Iowa's Center for Agriculture Safety and Health Annual Report, 2011

I-CASH is to enhance the health and safety of Iowa's agricultural community by establishing and coordinating prevention and education programs. This annual report gives information about a variety of areas that participate in I-CASH

Iowa's Center for Agriculture Safety and Health Annual Report, 2012

I-CASH is to enhance the health and safety of Iowa's agricultural community by establishing and coordinating prevention and education programs. This annual report gives information about a variety of areas that participate in I-CASH

Iowa's Center for Agriculture Safety and Health Annual Report, 2013

I-CASH is to enhance the health and safety of Iowa's agricultural community by establishing and coordinating prevention and education programs. This annual report gives information about a variety of areas that participate in I-CASH

08021-012 Sands Timber Final Report

Sands Timber Lake is a 60 acre man made impoundment near Blockton, Iowa. The lake is the centerpiece of a 235 acre park, which is owned and managed by the Taylor County Conservation Board. The park is equipped with modern campsites, hiking trails, picnic areas, and a playground. Bordering the western shoreline of the lake is a beautiful hardwood timber which inspired the parks name. Sands Timber Lake has a 4,100 acre drainage area comprised of timber, grassland, and row crop. The lake is fed by four large classic gullies which branch off into many smaller gullies dissecting the drainage area. Since construction in 1993, Sands Timber Lake has been an extremely poor fishery. In 2006 Sands Timber Lake was added to the EPA’s 303d list of impaired water bodies. Turbid water was identified as the primary stressor. In 2007 a bathometric map was made which depicts lake-bottom contours and elevations which, when compared to the original survey of the area, revealed an alarming amount of siltation. What was once a twenty-three foot deep lake in 1994 has now been reduced to a mere fourteen feet. In addition to depth being lost, the lake’s surface has been reduced by nearly ten acres, destroying vital fish habitats. Local interest in preserving and enhancing the lake has led to the completion of a thorough watershed assessment and treatment plan. Included in the plan are several elements, the first being upland treatment. Locals are insistent that if conservation is not implemented in the watershed the lake will continue to degrade and park usage will continue to decline.

08019-011 Staff Beaver Creek Final Report

Staff and Beaver Creeks are two tributaries of the Upper Iowa River (UIR). Additional acres that drain directly into the UIR bring the size of the project area to 41,328 acres. The goal of the project is to reduce sediment loading and excess nutrients from reaching the streams which ultimately reach the UIR. Staff/Beaver Water Quality Project initially received funding as part of the FY 2005 WSPF/319 grant application cycle. Tremendous progress has been accomplished towards the original goals of the project. Due to the large number of Best Management Practices (BMPs) installed and the continued high interest for those practices, more work remains to be done. The heavy rains received in 2008 caused severe erosion and has dramatically increased interest in conservation practices. A thorough watershed assessment was completed in the fall of 2008. Data from this assessment indicates additional work is needed. The initial grant funding will be exhausted within fiscal year 2009. Therefore, the Howard Soil and Water Conservation District is seeking 3 years of funding. The District believes interest in the water quality project is at an all time high and that with an additional three years of funding, even more progress can be achieved in reducing sediment delivery and excess nutrients to these priority streams.

08018-010 Walnut Creek Final Report

In 2004 Walnut Creek was placed on the 303d list of impaired water bodies for lack of aquatic life with biological causes. Sediment from farmland as well as the stream banks was listed as the most likely stressor. In response to this listing a preliminary watershed assessment was completed by the six counties which have land in the Walnut Creek watershed. Walnut Creek flows through portions of Shelby, Pottawattamie, Montgomery, Mills, Page, and Fremont Counties before reaching its confluence with the West Nishnabotna River. The preliminary study assessed resource concerns and evaluated anticipated landowner participation levels for the six Huc 12 sub-watersheds which divide the Walnut Creek basin. These preliminary assessments revealed a priority sub-watershed which lies between US Hwy 6 and Hwy 34. A development grant was then funded by the Division of Soil Conservation to conduct a detailed assessment of this area. The detailed assessment involved an assessment of the uplands as well as the stream itself. A better understanding of the resource concerns was gained through the assessment, allowing for a comprehensive watershed plan to be developed. A variety of best management practices will be necessary for our project to be a success, many of which will be funded by other sources besides the WIRB. This grant is the first request for funding submitted by the East Pottawattamie and Montgomery SWCDs’. This grant will serve as the first critical step in building what is destined to be a true watershed success story.

