Iowa Soybean Partners With State for Water Quality Efforts

By Cami Koons

A public-private partnership between the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, the Iowa Soybean Association, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will invest over $2.3 million to install nutrient-reducing practices in priority Iowa watersheds. 

The majority of the funding will come from IDALS for outreach and to farmers and landowners who will then work with conservation staff to implement practices like saturated buffers, oxbows, and perennial cover. The $1.4 million put up by IDALS will also support design and engineering costs. 

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig announced the project Wednesday at the Iowa Soybean Association’s Winter Policy Conference. 

“This project, and others like it, prove collaborating is key to making meaningful progress,” Naig said in a statement. “If you are a farmer or landowner located within the project area, I would invite you to consider how you can incorporate some of these water quality practices on your land.”

According to a press release from IDALS, the partnership will prioritize the watersheds of North Raccoon River, Boone River, Skunk River, Middle Cedar River, and Turkey River. 

Christie Wiebbecke, the chief officer for Iowa Soybean Association’s research and conservation said the association was “grateful” for the “support and partnership” from IDALS and USFWS.

The goal of the initial three-year agreement is to install at least 21 saturated buffers, 900 acres of perennial cover and 30 multi-purpose oxbows, which restore curves to a stream and help to capture nutrients from water that drains into a stream.

The press release from IDALS called these “science-based” practices that improve soil health and protect water quality. 

According to a report from Iowa Soybean Association, tile drainage routed through a restored oxbow can remove 50%–95% of nitrate from the water before it runs off into the rest of the stream. 

The practices follow the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy, which is part of a multistate effort through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to reduce nutrient runoff from agricultural fields into the Mississippi River watershed, and thus reduce the dead-zone in the Gulf of Mexico.  

Andrew DiAllesandro, the USFWS private lands coordinator for Iowa, stressed the importance of collaboration in creating a “lasting legacy” for Iowa resources and communities. 

“This public-private partnership will be instrumental in delivering impactful water quality and wildlife habitat conservation practices across Iowa and will be a model for partnership efforts moving forward,” DiAllesandro said in the press release.

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