Integrating Prairie STRIPS on Working Farms “ What, Why, and How”

1. Integrating Prairie STRIPS on Working Farms“What, Why, and How”

2. About Pinhook Farm Founded in 1846by my Great Grandfather James Shambaugh Located in Page, Taylor, & Adams Counties in SW Iowa 2,400 acres rotationally grazed pasture 400 acres corn, cereal grains, & hay for feed 360 acres CRP and land set aside for wildlife Home to 600 mama cows

3. Pinhook Farm Revenue Sources Beef Production Outfitting Land Mitigation for LEED Credits USDA Subsidy Payments My wife’s great job as an Early Childhood Special Education Teacher

4. If something leaves my farm, I’m responsible for it. Water from Pinhook Farm winds up here

5. What are STRIPS?Science Based Trials of Row Crops Integrated with Prairie Strips Research shows that by converting 10% of a crop field to diverse, native perennials farmers and landowners can reduce the amount of soil leaving their fields by 95% and the amount of P leaving their fields through surface runoff by 90%, & N by 85%. In addition STRIPS provide habitat for wildlife, including pollinators and other beneficial insects. By achieving these goals STRIPS can help create a more resilient and sustainable landscape.

6. What’s the best landscape for our future?

7. This landscape?(Which is pretty much what Iowa’s 8.5 million HEL acres look like every spring)

8. Or this landscape?Which is why I like STRIPS (and grazing…)

9. West 80: Tile & Terrace $20,000 Cost per acre $250 Consistently loses money from poor soil types Does nothing to sequester nutrients or Carbon No increase in Biodiversity East 80: STRIPS: Left 10 acres of poorest soil types in Prairie. Total cost $3,000 Cost per Acre $37.50 Farm consistently makes money because I’m not farming non-productive land. Sequesters Nutrients and Carbon Increased biodiversity Which is best? 1.) STRIPS Make Economic Sense“A tale of two 80’s”

10. 2.) STRIPS Make My Farm More Socially Responsible“This is about listening to my customers.”

11. Who are my customers & what do theywant?(Businesses that don’t listen to their customers don’t stay in business. I raise cattle and receive farm subsidies. If you eat beef, breath air, drink water, or pay taxes you’re my customer. What you want matters to me.) Consumers' top 10 Priorities for Agricultural Policies and Programs: Unpublished data by J.G. Arbuckle and J. Tyndall.

12. STRIPS Provide What My Customers Want

13. STRIPs provide… • Clean Water

14. STRIPs provide… • Clean water • Jobs from recreation, installation, & tourism

15. STRIPs provide… • Clean water • Jobs from recreation, installation, & tourism • Slow water down

16. STRIPs provide… • Clean water • Jobs from recreation, installation, & tourism • Slow water down • Habitat for birds, bees, & beasts

17. STRIPs provide… • Clean water • Jobs from recreation, installation, & tourism • Slow water down • Habitat for birds, bees, & beasts • Sequester carbon

18. STRIPs provide… • Clean water • Jobs from recreation, installation, & tourism • Slow water down • Habitat for birds, bees, & beasts • Sequester carbon • Create tourism through hunting, clean lakes & streams

19. STRIPs provide… • Clean water • Jobs from recreation, installation, & tourism • Slow water down • Habitat for birds, bees, & beasts • Sequester carbon • Create tourism through hunting, clean lakes & streams • Improve crop production by protectingour soil

20. Part 2: Tips For STRIPS • Design • What to plant • Preparation • Maintenance • Haying & Grazing • Resources

21. Design: Get good help from good people. STRIPS Team at ISU http://www.prairiestrips.org USDA Service Centers (who may have $) Other Farmers

22. What to Plant? • More diversity the better • Try to source seed from 100 miles North or South and 200 miles East or West of your location.

23. Seeding & Preparation • Drill with native seed attachment • Gentle rolling especially if broadcast seeding • Nurse Crops prevent sprayer blight • Patience • Hire a contactor if you don’t have proper equipment

24. Grazing STRIPS • Hoof action and grazing can help (or hinder) with establishing seed in the fall, tread lightly • They make great cover on cold days • Provide some forage benefit (usually graze fall and winter) • Developing a balanced ecology for my cattle is just as important as their forage needs. • Haying reduced my plant diversity and has not worked for me. Yet… • You have to take a Systems Approach. Livestock integrate well, however they can slow stand establishment with competition from non native cool season grasses.

25. Care and Maintenance • First year: • Mow 3-4 timeswhen vegetation reaches 12” • Set Mower @ 6” • Second Year: • Mow 1-2 times • Set Mower @ 8” • Controlled burns as recommended by a Farm Bill Biologist (about every 4-5 years) • Spot spraying for noxious weeds

26. Resources ISU STRIPS Teamhttp://www.prairiestrips.org Tall Grass Prairie Center http://tallgrassprairiecenter.org Prairie STRIPS research fields at Neil Smith National Wildlife Refuge http://www.fws.gov/refuge/neal_smith Seeding contractors http://www.plantiowanative.com/resources/#services