Iowa farmers borrowing for conservation spent more

Farmers in Iowa who’ve used a low interest loan program to make conservation improvements on their lands spent more money on conservation overall. That’s according to a new study by ISU Extension sociologist – J. Arbuckle, “Folks just really seemed to believe that the loans helped them to accomplish their conservation goals more quickly than they would have otherwise and allowed them to make greater investments in conservation practices.”The study was commissioned by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Arbuckle tells Brownfield farmers who used the EPA 3% interest revolving loan program, on average, spent 25% more on conservation practices and used a greater variety of practices than those who relied mostly on government cost-share programs.

The State Revolving fund is designed to improve water quality in Iowa. Since it began in 2005 in Iowa, Arbuckle says farmers have borrowed more than $34 Million to “prevent sediment, chemicals and nutrients from polluting Iowa’s streams and rivers.”

Arbuckle says use of the loans varied throughout the state and the DNR wanted to know why. He tells Brownfield that awareness about it varied throughout the state. The surveys were distributed and answered in the summer and early fall of 2008.

Iowa State University Extension  study

AUDIO: Interview with J. Arbuckle, sociologist with Iowa State University Extension, (6:00 min., MP3)