prairie strips: overview and progress...prairie strips: overview and progress tim youngquist, ag...

Prairie STRIPS: Overview and Progress Tim Youngquist, Ag Specialist ISU Agronomy, prairiestrips.org

Modern agriculture is incredibly productive

Image: Tim Youngquist

Image: Todd Ontl

Corn and soybeans cover 75% of Iowa

Image: Mark Rasmussen

But does this create unintended consequences?

What kind of world are we leaving for future generations?

Image: Tim Youngquist

Can we achieve production and conservation on the same acres?

Image: A. MacDonald

STRIPS: Science-based Trials of Row-crops Integrated with Prairies

Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge, Prairie City, IA

12 experimental watersheds, 1 to 8 acres each, 6 to 10% slope

Four treatments:

100% crop (no-till)

10% buffer, at toe slope

10% buffer, in contour strips

20% buffer, in contour strips

Why Prairie?

reconstructed prairie

corn - soybean row crops, ZERO TILLAGE

Experimental Watershed Treatments

12 watersheds: Balanced Incomplete Block Design:

3 reps X 4 treatments X 3 blocks

0% 10% 10% 20%

2 year corn/soybean rotation - Managed as a no till system

Surface Runoff Monitoring

Hydrologic-flumes monitor movement

of water, sediment, and nutrients

Visual Examples (4 inch rain in June 2008)

100% Crop 100% Prairie 10% Prairie 90% Crop

Photo: Chris Witte

4 inch rain in June 2008

Prairie buffer strip in corn, 2010. Stiff, upright stems don’t lay flat in

a pounding rain storm.

Why Prairie?

Putting prairie strips into cropland has reduced water run-off by 40%, N losses by 84%, and P losses by 90%.

Strips have had no effect on corn and soybean yields or weed densities in cropped areas.

Helmers et al. 2012; Hirsh et al. 2013; Zhou et al. 2014

Small changes, big impacts

Progress – STRIPS Phase II Current sites

Design Considerations

• Farmer Goals

• Contour & Slope

• Water Flow

• Soil type, Natural Drainage Class, and Corn Suitability Rating

• Past Land Use/Cropping System

• Existing Conservation Practices

• Farmability

• Equipment Width

• Feasability

• Maintenance Access

• Flexibility

Image: Tim Youngquist

Where do strips go?

Determine how water moves through the field

Image: Tim Youngquist

Plan ahead Get stakeholders (i.e., landowner, farmer, researcher/technician) involved

Planning your own layout

Image: Tim Youngquist

RTK GPS – Accurate to less than 1 inch

What tools can be used to lay out strips?

Available options - GPS - Open Reel Tape

Measure - Measuring Wheel - Laser Level

Native prairie species - A diverse mix of local-ecotype seed

What kind of plants are in the strips?

Image: Tim Youngquist

Many options are available - Native seed drill - Broadcast seeder - Hand broadcast

What equipment is used to plant strips?

Image: Tim Youngquist

Plant prairie strips up to both sides of an existing waterway

What about fields that already have grassed waterways?

Image: Tim Youngquist

Unmowed prairie strip with nurse crop of oats – prairie seedlings are very small

What to expect after planting

Year 1

Image: Tim Youngquist

What to expect after planting

Year 2

Mowed Prairie - prairie species are more noticeable

Image: Tim Youngquist

What to expect after planting

Year 3

As prairie matures more species begin to bloom and produce seed

What to expect after planting

Beyond Year 3

Prescribed fire can be used to control invasive weeds and promote growth of native species Image: Tim Youngquist

NRCS Practice Standards 332 – contour buffer 393 – filter strip

Image: Anna MacDonald

Continuous CRP Practices CP15A – contour grass strips CP21 – filter strips CP33 – habitat buffer CP42 – pollinator habitat

Cost Share for Implementing Strips

Birds, 2007-2012: Catchments with prairie strips had 2.6 times as many individuals and 2.3 times as many species as all-crop catchments

What benefits do strips provide?

Image: A. MacDonald

Biodiversity Image: Tim Youngquist

Image: Tim Youngquist

Harvested prairie biomass 3.1 tons / acre

Image: Seth Watkins

Grazing

Future Image: Tim Youngquist

Integrating prairie into crop fields can blur the lines between production and conservation lands…

Photo: A. MacDonald

www.leopold.iastate.edu/stripsthemovie www.leopold.iastate.edu/stripsthemovie

www.prairiestrips.org

https://twitter.com/prairiestrips

https://instagram.com/isu_prairie_strips/

https://instagram.com/isu_prairie_strips/

Any Questions?

Thank you for your attention