil and Water Conservation Week

By Bill Northey, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture and Land Stewardship

DES MOINES, IA (11/21/2007; 1428)(readMedia)-- For more than sixty years Iowa’s 100 Soil and Water Conservation Districts have worked in partnership with local state and federal agencies, organizations, and those who work the land to protect soil and water throughout the state. To recognize all of their work Governor Culver has signed a proclamation declaring November 25th through December 1st Soil and Water Conservation Week in Iowa.

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship’s Division of Soil Conservation (DSC) is responsible for state leadership in the protection and management of soil, water and mineral resources, assisting soil and water conservation districts and private landowners to meet their agricultural and environmental protection needs.

The Soil and Water Conservation Districts focus on carrying out these programs at the local level. Today there are 500 elected Soil and Water District Commissioners and conservation partners throughout the state working on protecting our soil and water.

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship provides farmers across the state with technical and financial assistance for installing conservation practices that protect our precious land and water. The Department offers a wide variety of programs designed to help farmers, livestock producers, landowners, watershed organizations and others implement changes that improve our water and protect our soil. For example, the Iowa Financial Incentives Program provides cost-sharing for the installation of measures which will reduce sediment and nutrient losses to lakes and streams in the state.

In many communities, districts use the watershed approach, which is an efficient and effective resource management tool across the state. Projects focus on implementing water quality improvements and have excellent planning and targeting of critical water resource issues. In fiscal year 2007 alone, fifty-three watershed projects saved approximately 25,578 tons of sediment from being transported to water bodies.

To make these programs more user friendly, the Department recently unveiled the new FARMS (Financial and Reports Management System) website, which allows farmers to sign-up for and manage their participation in many of these conservation programs online. FARMS is designed to make it easier for farmers to register and install conservation practices like filter strips, grass-waterways, and other projects that reduce runoff and improve water quality. In addition to making it more convenient to make inquiries and apply for assistance, the new program is designed to increase the responsiveness to requests for cost-share assistance and, as a result, speed up the processing of payments for landowners. To learn more visit https://idals.iowa.gov/FARMS/.

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship’s Division of Soil Conservation (DSC) partners with the state’s 100 Soil and Water Conservations Districts, and USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to make these projects happen. These conservation partners and others recognize the value of soil conservation to sustain the quality of life for all Iowans.

This partnership didn’t happen overnight; however, it’s taken over seventy years of effort by thousands of Iowans. We work together to protect soil and water resources from erosion, sediment damage, and nutrient transport. These resources are necessary for the production of food, fiber and alternative energy will serve Iowa’s generations to come.

Voluntary efforts such as these protect the landscape and prevent sediment from reaching Iowa’s waterways. Soil and Water Conservation Week is an excellent time to look at the culture of conservation being built for farmers, stakeholders, and Iowans.

Bill Northey is a fourth-generation farmer from Spirit Lake, Iowa. He is serving his first term as Secretary of Agriculture. His priorities as Secretary of Agriculture are expanding opportunities in renewable energy, encouraging conservation and stewardship, and telling the story of Iowa agriculture.

A photo is available upon request.