Washington County celebrates water and soil conservation week

The state of Iowa is celebrating ?Soil and Water Conservation Week? this week (April 29-May 5). Tony Maxwell, district conservationist with Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) said that soil and water conservation efforts have proven to be very successful in Iowa and Washington County.

Maxwell said that there are two principal forms of water and soil conservation that he encourages. One of them is the construction of grass terraces, which slow the flow of water and trap sediment before the sediment reaches a body of water. The state and federal government will help pay the cost of terraces, usually up to 50 percent of the cost. He said that funds for the program are limited, however. He said that one out of 10 applicants receive funding.

The other main way that the NRCS promotes water and soil conservation is no-till farming. Maxwell said there was a movement toward no-till farming in the 1970s and that it picked up steam in the 1980s and 1990s. The purpose of no-till is to reduce topsoil erosion. Maxwell said farmers who employ no-till do not suffer a loss in yields compared to farmers who till.

?Washington County was among the early innovators of no-till back in 1980s,? he said. ?There are multiple benefits to no-till. You don?t have to buy as much equipment and you use less fuel.  No-till farmers can get by with very little equipment.?

Another thing that conservationists are promoting is planting cover crops in the fall to prevent erosion. Maxwell said rye is a popular cover crop. He said that it is not usually harvested in Iowa because farmers have to kill it before it matures so they have enough time to plant other crops such as corn and soybeans.

Maxwell said one of the most obvious results of these conservation practices is that there are far fewer visible gullies than in the past.

?Some of the less obvious consequences is that we have cleaner streams, lakes and ponds,? he said. ?Fishing has improved in the state. There is less silt in our water bodies, which makes them easier to clean for drinking.?