Programs

The 2015 Farm Poll survey focused on a range of issues that are important not only to agriculture but to all Iowans. Topics presented in this summary report include perspectives on soil health, changes in farming practices and strategies that can influence agriculture’s ecological impact, motivations underlying conservation practice adoption, and monarch butterfly conservation.

STRIPS stands for Science-based Trials of Rowcrops Integrated with Prairie Strips. The STRIPS project is composed of a team of scientists, educators, farmers, and extension specialists working on the prairie strips farmland conservation practice. Our research shows that prairie strips are an affordable option for farmers and farm landowners seeking to garner multiple benefits.

Betty Wells partners with the [Women, Food and Agriculture Network](http://www.wfan.org/) to build healthy, just, sustainable, and environmentally sound food systems and communities. She supports the WFAN signature programs, Harvesting our Potential (HOP) and Women Caring for the Land (WCL). The 2015 book chapter Building Power through Community highlights the role of Wells in the development of programs for women farmland owners, such as WCL, and the HOP program for new, aspiring, and experienced women farmers.

This program provides customized economic analysis products to help communities and other organizations in Iowa better understand their economy in order to make informed decisions. Together, Extension Sociology and Extension Economics have the data and tools to address economic issues and “what-if” scenarios at both the local and state level. 

This program provides customized demographic products to help communities and other organizations in Iowa better understand their socioeconomic conditions in order to make informed decisions. Extension Sociology has detailed Census data for small-area geographies going back to 1970, allowing for neighborhood analysis over time.

This USDA-NIFA funded project gathers data from 35 field sites and thousands of farmers in 9 Midwestern states, with the goal of creating a suite of practices for corn-based systems that: retain and enhance soil organic matter and nutrient and carbon stocks reduce off-field nitrogen losses that contribute to greenhouse gas emissions and water pollution better withstand droughts and floods ensure productivity under different climatic conditions Through the Extension and Education aspects of this project, we are working with farmers, teachers and students to connect them with project analyses and promote collaborative learning.