ISA & Partners Implement
Bioreactor Project
ISA’s Environmental Programs are exploring new strategies for reducing the flow of nitrate from subsurface field drainage systems to streams in agricultural watersheds. This Special Project, funded by Agriculture’s Clean Water Alliance and the Sand County Foundation, installed the largest bioreactor in the United States on the Mike Bravard farm in Greene County. Read more about bioreactors and view photos of this September 2008 installation HERE.

Tool Aids Producers in Evaluating and Reducing Energy Use–Including In-field Management!
A pilot project teaming ISA’s CEMSA Program, MGT Envirotec, and Environmental Intelligence, Inc. has aided 51 producers in evaluating their on-farm energy use and planning efficiency improvements. Read more about the pilot, plans for next steps, and project study results, review the Calculator Guidance, and then try the current version of the energy calculator yourself.		    
ISA’s Environmental Programs – Expanding Opportunities. Delivering Results.

Iowa Soybean Association’s farmer directors launched their Environmental Programs in 2000 as a substantive response to the growing challenge they faced–providing food, feed, and fuel for the world while conserving and protecting its natural resources. Emerging technologies held promise for helping meet this challenge, so they set about finding ways to incorporate those technologies into their operations to achieve practical results.

Nearly a decade later, ISA Environmental Programs–working with over 400 producers, 9 organized watersheds, and multiple partners–provide nationally recognized technical leadership combining unique sets of core capacities and capabilities, facilities, equipment, instrumentation and expertise. All this is done under farmer direction, sustained by farmer investment. ISA’s culture–Expanding Opportunities. Delivering Results. –fosters innovation and entrepreneurism grounded in rigorous research and high-impact service and support for Advancing Agriculture’s Environmental Performance.

Iowa farmers’ investment of nearly $3million in soybean checkoff funds have leveraged federal, state, private foundation, and corporate financial support to 		 
 
• help farmers, agronomists, environmentalists, the general public, and policy makers work together to understand the complexities of the land-water interface

• identify opportunities to improve agriculture’s stewardship of natural resources and energy use efficiency

• design and implement tools and systems to help farmers optimize their environmental performance while maintaining or improving yield and profitability

Tools and services have been developed, piloted, and evaluated at both the farm and watershed scale and expert leadership services provided at state, regional, and national scales. All are built and implemented on these Key Principles:
 
• adaptive management (plan, do, check, adjust) for continual improvement

• applied evaluation–collection of assessment and monitoring data to inform management decisions in a feedback loop

• integrated solutions designed and targeted for local conditions

• collaboration, partnership, and long-term commitment for maximum results

Watershed Program

This program assists watersheds of varying sizes with assessment, planning, outreach and implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and partnership building. As of September 2009, ISA staff, working in watersheds covering nearly 3million acres,
 
• installed and maintain a water monitoring network of 128 sampling sites, 11 automated sampling stations and a corps of certified samplers, in the Raccoon, Boone, and Des Moines watersheds

• are currently facilitating or have completed watershed plans and/or rapid watershed assessments for 7 targeted watersheds, and participated in a TMDL plan

• assisted nearly 200 producers in watershed participation and resource management implementation and have begun outreach to 700 more through surveys

• provided leadership and assistance to conservation groups and some of these organized watersheds in designing and obtaining grant funding for performance-based projects

CEMSA (Certified Environmental Management Systems for Agriculture) Program

CEMSA assists farmers in establishing an environmental management framework that will help them profitably address environmental issues and concerns in their operation. As of September 2009, 257 producers have participated in this program. Outreach activities in conjunction with watershed projects will add about 100 CEMSA participants in FY10.

Each farmer evaluates environmental risks and energy usage issues specific to his or her operation. Using the CEMSA adaptive management tool, the farmer and a trained technical service provider (TSP) design a custom-fit action plan that incorporates applied evaluation to provide data for measuring success and improving strategies. Farmers can
 
• begin EMS planning at the field or whole farm scale

• focus on only nutrient, soil, and pest management

• add energy efficiency assessment and planning and additional resource planning modules as they experience the value of the planning tool

• track economic and agronomic performance of environmental management strategies

• improve their performance by working with groups of farmers in their watershed or conservation district to integrate their efforts with watershed or district-scale assessment, planning, and implementation.

CEMSA staff also work with ag-related industries to document, demonstrate, and advance the sustainability of production agriculture.

Environmental Leadership Services

This 2-pronged program provides overarching vision and design direction for all Environmental Programs initiatives and provides expert environmental leadership and consultation from agriculture in state, regional, and national forums. These engagements bring information from experts in many disciplines to enrich ISA program initiatives, while promoting ISA Environmental Programs’ key principles, tools, and systems and adding science and data-supported knowledge to public discourse and policy development.

Capacity-building Partnership with a Common Vision

Partnerships and collaborations, built on the foundation of Iowa soybean checkoff investment, created startup capacity for Environmental Programs. Conservation groups, ag retailers, public utilities, federal and state agencies, elected officials, and corporate leaders committed resources to design, pilot, and evaluate these innovative tools and systems. Together, we envision a future in which farmers have the tools, systems, technical assistance, and leadership to become providers of science-based solutions to pressing environmental problems.
 
 
SITE MAP | ©2007 Iowa Soybean Association | Funded in Part by Soybean Checkoff Dollars