Conservation practices increase slightly

     A survey of Iowa landowners conducted by Iowa State University suggests that adoption of conservation practices has increased slightly since 2012, and that ongoing trends in land ownership and management are likely barriers to a number of conservation practices.

     However, some of these same barriers may contribute to increased use of no-till management on cropland, researchers found.

     The Iowa Farmland Ownership and Tenure Survey has been conducted by Iowa State for more than 70 years. The current survey uses a statistically representative sample of Iowa farm landowners that provides a long-term perspective on many aspects of Iowa land ownership, land tenure and characteristics of landowners, including age, gender and education.

     Gender did not appear to be a factor in conservation program participation or adoption.

     Iowa farmland owners continue to grow older, said Zhang. Sixty percent of farmland is owned by people 65 years or older and 35 percent is owned by people 75 or older.

     Based on the survey, cover crops are being grown on approximately 4 percent of Iowa farmland. As with all conservation practices, adoption varied widely across the state, ranging from about 1 percent in the northwest crop reporting district to 12 percent in the southwest. The overall rate represents an increase from 2012 levels, based on estimates in the 2017 USDA National Ag Census. Survey respondents indicated their primary reasons for not growing cover crops were that it was the tenant’s decision, cover crops are too costly to terminate, they require too much labor and time, or the season is too short.

     Survey respondents indicated that no-till management is used on 31 percent of Iowa cropland acres, up from USDA estimates of 27 percent in 2012.

     No-till is also more popular with younger farmers. The survey found almost 70 percent of farmers 35 and younger used no-till, compared with 26 percent of farmers aged 65 to 80.

     Researchers found that conservation buffers and ponds or sediment basins for erosion management are used on only about 3 percent and 2 percent of Iowa farm acreage, respectively, and few farmers had land in other types of conservation arrangements, such as easements or private conservation programs. Participation in the long-term Conservation Reserve Program increased to 7 percent from 6 percent in 2012 – levels that do not directly indicate landowner interest, since federal policy limits acreage that can be enrolled.