Installing and Maintaining Prairie Strips

Research has shown that by converting just 10 percent of a crop field to diverse native perennials, farmers and farmland owners can reduce the amount of soil leaving their fields by 90 percent and the amount of nitrogen leaving their fields through surface runoff by up to 85 percent. The Science-based Trials of Rowcrops Integrated with Prairie Strips (STRIPS) project is working to demonstrate these benefits to landowners. Two members of the STRIPS team will share how to establish and maintain prairie strips on farmland, from both the technician and farmer perspectives.

Tim Youngquist is the farmer liaison for Iowa State University’s STRIPS project, where he helps farmers and landowners around the state design, install and maintain prairie strips. Tim grew up on a century farm near Kiron, which he is now helping to manage with the goal of keeping the land productive and healthy.

Seth Watkins runs his family’s heritage farm near Clarinda, where they have a cow-calf enterprise and raise hay and corn for feed. Seth has implemented a wide variety of conservation practices on the farm, and is a participant in ISU’s STRIPS project.