The Iowa Learning Farms conservation webinar taking place November 22 at noon will feature Matt Helmers, professor and extension agricultural engineer, Iowa State University. Helmers conducts research and extension outreach programs concerning nutrient management, cropping practices, drainage design and management, and strategic placement of buffer systems to reduce nutrient export from agricultural landscapes.

In the webinar, “Impact of 100 Years of Agricultural Practice Changes on Sediment and Nutrient Loss from One Farm in Osceola County, Iowa,” Helmers will discuss the changes in farming practices over the past 100 years through the lens of his family’s farm. He will overview the evolution of farming practices over time and examine some of the potential impacts of different practices on sediment and nutrient losses.

“Looking at the ways in which farmers utilize the land and how land management practices have changed over the last 100 years provides an excellent opportunity to increase understanding of how these practices have impacted sediment and nutrient loss,” said Helmers. “Over time, the outcomes of adopted practices were not always predictable or entirely beneficial. It may surprise some people that while some practices may have reduced sediment loss, they also increase nitrate losses. Taking the good with the bad, seeing impacts over a 100-year span provides an excellent backdrop for learning and discussion.”

Shortly before noon CST, click the link below or type this web address into your internet browser: https://iastate.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_xtAwWXycQZW8iwtNLz34GA#/registration

Matt Helmers (lower right), his father (upper right), and grandfather on the family farm near Oceola, Iowa