–The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship is expanding a soil sampling project to include all of the counties that sit upstream from the Des Moines and Cedar Rapids metro areas. The Nitrogen Soil Sampling Project was launched in April, with farmers from Boone, Calhoun, Greene, Hamilton, and Webster counties eligible to participate. Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig tells KLGA News that the initial effort saw enough interest that they were able to expand the effort to farmers throughout the Greater Des Moines Watershed, which includes Kossuth and surrounding counties.
IDALS teamed with the Iowa Nutrient Research and Education Center (INREC) this spring to take soil samples and assess year-to-year variability in nitrogen availability and evaluate how on-farm management decisions are impacted by residual soil nitrogen. The soil sampling project will monitor fields for three years, and Naig says they have both public and private partners.
Naig says the initial launch went so well, they knew the program could quickly be expanded.
Farmers who enroll are asked to provide data such as nitrogen management, crop rotation, cover crop history and manure application. Officials are hoping to collect samples from 250 fields to gather data that can be coupled with the N-FACT tool to help farmers make informed fertilizer management decisions. Along with all the counties in the Greater Des Moines Watershed, farmers in the Middle Cedar Watershed will be eligible, which includes four counties in eastern Iowa (Benton, Black Hawk, Grundy, Tama). Farmers can start enrolling in the fall soil sampling project now at www.iowanrec.org/nitrogen-soil-sampling-project.
