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Iowa Soybean Association

Contact
Roger Wolf
Iowa Soybean Association
4554 114th St
Urbandale, IA 50322
rwolf@iasoybeans.com
(515) 251-8640

On the Web: www.isafarmnet.com

Activity: On-Farm Network(TM) CEMSA: Certified Environmental Management Systems for Agriculture--Advancing Agricultural Performance(TM)

Geographic location: Activity covers state of Iowa. Farmers from all 99 Iowa counties have particpated. Currently, all watershed work is within the Upper Mississippi River Basin and is concentrated in the North Raccoon River, Boone River, SouthFork of Iowa River-Upper, and Lower Cedar watersheds.

Brief activity description: The Iowa Soybean Association Environmental and Agronomic Programs are farmer-directed and built on science and technology supporting farmers in conducting on-farm management performance evaluation, EMS plan development and implementation, and watershed programming. Multiple tactics are used, providing farmers with technical assistance which enables them to address their resource concerns, while collecting and processing evaluation data. Evaluation is done on several levels, including individual field scale, farm scale (multiple fields under a farmer), and subwatershed scale. ISA is currently coordinating on-farm trials in four Iowa watersheds, plus trials or guided corn stalk nitrate testing on more than 1,000 fields representing all 99 Iowa counties and involving more than 400 farmers.

Primary goals or focus:

• Nutrient reduction
• Sediment reduction
• Agricultural landscape change
• Water quality improvement
• Development/implementation of Best Management Practices (BMPs)
• Education/information sharing
• Organizing/networking/coordinating
• Performance evaluation

Projected outcomes/impacts, if known: Improve farmers' agronomic, economic and environmental performance through an ongoing cycle of adaptive management, emphasizing in-field evaluation. Demonstrate, with credible data, ability to validate and optimize performance. Integrate ag performance-based strategies into policy. Expand programming to other states.

Activity type:

• Research
• Policy
• Education
• Demonstration
• Implementation
• Technical assistance

Scale of activity:

• On-farm program
• Community-level
• Watershed
• County
• State
• Sub-basin

Lead organization(s)/organizer(s): Iowa Soybean Association

Other partners and participants: The Nature Conservancy, Environmental Defense, John Deere, Pioneer, Local SWCDs, RC&Ds, Agriculture's Clean Water Alliance, Des Moines Water Works, National Soil Tilth Lab, Iowa State University

Timeline/duration: 2000-2015
Projected or real startup time: 2000
Projected ending time or goal deadline: 2015

Funding sources:

• Federal government
• State government
• Foundations
• Corporations/Business/Industry

Follow-up activities that will/might result from this activity: Development and implementation of a multi-state ag performance initiative in the Upper Mississippi River Basin.

Publications

Field, Farm and Watershed
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Iowa Soybean Association Agronomic and Environmental Programs 2005 Progress Report
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