08011-007 Ludlow Creek Final Report

Brief Project Summary (no greater than this space allows): This project is located in the Ludlow Creek Watershed, a 9,827 acre sub-watershed of the Yellow River. Ludlow Creek is extremely fragile and unique because it is a karst watershed, containing an estimated 1,188 sinkholes and depressions. Ludlow Creek may arguably contain more sinkholes per acre than any other watershed in Iowa. Water sampling data shows sediment delivery and E.coli as being water quality impairments in Ludlow Creek. The goals of this project are to 1) Reduce sediment delivery by 40%, 2) Reduce animal waste run-off which may include E.coli and nutrients by 40%, and 3) Reduce the water quality impact that sinkholes have on this watershed. The following Best Management Practices (BMPs) will be implemented to target Ludlow Creek's water quality impairments: no-till, terraces, grade stabilization structures, manure systems, strearnbank stabilization, pasture management, and both sinkhole and stream buffers. Our goal is to implement a combination of approximately 62 BMPs in the Ludlow Creek Watershed. These landowners will receive 75% cost-share for each one of these practices. If we receive funding from this grant, we will reach this 75% cost-share allocation by leveraging WHIP or EQIP funds when available, for most of these practices. This application has been reviewed and approved by the Allamakee County Soil and Water Conservation District Commissioners.

07043-017 North Fork Maquoketa Final Report

The North Fork Maquoketa River Headwaters (NFMRH) has been identified as impaired by nutrients, episodic slugs of ammonia and sediment. The NFMRH TMDL plan calls for a "phasing approach" to managing water quality when the origin is non-point source contaminants. This project will address phase 1 using a performance reward program for targeted cooperators to improve environmental index scores using cost-share, EQIP practices and flexible management alternatives. Pre-project assessments suggest that rewards should target refined management of erosion-prone fields and farms with livestock populations, which contribute to the P and N loads responsible for fertilizing filamentous algae blooms that depress dissolved oxygen concentrations in the NFMRH. The Phosphorus Index, Soil Conditioning Index and cornstalk nitrate test will be used by producers to determine effective alternatives, such as no-till planting, to reduce nutrient and sediment delivery. These evironmental indexes will be especially useful for livestock producers in the livestock dense watershed. This project will extend a NRCS-sponsored Conservation Innovation Grant currently offered to producers in the Coffee Creek sub-watershed to a three-year, watershed-wide effort that will be necessary to make significant improvements in environmental management.

Stories in Agriculture and Life Sciences, Fall 2007

Stories we hope will inform and inspire you. Stories about how the college is constantly striving to make new discoveries, encourage and educate students and serve Iowans. Stories of the people who make this college one of the premier institutions of agriculture and life sciences in the world.

Stories in Agriculture and Life Sciences, Fall 2008

Stories we hope will inform and inspire you. Stories about how the college is constantly striving to make new discoveries, encourage and educate students and serve Iowans. Stories of the people who make this college one of the premier institutions of agriculture and life sciences in the world.

Stories in Agriculture and Life Sciences, Fall 2009

Stories we hope will inform and inspire you. Stories about how the college is constantly striving to make new discoveries, encourage and educate students and serve Iowans. Stories of the people who make this college one of the premier institutions of agriculture and life sciences in the world.

Stories in Agriculture and Life Sciences, Spring 2009

Stories we hope will inform and inspire you. Stories about how the college is constantly striving to make new discoveries, encourage and educate students and serve Iowans. Stories of the people who make this college one of the premier institutions of agriculture and life sciences in the world.

Stories in Agriculture and Life Sciences, Fall 2010

Stories we hope will inform and inspire you. Stories about how the college is constantly striving to make new discoveries, encourage and educate students and serve Iowans. Stories of the people who make this college one of the premier institutions of agriculture and life sciences in the world.

Stories in Agriculture and Life Sciences, Spring 2010

Stories we hope will inform and inspire you. Stories about how the college is constantly striving to make new discoveries, encourage and educate students and serve Iowans. Stories of the people who make this college one of the premier institutions of agriculture and life sciences in the world.

Stories in Agriculture and Life Sciences, Fall 2011

Stories we hope will inform and inspire you. Stories about how the college is constantly striving to make new discoveries, encourage and educate students and serve Iowans. Stories of the people who make this college one of the premier institutions of agriculture and life sciences in the world.