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water quality<br />
compromised by massive animal confinement<br />
operations, or by annual spraying of<br />
35 million pounds of corn and bean pesticides.”<br />
That’s not to say <strong>Iowa</strong> is doing nothing.<br />
The state’s Water Quality Initiative, established<br />
in 2013, has a “Nutrient Reduction<br />
Strategy” with a goal of reducing nitrogen<br />
and phosphorus losses into waterways by<br />
45 percent – but it is a purely voluntary<br />
system, and it has no deadline for hitting<br />
that target.<br />
Ben Gleason, sustainable program manager<br />
of the <strong>Iowa</strong> Corn Growers, said soil<br />
health is promoted by, among other things,<br />
farmers’ use of cover crops, reduced tillage,<br />
and better “nutrient management” – meaning<br />
more efficient application to cut usage.<br />
Such things, he said, reduce erosion and<br />
build organic matter, which means less<br />
fertilizer is needed.<br />
“If we improve soil health, water quality<br />
will come along for the ride,” Rep. Mommsen<br />
said.<br />
To that end, Bill Northey, <strong>Iowa</strong> Secretary<br />
of Agriculture, announced in August that<br />
a record 2,600 farmers had signed up to try<br />
various soil conservation measures – “cover<br />
crops, no-till/strip-till, or nitrification<br />
inhibitor” – on more than 270,000 acres in<br />
98 counties.<br />
The state will put up almost $5 million to<br />
share the costs with farmers, who themselves<br />
will invest an estimated $8.7 million<br />
in the program.<br />
Will it be enough?<br />
‘Turn the ground green’<br />
On his farm near the Jackson County<br />
line, Mommsen uses some no-till after the<br />
soybean harvest, and he plants wheat as<br />
a cover crop to limit soil erosion in those<br />
fields between growing seasons.<br />
“They used to say you need to turn<br />
the ground black,” Mommsen said of<br />
“They used<br />
to say you<br />
need to turn<br />
the ground<br />
black. Now<br />
we need<br />
to turn the<br />
ground<br />
green.”<br />
— norlin mommsen<br />
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