USDA invests with partners in two new eastern Iowa conservation projects, including one in Allamakee County
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and its conservation partners will direct $3.2 million towards two new conservation projects in eastern Iowa. The projects will help communities and farmers improve water quality, enhance soil health, support wildlife habitat and protect agricultural viability.
Iowa’s projects are two of 88 across the country that will receive $225 million in federal funding as part of USDA’s Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). In addition, partners have proposed to contribute up to an additional $500 million.
RCPP projects are selected on a competitive basis, and local private partners must be able to at least match the USDA commitment. RCPP is administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The selected Iowa projects include:
• Innovative Conservation Agriculture. Led by the Allamakee Soil and Water Conservation District in northeast Iowa, this project will address water quality and soil health concerns by supporting implementation of cover crops and no-till in conjunction with manure application. The project will also focus on the conversion of marginal cropland to pasture, and the addition of a small grain crop to a corn-soybean system, preferably with the inclusion of cover crops in the rotation. These practices will help to minimize soil erosion and nutrient run-off. The project will address the need to educate producers and landowners about how different practices affect soil health and long-term productivity. USDA-NRCS and its partners are each contributing about $650,000 to the project, for a total of $1.3 million over five years.
• Fox River Water Quality Project. Led by the Davis County Soil and Water Conservation District in southeast Iowa, this project - in its 18th year - is one of the longest running watershed projects in Iowa. The three-year conservation project aims to improve the health of the Fox River by addressing water quality, conservation, protection and development of natural resources using voluntary programs that provide economic opportunity. The NRCS and eight partners will help producers improve water quality through conservation practices like installing grade stabilization structures, water and sediment control basins, tile outlet terraces and cover crops. USDA-NRCS is contributing about $900,000 to this project and the partners are providing $1 million.
With this announcement, the NRCS is investing a total of $825 million in 286 projects, bringing together more than 2,000 conservation partners who have committed an estimated $1.4 billion in financial and technical assistance. By 2018, NRCS and its partners, including Indian tribes, nonprofit organizations, state and local governments, private industry, water districts, universities and many others, will have invested at least $2.4 billion through RCPP, which was created by the 2014 Farm Bill.
Sign-up information will be out soon for Iowa landowners interested in RCPP. To see a list of projects, visit www.nrcs.usda.gov.
