Ag secretary unveils water quality initiative in Cherokee

Several key figures involved with a state water-quality initiative were in Cherokee last Thursday to kick off the program’s expansion.

The event was to kickoff Soil and Water Conservation Week. Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig announced that the Water Quality Initiative (WQI) demonstration project will now include Cherokee, Ida, Woodbury, Carroll and Guthrie counties. He said, “There has never been more conservation work getting done in the state of Iowa as there is today.”

The initial project launched in 2016 in Taylor and Paige counties. It is designed to demonstrate the compatibility between cattle and conservation. The initiative uses science and technology to protect and improve Iowa’s water quality.

Iowa farmers and landowners will work alongside the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and other partners to identify, build and expand opportunities for forage-based crops where row crops are less profitable. This means long-term improvements for both conservation efforts and a producer’s bottom-line profits. 

Bob Waters, the regional coordinator with the Iowa Department of Agriculture Water Resources Bureau, is “really excited about this Cherokee project.” Waters explained that they are there to help solve problems, providing a suite of programs to producers that are customized for individual farms.

Project coordinator from Taylor County, Erin Ogle, was on hand to explain the impact of WQI. The focus has been marginal acres which are unprofitable and unproductive acres. The project has seeded over 5,000 acres and worked with over 200 producers to implement new options for those spaces.

Goals for the project including grazing and hay land planting, installing grade stabilization structures that incorporate watering systems, promoting extended crop rotations, incorporating the use of cover crops in livestock operations, and engaging new and beginning farmers. 

Foraging, grazing, pasture establishment and planting fall cover crops have helped  serve as alternatives that not only improve profits for producers, but help with conservation efforts by reducing soil erosion and improving water quality.

Cherokee native Colton Barnes, who had been on the job for just 24 hours prior to the event, was introduced as the project manager for Cherokee county. He said “I found it very fitting that soil and water conservation week overlays with beef month in may. And this project really brings that to life. There’s an old saying that the land is made of cattle.” 

He continued, “properly managing cattle has benefits that span way beyond just the cattle itself. It goes to our soil, our insects, our birds, our pollinators, our wildlife. It has a profound impact on water quality. This project has real potential to bring lasting change to our land and our community.”

Secretary Naig listed several of the partners that are working hard to implement the Nutrient Reduction Strategy here in Iowa. He applauded those partnerships between Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP), Cherokee, Ida, Woodbury, Carroll and Guthrie County Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Cherokee and Carroll County Cattlemen, Iowa Cattlemen’s Association, Iowa Beef Industry Council, and Iowa State University, to name a few.

Naig said “That is what this takes. It takes folks willing to say yes. We’ve got to try some things that are different as well.” He added, “We’re going to continue to do the things that are tried and true. Building terraces and waterways and those types of things that have served us so well. And then we’re going to try some new things and we’re going to try some new ways to deliver practices as well.”