Iowa Crop Progress & Condition, November 23, 2015

Report produced by the The Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Climatology Bureau. Weather report released by the USDA National Agricultural Statistical Service. The report is released weekly from April through October. Formally titled: Iowa Crop and Weather Report

Iowa Spirits Price Book, December 2015

Iowa Spirits Price Book is produced monthly details of the current prices of liquors in Iowa. Formerly titled Iowa Liquor Quarterly Spirits Price Book.

Iowa Crop Progress & Condition, November 30, 2015

Report produced by the The Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Climatology Bureau. Weather report released by the USDA National Agricultural Statistical Service. The report is released weekly from April through October. Formally titled: Iowa Crop and Weather Report

2015 Iowa Crop Progress Progress Review, December 2015

The Crop Progress and Condition Report is made possible by the dedication of our volunteer Crop Progress Reporters. A review of Iowa crop land with charts and graphs.

Iowa Spirits Price Book, January 2016

Iowa Spirits Price Book is produced monthly details of the current prices of liquors in Iowa. Formerly titled Iowa Liquor Quarterly Spirits Price Book.

06015-008 Bear Creek Watershed Final Report

Big Bear Creek is the upper portion of Bear Creek which drains 26,734 acres and ends at the Highway 136 crossing of Bear Creek. Bear Creek flows into the section of the Maquoketa River, which is on the EPA’s 303(d) List of Impaired Waters. Monitoring by the Iowa DNR indicates that Bear Creek is contributing significant amounts of sediment and nutrients to the Maquoketa River. The primary use of land in the Big Bear Creek Watershed is row crop production. A roadside survey completed by Anamosa Field Office Staff indicated that 123,747 tons/yr. of sediment was being lost due to sheet and rill erosion only. The sediment delivered to Big Bear Creek is 24,447 tons/yr. Based on this data, 34,226 lbs. of Phosphorus is reaching the stream per year. With the added amount of sediment and phosphorus delivery through gully and streambank erosion, one can clearly see that the water quality in Bear Creek is severely impaired. The Big Bear Watershed Project will work to reduce the sediment and phosphorus delivered to the stream by 30% through the installation of practices that trap sediment and reduce erosion.

06009-004 Price Creek Watershed Final Report

Price Creek is a 13 mile long stream located in SE Benton County and the NE corner of Iowa County. It ends below the village of Amana where it flows into the Iowa River. The Iowa and Benton County Soil & Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs) applied (and were tentatively approved) for 319/WPF/WSPF funding to treat livestock and water quality issues in this watershed over the next three years. That project’s funds were allocated for a Project Coordinator, information and education activities, and cost share for Best Management Practices (BMPs) directed toward livestock issues and nutrient issues. Soil erosion and sedimentation are also problems in this 18,838 acre watershed. It is 64% HEL (highly erodible land) and 58% of it is cropped. With a coordinator working with Price Creek producers, this would be an excellent time to also address the soil loss and sedimentation issues in this watershed. We will offer additional cost share incentives on BMPs targeting soil erosion on the critical areas we’ve identified. We are applying to IWIRB for additional funding to allow us to cost share specific BMPs up to 75% to treat soil loss in these critical areas of the Price Creek Watershed.

Iowa Crop Progress & Condition, December 31, 2015

Report produced by the The Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Climatology Bureau. Weather report released by the USDA National Agricultural Statistical Service. The report is released weekly from April through October. Formally titled: Iowa Crop and Weather Report

Iowa Crop Progress & Condition, February 3, 2016

Report produced by the The Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Climatology Bureau. Weather report released by the USDA National Agricultural Statistical Service. The report is released weekly from April through October. Formally titled: Iowa Crop and Weather Report

Iowa Spirits Price Book, March 2016

Iowa Spirits Price Book is produced monthly details of the current prices of liquors in Iowa. Formerly titled Iowa Liquor Quarterly Spirits Price Book.

Iowa Crop Progress & Condition, March 3, 2016

Report produced by the The Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Climatology Bureau. Weather report released by the USDA National Agricultural Statistical Service. The report is released weekly from April through October. Formally titled: Iowa Crop and Weather Report

Iowa Spirits Price Book, April 2016

Iowa Spirits Price Book is produced monthly details of the current prices of liquors in Iowa. Formerly titled Iowa Liquor Quarterly Spirits Price Book.

Do fire and seed additions alter strong seed timing and priority effects on prairie establishment?, 2011

Many prairie restoration projects are hampered by a lack of knowledge on how to restore the high diversity found in prairies, while at the same time preventing the establishment of a large weedy component. Methods are needed to increase diversity and abundance of native species while minimizing exotic species invasions in both 1) newly planted restorations and 2) established restorations. We established an experiment in Story and Monona counties in 2005 to determine the effects of different native cover crop species and timing of seeding on the establishment of new prairie restorations. We found that adding a 30-species prairie mix in early spring led to diverse native communities, but adding the mix in the late summer or the following year after cover crops established led to low diversity communities dominated by exotics. The identity of cover crops affected communities less than timing of seed additions. A second seed addition added to ash after a spring fire in the seventh year (Monona County site) increased recruitment from the prairie mix slightly, but the increase was not enough to cause convergence in the treatments. Surprisingly, the second seed addition increased diversity only in communities that were already the most diverse (i.e., in plots seeded with the prairie mix in early spring before cover crops established). These results imply that 1) cover crops are not effective for establishing prairie and 2) over seeding into established plots may not be an easy and efficient way to increase native recruitment and lower weedy species abundances. Therefore, focusing on establishing high levels of recruitment and diversity and excluding weedy species during the critical time early in establishment should be a priority for new projects.

Iowa Crop Progress & Condition, March 4, 2016

Report produced by the The Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Climatology Bureau. Weather report released by the USDA National Agricultural Statistical Service. The report is released weekly from April through October. Formally titled: Iowa Crop and Weather Report

Iowa Crop Progress & Condition, March 5, 2016

Report produced by the The Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Climatology Bureau. Weather report released by the USDA National Agricultural Statistical Service. The report is released weekly from April through October. Formally titled: Iowa Crop and Weather Report