AMES, Iowa — Iowa Learning Farms, in partnership with the Iowa Nutrient Research Center, and Conservation Learning Group (CLG), is hosting a free virtual field day discussing spring cover crop management tips and the impact of cover crops on water quality as part of the Conservation Learning Labs project on April 15 at 1 p.m. CDT. Join us for a live discussion with Mark Licht, Iowa State University Assistant Professor and Extension Cropping Systems Specialist, and Matt Helmers, Iowa Nutrient Research Center Director.

Cover crops are one of the key practices of the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy aimed at reducing nutrient losses from the landscape to our rivers and streams. Additionally, cover crops offer a wide range of benefits including reducing soil erosion, improving infiltration and soil health, weed suppression and grazing opportunities. Best management practices for spring management of cover crops are key to maximizing those benefits and reducing potential yield reductions.

The Conservation Learning Labs project, started in 2016, explores the water quality impact of high levels of cover crop and reduced tillage implementation on a small watershed scale. The project focused on watersheds between 500 and 1,300 total acres in size located in Floyd and Story County.  The watersheds have existing Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) wetlands that provided baseline water quality monitoring data. The continued monitoring allows for the comparison of water quality before and after conservation practice implementation and to a similarly sized control watershed that did not implement conservation practices.

“Through three years of water quality monitoring we have not seen reduction in nitrate levels in the watersheds with conservation practices implemented possibly due limited growth of cover crops. This is a reason long-term water quality monitoring is critical,” noted Helmers. Be sure to tune into the live discussion for updated monitoring results.

To participate in the live virtual field day at 1:00 pm CDT on April 15 to learn more, click this URL: https://iastate.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUpduihpj8iE9ZHcjpsenc2DWQILG41wg0D or visit www.iowalearningfarms.org/page/events and click “Join Live Virtual Field Day”.

Or, join from a dial-in phone line:

Dial: +1 312 626 6799 or +1 646 876 9923

Meeting ID: 914 1198 4892

The field day will be recorded and archived on the ILF website so that it can be watched at any time. The archive will be available at https://www.iowalearningfarms.org/page/events.

Participants may be eligible for a Certified Crop Adviser board-approved continuing education unit (CEU). Information about how to apply to receive the credit (if approved) will be provided at the end of the live field day.