Research conducted at Iowa State University indicates that establishment of a small amount of native prairie vegetation at strategic locations in crop fields can substantially reduce the loss of topsoil and nutrients to adjacent waterways, according to the Wildlife Management Institute. Researchers found that converting just ten percent of crop fields into prairie at strategic locations in the fields could reduce soil loss by 95 percent, phosphorous loss by 90 percent and loss of nitrogen from the field by 85 percent.

"The first year that prairie strips were strategically planted in corn and soybean fields near the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge, they worked to reduce loss of nutrients that can impair water quality, says Matt Helmers, an agricultural and biosystems engineer at Iowa State University.

The effort is part of Iowa State's program called (appropriately) STRIPS ? Science-based Trials of Rowcrops Integrated with Prairie Strips. The prairie plantings were established in strips 20-25 feet wide with the estimated loss of revenue to the producer in the range of $24 to $35 per acre. However, as the researchers pointed out, those estimates may be a bit high because strategic spots for the prairie strips are often located on some of the least productive lands in the field.

The initial work to evaluate this approach was done near the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge in Iowa. The plan is to expand this technique to a number of other sites in Missouri and Iowa next year. Wildlife benefits of incorporating these prairie strips to crop fields are likely but not quantified at this point. (pmr)