Money Matters 4-28-17
Legislative officials and community members learned more about conservation practices on a water quality tour recently.
The Iowa Corn Growers Association (ICGA), Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) and the Iowa Land Improvement Contractors Association (LICA) hosted the fifth annual water quality and agriculture field day for legislators last Friday at the LICA farm located northeast of Des Moines.
Ben Gleason with Iowa Corn Growers, welcomed the group before we took a tour of the farm.
?[We will] talk to some contractors and farmers and learn how [certain practices] are installed. Why the federal and financial assistance is important and some of the regulatory issues people have encountered installing these.?
Senator Joni Ernst was the only legislator who attended, but staff from Congressman Dave Loebsack and Rod Blum?s office were there too. State legislators were busy wrapping up their legislative session. Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey also was there.
?This is a farm that has lots of different practices. From wetlands, to bioreactors, and a lot of different things showcasing those practices. Many times, those practices are scattered around the whole neighborhood where here, they are all in one place.?
Farmers, contractors, and conservation experts discussed with legislators how the practices work, how they are constructed, and the costs of installation as well as the cost-share programs currently available.
?As I continue my 99-county tour, it?s important for me to hear from Iowa?s farmers, contractors and conservation experts as I did today at the water quality and agriculture field day,? said Iowa Senator Joni Ernst, who serves on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry and the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
