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Iowa Soybean Association seeks increased conservation funding from Legislature

The Iowa Soybean Association is asking legislators to increase funding for water quality and conservation efforts.

ISA director of public affairs Michael Dolch says this year marks the tenth anniversary of Iowa’s Nutrient Reduction Strategy.

“And while progress has certainly been made and conservation efforts are ramping up, we must do more to help achieve some of the strategies overarching longer-term goals.”

He tells Brownfield one way to do that would be funding the Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund.

“This would help immediately scale up and accelerate some of those conservation practices, both in-field and edge-of-field practices.”

Dolch says the trust fund was created in 2010 as a constitutional amendment but has sat empty the past 13 years mostly because lawmakers have been hesitant to raise taxes to support it.