Water: A decorahnews.com special report. Turkey River Watershed project aims to convince farmers conservation practices make financial sense

Often, areas of a field that are not profitable for farmers to farm are also the most environmentally sensitive and farming them could have a negative impact on water quality and soil health.

Northeast Iowa Resource Conservation and Development and the Iowa Soybean Association are offering farmers in the Turkey River Watershed a confidential profitability analysis of their farmland at a discounted price of 25 cents/acre.

The analysis provided will demonstrate where conservation practices could be placed and how implementation may benefit the bottom line, either by generating income or reducing loss.

Initially, farmers will work with the Northeast Iowa RC&D, to gather needed information — yield, management and input cost data. Then, the Iowa Soybean Association will perform the analysis for each farm categorizing acres into three zones: high performing, reasonably performing and nonperforming. Combined, these acres generate the overall picture of the farm and help farmers identify ways to optimize profit. ISA will
follow-up with an on-farm consultation, allowing farmers to discuss alternative practices that may be more profitable and methods for implementing those practices.

"The project allows us to assess 4,000 acres in the Turkey River Watershed — first come, first serve," said Ross Evelsizer, watershed planner with the Northeast Iowa RC&D.

The project is sponsored by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture and the National Fish and the Wildlife Foundation.

For more information or to participate in profitability analysis, farmers can contact Evelsizer at 563-864-7112 or Kiel at 515-334-1022.