While some officials have pointed to agricultural runoff for the rise in nitrate levels that rivers in Central Iowa are experiencing, farmers and others in the agriculture industry say they’re doing and have been doing what they can — which includes making strides over the years in reducing nitrogen runoff. It’s something state officials have noted, too. “There’s never been more awareness about the need to do more conservation work and the types of practices that might work on a farm,” said Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig when KCCI spoke with him earlier this month.Naig highlighted the continuous and growing conservation work done by many across the state. One farm and team known for their conservation efforts is Maxwell Farms in Story County. “I do believe farmers in general are the best conservationists,” said Zachary Ziffer, a farmer with Maxwell United, also known as Maxwell Farms. Maxwell Farms is owned by two brothers, Jason and John Maxwell. They — along with their team of farmers and more — were named the 2024 Iowa Conservation Farmers of the Year. “We do a lot. We do some farm composting. We also have some land going into a wetlands project,” Ziffer said. “We do 60-inch corn. Traditionally in Iowa, you have corn grown on 30 or 20-inch centers, but we grow it on 60-inch centers in twin rows. In that 53-inch gap, we plan to cover crops when the corn is less than knee-high. We go out there and we seed our cover crops.” The latter of which can minimize nitrate leaching. The team at Maxwell Farms performs a number of conservation practices like on-farm composting from cattle, no-till and strip-till methods, and more. Ziffer said there’s more at play when it comes to nitrate levels in water ways than run-off from farms. “It is heat. It is rain. It is soil microbes to make nitrogen available to the plant, but that also means nitrogen can leach,” Ziffer said. “It is a complicated situation. No farmer is happy that Central Iowa Water Works is limiting the water. We don’t want to limit your water activities.” Farmers say nitrogen is crucial for crops. “It is a huge dependent on anything that’s a grass, it needs nitrogen to grow,” Ziffer said. “Nitrogen helps set the amount of kernels around the kernels’ length of the ear.” However, with that in mind, Ziffer says he wants people to know farmers are and have been doing everything they can to control their use. “We’re not out here excessively applying nitrogen. We’re applying nitrogen in split applications to maximize the ultimate value of the dollar that we have invested into this crop,” Ziffer said. Ziffer said farmers utilize places like Iowa State and the Iowa Nitrogen Initiative to help continue and grow their understanding of what the soil needs. “We know how many pounds of nitrogen is in a gallon of 32%,” Ziffer said. “We use great products that help stabilize that nitrogen in the soil and keep it in suspension and reduce leaching.” Ziffer told KCCI that he knows Maxwell Farms isn’t the only group of farmers using conservation methods across Iowa. “I would even go to say 95%-99% of farmers are doing everything they can to minimize it. We manage our waterways as best we can,” Ziffer said. Part of that involves using advanced technology when farmers can.“The technology in sprayers: we have seen spray now that reduces the amount of chemical we put on the field, but the cost that we have to pay to use that technology, that’s because the cost of goods is going up. The cost of steel goes up. The cost of electronics goes up. These things, we have to pay for it and then we have to pay per acre on top of that,” Ziffer said. Ziffer said he knows farmers do the research. In addition to that, they also implement practices of their own and share them with others in the industry. “I was just in Indiana with a guy by the name of Jason Mock, who’s been studying how to grow soybeans and wheat together. What that does is — the wheat actually increases the percolation of the soil but nutrient uptake. So it gets this really clean water down. The wheat roots and the soybean roots work together,” Ziffer said. “We are conservationists at heart, and we are always trying to be lean and effective at everything we do.”
While some officials have pointed to agricultural runoff for the rise in nitrate levels that rivers in Central Iowa are experiencing, farmers and others in the agriculture industry say they’re doing and have been doing what they can — which includes making strides over the years in reducing nitrogen runoff.
It’s something state officials have noted, too.
“There’s never been more awareness about the need to do more conservation work and the types of practices that might work on a farm,” said Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig when KCCI spoke with him earlier this month.
Naig highlighted the continuous and growing conservation work done by many across the state.
One farm and team known for their conservation efforts is Maxwell Farms in Story County.
“I do believe farmers in general are the best conservationists,” said Zachary Ziffer, a farmer with Maxwell United, also known as Maxwell Farms.
Maxwell Farms is owned by two brothers, Jason and John Maxwell. They — along with their team of farmers and more — were named the 2024 Iowa Conservation Farmers of the Year.
“We do a lot. We do some farm composting. We also have some land going into a wetlands project,” Ziffer said. “We do 60-inch corn. Traditionally in Iowa, you have corn grown on 30 or 20-inch centers, but we grow it on 60-inch centers in twin rows. In that 53-inch gap, we plan to cover crops when the corn is less than knee-high. We go out there and we seed our cover crops.”
The latter of which can minimize nitrate leaching.
The team at Maxwell Farms performs a number of conservation practices like on-farm composting from cattle, no-till and strip-till methods, and more.
Ziffer said there’s more at play when it comes to nitrate levels in water ways than run-off from farms.
“It is heat. It is rain. It is soil microbes to make nitrogen available to the plant, but that also means nitrogen can leach,” Ziffer said. “It is a complicated situation. No farmer is happy that Central Iowa Water Works is limiting the water. We don’t want to limit your water activities.”
Farmers say nitrogen is crucial for crops.
“It is a huge dependent on anything that’s a grass, it needs nitrogen to grow,” Ziffer said. “Nitrogen helps set the amount of kernels around the kernels’ length of the ear.”
However, with that in mind, Ziffer says he wants people to know farmers are and have been doing everything they can to control their use.
“We’re not out here excessively applying nitrogen. We’re applying nitrogen in split applications to maximize the ultimate value of the dollar that we have invested into this crop,” Ziffer said.
Ziffer said farmers utilize places like Iowa State and the Iowa Nitrogen Initiative to help continue and grow their understanding of what the soil needs.
“We know how many pounds of nitrogen is in a gallon of 32%,” Ziffer said. “We use great products that help stabilize that nitrogen in the soil and keep it in suspension and reduce leaching.”
Ziffer told KCCI that he knows Maxwell Farms isn’t the only group of farmers using conservation methods across Iowa.
“I would even go to say 95%-99% of farmers are doing everything they can to minimize it. We manage our waterways as best we can,” Ziffer said.
Part of that involves using advanced technology when farmers can.
“The technology in sprayers: we have seen spray now that reduces the amount of chemical we put on the field, but the cost that we have to pay to use that technology, that’s because the cost of goods is going up. The cost of steel goes up. The cost of electronics goes up. These things, we have to pay for it and then we have to pay per acre on top of that,” Ziffer said.
Ziffer said he knows farmers do the research. In addition to that, they also implement practices of their own and share them with others in the industry.
“I was just in Indiana with a guy by the name of Jason Mock, who’s been studying how to grow soybeans and wheat together. What that does is — the wheat actually increases the percolation of the soil but nutrient uptake. So it gets this really clean water down. The wheat roots and the soybean roots work together,” Ziffer said. “We are conservationists at heart, and we are always trying to be lean and effective at everything we do.”