prairie strips: overview and progress...prairie strips: overview and progress tim youngquist, ag...
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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
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https://instagram.com/isu_prairie_strips/
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Any Questions?
Thank you for your attention