Conservation Leaders Praise Iowa Learning Farms for 20 Years of Success

By Jacqueline Comito

Iowa Learning Farms, a conservation program with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, hosted state, local and regional conservation professionals and farmer partners July 10 to commemorate 20 years of promoting and implementing conservation and water quality efforts throughout the state.

Learning Farms’  award-winning programs were highlighted by guests including Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig; Jason Henderson, vice president for extension and outreach at Iowa State University; Scott Cagle, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service; Gabrella Elliott, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Steve Konrady, Iowa Department of Natural Resources; and Matt Russell, USDA Farm Service Agency.

In her opening remarks, Jacqueline Comito, Iowa Learning Farms director, noted that the success of the programming has been made possible by strong partnerships with agencies, conservation organizations, Iowa State, and most importantly the farmers who unabashedly provide feedback and have consistently taken chances on working with Iowa Learning Farms on field days, demonstrations and learning together.

Secretary Naig commented on his 2013 introduction to learning farms and his ongoing relationship with the program.

“When I was first asked to approve funding for ILF, we went through a deep dive to ensure the program was delivering results,” he said. “ILF has been without a doubt one of our better investments, because we continue to see impacts on conservation uptake. The things that I love about what happens here are the information, the data, the surveys, the questionnaires and the insights that we are learning.”

In its 2023 Annual Evaluation Report, ILF documented impacts and activities the organization had produced throughout the state including hosting 23 in-person field days, seven Conservation On Tap events, three virtual field days, and 51 webinars, reaching 11,147 total participants.

Iowa Learning Farms reached an additional 6,178 people through 68 Conservation Station trailer appearances at county fairs, farmers markets, festivals and other community outreach events statewide. In addition, ILF documented a correlation between the quantity of field days attended to the propensity to adopt conservation practices, such as cover crops, in its Field Day Success Loop.

“I want to thank Iowa Learning Farms for the incredible work that they do through the Conservation Stations, the field days and partnerships and their tremendous work with youth,” concluded Naig. “We are proud of being a direct funder of this organization, but there is always more to do. Here’s your charge for the next 20 years: How do we continue to challenge and advance, who else needs to be in this conversation, what more can we do to accelerate conservation adoption and how do we encourage farmers to adopt more conservation practices while understanding the realities on their farms that drive their decisions.”