2020 has been, well 2020. Pandemic news aside, agriculture is dealing with another year of weather extremes. I was in the middle of a covid mandated Zoom call when it was cut short by a derecho event striking central Iowa. Fortunately, we came out only losing a few branches and had power back after 12 hours. However, this weather extreme, damaged an estimated 3.57 million acres of corn and 2.5 million acres of soybeans in Iowa. It also devastated Iowa’s 2nd largest city, Cedar Rapids, and many others. Of course, the derecho was not on anyone’s mind in July, but the drought conditions spreading throughout the Midwest have been.

ADMC has entered into an agreement with the Polk Soil and Water Conservation District, central Iowa to facilitate the implementation of a minimum of 25 saturated buffers by December of 2020. The saturated buffers will be located within five small HUC 12 watersheds in the county.

Director’s Desk This month’s newsletter starts off on a somber note as Paul Sweeney passed away after his battle with cancer. Paul was a long time ADMC board member who represented Ecosystem Services Exchange. I knew Paul both from his time with NRCS as well as with ESE. Paul made huge contributions to water conservation Read more about November Newsletter[…]

Director’s Desk Advanced Conservation Drainage Training in Illinois About the training: The 2019 Advanced Conservation Drainage Training (ACDT) Program brings together diverse members of the agricultural and drainage communities and provides them with knowledge, tools, and connections to make conservation drainage an integral part of tile installation and farm management. Our 2019 series will focus Read more about April Newsletter[…]

Director’s Desk The USDA is seeking public comment on conservation practices standards that support EQIP and CSP by April 25, 2019.  USDA Seeks Public Comments  Illinois LICA is participating in a Saturated Buffer Field Day on March 20 near Sullivan, IL. Please click here for more information. I attended the annual Iowa Water Conference in Ames, Read more about March Newsletter[…]