By Chris Kick and Timothy Youngquist
Visitors to this year’s Farm Progress Show near Boone will get a chance to visit the prairie – at least in essence.
Prairie plants will be featured inside the exhibit booth operated by Iowa State University, where visitors can wear headsets and listen to the sounds of nature – as recorded from actual Prairie Strips located in Iowa crop fields.
There will also be an opportunity to taste the prairie, by sampling honey produced by bees from some of these same prairie strips.
Prairie Strips (Science-Based Trials of Rowcrops Integrated with Prairie) is a federally recognized conservation program that compensates landowners for planting 30-120-foot-wide bands of prairie onto the landscape in an effort to improve water quality and pollinator habitat and reduce soil erosion.
The practice got its start at Iowa State University nearly 20 years ago and today includes more than 22,000 acres of prairie strips in 15 states.
Roots as anchors
Tim Youngquist, the Prairie Strips liaison for Iowa State, said visitors will get to see a root display box that shows what happens underground, where prairie is planted. These deep-rooted plants can typically extend 5 to 10 feet or more into the ground, helping to anchor the soil in place and reduce erosion.
Along with improved water quality, prairie strips provide pollinator and wildlife habitat, and are aesthetically pleasing for those who enjoy the sights and sounds of nature.
“People enjoy the common experiences that these strips provide,” said Youngquist. “They provide an excellent conservation opportunity, while allowing farmers to continue being productive on the land.”
The goal with the strips is to place them strategically, where they will provide the most benefit. Youngquist said where more water is flowing down-slope, prairie strips should be wider, and where less water is flowing down-slope, the prairie strips can be narrower.
Youngquist said farmers sometimes plant the strips where point rows would otherwise exist, and places where the slope and terrain would make normal farming practices difficult. He said the federal provisions are lenient enough to allow farmers to turn equipment or drive across with equipment, to access other parts of their farm.
Making a difference
Research done at the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge (just east of Des Moines) showed that placing the strips at the bottom of fields, where water leaves the property, resulted in a 95% reduction in soil loss, a 90% reduction in phosphorus losses at the surface, 72% reduction in nitrate concentrations in groundwater, and an 85% reduction in nitrogen losses in surface runoff – compared with watersheds where only crops were grown.
Youngquist hopes that this Farm Progress Show display will “give people a taste of the prairie and something they maybe haven’t really thought about before.”
He’s looking forward to meeting farmers and anyone with an interest in how prairie can promote conservation above and below the surface.
For landowners who want to plant prairie strips, Youngquist will have resources that explain the program in detail, as found in the United States Department of Agriculture’s Conservation Reserve Program.
He also plans to have a farmer with him each day of the show talking about their experience with prairie strips and how they’ve made a difference.
As a row-crop farmer himself, Youngquist says he understands farmers want to farm as much of their land as they can, which is why “strips” of prairie are often an ideal solution.
“I think prairie strips are a wonderful idea. For many at the show, this will probably be their first exposure to prairie strips, so we want to inform and answer questions in a way that elevates the many benefits these strips do offer,” he said.
For more information, including farmer testimonials, visit the Prairie Strips website, at www.nrem.iastate.edu/research/STRIPS/.
Youngquist can be reached at timyoung@iastate.edu.
Source : iastate.edu