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A Culture of Conservation

A Culture of Conservation encourages us to more fully appreciate our environmental and natural resources--not take them for granted. The overall goal of the ILF project is to increase the understanding between individual farm-level decisions and the aggregate impact on the environment. This includes proven practices such as residue management, reduced tillage, buffer strips, cover crops and stream bank stabilization. Adoption of these practices is dependent upon increased producer understanding of the connection between their individual practices and how they contribute to improved sustainability statewide.

A Culture of Conservation Video Series
A new video series “A Culture of Conservation” is now available from the Iowa Learning Farm. The series of six short videos explores the relationship humans have with soil and water and offers ways for everyone to have an active role in protecting and preserving the Earth’s natural resources.

View them here:

Building a Culture of Conservation: Iowan to Iowan, a 7-minute video that provides an overview.

The Water is Life (8:05) video reminds the audience how important clean water is to the body, the community and the Earth.

We All Have a Place in the Watershed (9:05) defines watersheds and how humans interact within them.

In Don’t Call it Dirt: A Passion for Soil (7:55) viewers are asked to think about soil and how it is used. The video also provides ideas in which everyone can improve soil quality and keep it where it belongs.

The Work of Our Hands (9:45) discusses the relationship of societies and agriculture, historically and today.

Reclaiming Stewardship (10:45) highlights several Iowans who are working to achieve the goal of building a culture of conservation.

To request “A Culture of Conservation Video Series” on DVD, contact the Iowa Learning Farm, email: ilf@iastate.edu

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The Iowa Learning Farm (ILF) is a statewide initiative, begun in 2005, involving farmer cooperators, agency partners, and project personnel. The goals of this initiative include:

• To build a Culture of Conservation that strengthens our individual and collective commitments to a set of values, beliefs, and attitudes about the centrality of natural resources to our standard of living and quality of life

• Demonstrate field trials so producers can evaluate agronomic and economic information, share local wisdom, and provide a place where "seeing is believing"

• Utilize locally-led networks

• Conduct a state-wide educational program on the importance of residue management

• Perform water quality modeling for estimating pollutant load reductions

• Offer educational materials related to the social, agronomic, environmental and economic aspects of residue management and other conservation practices.

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Iowa Learning Farm Project Manager Jerry DeWitt gives his impressions after viewing flood-ravaged farms in Northeast Iowa. Read DeWitt's comments.