Rethinking Iowa Agriculture: Water, Farming & What's Next
Agriculture is at the heart of Iowa.
It drives the state's economy, supports rural communities, and has shaped Iowa's identity for generations. But the industry is also facing difficult questions about water quality, farm profitability, environmental concerns, and whether the systems that worked in the past are sustainable for the future.
On a recent episode of The Germinate Podcast, Joe Sampson sat down with Chris Jones, an Iowa scientist, author, and candidate for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture, to talk about those challenges and what could come next.
Iowa's Water Problem
One of the biggest topics in the conversation was nitrate levels in Iowa's water.
Chris spent much of his career studying contaminant hydrology and agricultural landscapes. He explains that nitrogen fertilizer used in corn production can eventually convert to nitrate in the soil. Because nitrate is highly water soluble, rainfall can move it through the soil and into Iowa's extensive tile drainage system, eventually reaching rivers, lakes, and groundwater.
This isn't a new problem.
Communities throughout Iowa have been dealing with elevated nitrate levels for years, and Chris argues that the state needs to have a much larger conversation about how to address the issue while protecting the farmers who depend on agriculture for their livelihoods.
Finding Solutions That Work for Farmers
Improving water quality sounds simple until you consider the realities of operating a farm.
Chris acknowledges the agricultural industry's resistance to additional regulation and the practical challenges that would come with trying to regulate thousands of individual farms.
Instead, he believes Iowa needs to look at multiple solutions.
That could include changing when fertilizer is applied, improving manure management, creating different incentives, and encouraging practices that reduce the amount of nitrogen leaving fields in the first place.
One example is fall application of anhydrous ammonia.
Corn doesn't aggressively use nitrogen until much later, meaning fertilizer applied in the fall can sit in the soil for months before the crop needs it. During that time, there are more opportunities for nitrogen to be lost.
Better timing and management could help reduce some of that loss.
Does Iowa Need More Than Corn and Soybeans?
The conversation quickly becomes about more than water.
Chris believes Iowa also needs to examine its heavy dependence on corn and soybeans.
He's not suggesting Iowa stop growing either crop. Both will continue to be important parts of the state's agricultural economy.
The question is whether farmers should have more options.
One example Chris points to is oats. Iowa was once a major oat-producing state, and one of the world's largest oat mills is located in Cedar Rapids. Yet many of the oats processed there are brought in from outside the United States.
Could Iowa create policies, infrastructure, and markets that make growing oats and other alternative crops more attractive to farmers?
Chris believes it's a conversation worth having.
Farmers Need to Be Profitable Too
Any conversation about changing agriculture has to include farm economics.
Farmers are dealing with tight margins, rising input costs, changing commodity markets, and continued pressure to become larger and more efficient.
Chris raises an important question during the conversation: if farmers are struggling financially while Iowa is also struggling with water quality, is the current system working as well as it should?
For him, environmental improvement and farmer prosperity shouldn't be opposing goals.
The challenge is finding production systems that can accomplish both.
Agriculture Has Already Changed
The Iowa farm many people picture today isn't necessarily the Iowa farm that actually exists.
Over the decades, agriculture has become increasingly specialized. Farms have grown larger, livestock production has consolidated, and more farmland is rented.
Chris points to hog production as an example. In 1980, Iowa had significantly more farmers raising fewer hogs. Today, far fewer farmers raise a much larger number of hogs.
That evolution has created efficiency, but Chris believes it has also reduced diversity within the agricultural system.
Bringing more crops and production options into the mix could potentially give farmers more flexibility while also creating different environmental outcomes.
Can Technology Be Part of the Solution?
Joe also raises an important question about the role of agricultural equipment and technology.
Instead of focusing exclusively on regulating how farmers operate, could better technology help solve some of these problems?
Chris believes it could.
More precise pesticide application, drones, improved manure application equipment, and other emerging technologies could help farmers apply products more accurately and potentially reduce unintended environmental impacts.
For an agricultural industry already investing heavily in precision technology, that creates an opportunity for equipment manufacturers and startups to become part of the solution.
What Does the Future of Iowa Agriculture Look Like?
There isn't one simple answer.
Iowa isn't going to stop growing corn tomorrow. Farmers can't completely overhaul their operations overnight. And decades-old water quality challenges aren't going to disappear because of one policy change.
But Chris believes the conversation needs to start somewhere.
That means looking at how water-quality funding is being spent, creating opportunities for more diverse crops, improving pesticide application, developing stronger local food markets, and giving farmers viable alternatives that still allow them to build profitable businesses.
The future of Iowa agriculture doesn't have to be a choice between supporting farmers and protecting the state's natural resources.
The bigger challenge is figuring out how to do both.
And after decades of talking about many of these issues, perhaps the most important step is being willing to rethink what Iowa agriculture could look like in the first place.
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