Project Report
Project Lead/Researchers:
Jacqueline Comito, research manager, Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering/ director, Iowa Learning Farms/Water Rocks!
The Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture has been an important partner of the Iowa Learning Farms from the beginning in 2004. ILF marked its 20th year in 2024, and the Leopold Center’s support helped the Iowa Learning Farms continue to host successful in-person and virtual field days in 2024 on a variety of topics.
Thirty-one in-person field days were held in 2024 with 956 participants. The field days featured the following topics: cover crops, relay intercropping, nutrient management, bioreactors, saturated buffers, forestry managements, beavers, wetlands, water quality, rotational grazing, soil health and perennial vegetation. Event speakers included farmers, landowners, ISU Extension Specialists, researchers, NRCS staff, and watershed coordinators who provided practical and technical best management recommendations. ILF hosted six virtual field days with 781 attendees and 1,848 archival views. The virtual field days highlighted pasturing oxbows, woodchip bioreactors, relay intercropping, perennial ground cover in cropping systems, agricultural drainage well closures and smart agricultural drainage projects.
Conservation On Tap and Forestry On Tap events remain incredibly popular with six held in 2024. The one-hour events are less formal than a traditional field day with participants and ISU speakers engage in a Q&A discussion related to water quality.