Our Conservation Projects and Priorities
Heartland Conservation Fund (HCF) partners with the Conservation Agronomists at Heartland Co-op to implement our priority practices. HCF provides the funding to cover expenses such as engineering, construction, and easements, as necessary, which ensures these conservation farming practices are seamlessly and efficiently deployed. By partnering our funding with technical expertise, our impact can scale even further across Iowa.
Saturated Buffers
Saturated buffers are an edge-of-field (EOF) conservation drainage practice designed to remove nitrate from agricultural tile water before it reaches a stream. Outlets from crop fields are modified to divert water flow into tile trenched below a vegetative buffer that runs parallel to the stream. A water control box controls the flow of water into the buffer, ensuring that water does not back up into fields during peak rainfall events.
Saturated buffers are largely invisible from above ground, but are powerhouses below ground, removing 40-60% of nitrate from tile water before it reaches streams. They can last over 20 years.
Oxbow Wetlands
Oxbow wetlands are small wetlands that were once part of meandering stream channels. They typically take the shape of an oxbow or a shallow “U.” Former oxbows can often be seen on the Iowa landscape next to streams.
To restore these wetlands, the former oxbow depressions are excavated, and field tile outlets are then diverted to the excavated site to allow water to flow to the oxbow wetland before it reaches the stream channel. This is a powerful way to filter both sediments and nutrients that run off crop fields. Oxbow wetlands provide many of the same ecosystem services to the environment that wetlands do, but on a smaller scale. Oxbows take far fewer acres out of production than traditional wetlands, but still reduce nitrate by from tile outlets 50-90%.
Grassed Waterways
Grassed waterways are in-field, perennial plantings that greatly reduce soil loss from crop fields. These conservation plantings are strategically designed to intercept and slow water as it moves through a crop field, preventing the formation of gullies and washouts.
By intercepting and trapping soil before it enters streams, grassed waterways can reduce soil and phosphorus loss by 60-75%.
Additional Priority Practices
As HCF builds its endowment fund, we will expand upon the priority practices listed above to include practices targeted at in-field management.
Cover Crops
Cover crops are one of the most popular conservation farming practices in the Midwest. These are crops that are planted in the fall to provide protective cover for the soil and to take in excess nutrients over the winter and into the spring. There are many options for cover crops species and management.
No-Till/Reduced Tillage
Tillage practices directly impact erosion and soil run-off from field. By reducing tillage and converting to a no-till or strip-till system, the soil surface is less disturbed. Both systems reduce trips across the field, save money on fuel expenses, reduce or eliminate soil erosion, and improve organic matter percentage over time.
Reduced Nitrogen/In-Season Nitrogen Application
Reducing or changing the timing of fertilizer application can directly lower the amount of nitrate that is lost from cropping systems. Using the Maximum Return to Nitrogen (MRTN) as a guide for rates and/or switching fall application of nutrients to the spring are just a few of the methods farmers can use to hone in on their rates, save costs, and maintain yields.
