In the Corn Belt, water quality is not improving at a rate that is leading to meaningful landscape level change, and these poster boys for conservation farming say it’s time for the ag industry, commodity groups, and government to step up and take responsibility. (1 of 2 parts; part 2 here)

More Information:

• Ear to the Ground 396: Accountable Ag

• LSP Soil Health Web Page

• LSP Myth Buster No. 68: “When Nitrogen is Gone, it Can be Forgotten”

• SARE Fact Sheet: “Cover Crops at Work: Keeping Nutrients Out of Waterways”

• LSP Blog: The Crop Insurance Conundrum

• Researcher’s Analysis of Nov. 2025 Iowa Farm Bureau Statement on Water Quality

• PNAS Paper: “The Extent of Soil Loss Across the US Corn Belt”

• ISU CARD Analysis: “Cover Crop Adoption Decelerates and No-till Area Stagnates in the I-States”