Economic impacts of soil erosion in Iowa

Everyone agrees that soil erosion is detrimental to Iowa agriculture. This study attempts to quantify the effects of erosion on contemporary crop yields and gauge the longer term impact on the agricultural economy in the state

Nitrogen management alternatives for ridge tillage corn

As soil and resource conservation become dominant themes in modern agriculture, researchers seek practices that will maintain profitability while reducing inputs. Ridge tillage, which has received increasing attention as an alternative to the flat-surface, no-till system, may be one such practice

Southeast Iowa on-farm demonstration of sustainable tillage systems and weed profile developments on those systems

This study was designed to determine whether tillage systems left in place for significant periods of time develop different weed profiles. No-tillage, reduced tillage, and conventional tillage were placed in a corn/soybean rotation that had been maintained and documented for 15 years. Notillage was the only corn tillage treatment that did not lead yields for at least one year of this three-year trial. No-tillage corn had significantly higher weed pressure from several species, and soybeans had significantly higher levels of giant foxtail with no-tillage. The study also compared ridge and reduced tillage yields and weed profile development; the third year of the study constituted the eighth year that those systems were in place. Ridge tillage soybeans had higher yields and significantly higher weed pressure for a number of species; no trends were detected for corn yields or weeds

Effectiveness of vegetative filter strips

The use of close-growing plants, such as in grass sod, is a long-established technique for controlling soil erosion. This approach serves two purposes: (1) the fine root system of sod holds soil in place, thereby reducing its susceptibility to erosion, and (2) the plants slow the velocity of water flow, which reduces the sediment-carrying capacity of the wate

Impact of Bioenergy Industry on Soil and Water Resources

Recent reports and publications such as that of Perlack et al, 2005 and Burton et al, 2006 indicating a high capacity of this nation\u27s lands to produce feedstocks for renewable fuels have created large expectations in rural America, in Congress, and on Wall Street. Meeting these expectations while preserving our soil and water resources may be a challenge or an opportunity, depending upon how the bioenergy industry develops. It presents a challenge because the plant residues serving as our most important soil and water conservation tool are also required for fuel production in the cellulosic liquid fuel industry. It may be an opportunity because a more diverse variety of plant species may eventually be produced on the landscape and these plants, or crops, which help conserve the soil and water resource, may have a market. As the biofuel industry develops, producers may be able to plant perennial grasses or woody species that both have a favorable impact on natural resources and provide income as liquid fuel feedstocks

Demonstration of an annual forage crop integrated with crop and livestock enterprises

Using a more diverse cropping system, such as strip intercropping, to produce forages for feeding livestock can create a more sustainable, environmentally friendly farming system. Strip intercropping of corn, soybeans, and oats underseeded with berseem clover was used to demonstrate agronomic and environmental benefits of a more varied cropping system. This system produces oat/ berseem clover soilage (green-chop) that can be utilized to feed beef cattle

Evaluation of three cropping systems grown under the influence of a shelterbelt

Shelterbelts have the potential to influence growth and yield from various cropping systems. On-farm tests were conducted to determine how shelterbelts interacted with corn, corn/soybean, and strip intercropping

Potential economic, environmental benefits of narrow strip intercropping

Since its establishment in 1989, the Cropping Systems interdisciplinary research issue team has worked to develop a cropping system that is more environmentally sustainable than cur­ rent cropping approaches but just as favorable economically. The team\u27s work to date has focused on the strip intercropping concept

Daily Erosion Project: Daily estimates of soil erosion and water runoff

Soil erosion and water runoff drive water quality degradation and are liabilities to crop production, yet their magnitude is neither quantified nor inventoried for US agricultural areas. This project’s goals are to: (1) estimate soil erosion and surface runoff across the Upper Midwest as contributors to soil and water degradation and (2) inventory these quantities for the next several years

Evaluation of interactions within a shelterbelt agroecosystem

Yield data for corn (eight years) and soybeans (six years) were collected and analyzed to determine the impacts of a hybrid poplar shelterbelt on crop production on a central Iowa farm