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Iowa farmers look to maintain environmental goals without sacrificing profitability

Farmers might look to save on input costs by scaling back on conservation practices next year.

Iowa Farm Bureau conservation and natural resources policy advisor Shawn Richmond says members are searching for ways to meet environmental goals without sacrificing productivity and profitability.

“Those (ways) exist. So those are the things that are really interesting to farmers across the state, finding good opportunities where you can add those things in, achieve environmental goals. But also pad that bottom line and increase that margin.”

Speaking to Brownfield during the Iowa Farm Bureau annual meeting earlier this month, he says fertilizer alternatives might be a solution.

“And then also incorporating soil health systems into our productivity and our production systems.”

Richmond says Iowa farmers are embracing the state’s nutrient reduction strategy, helping reduce phosphorous losses nearly 30 percent.