Prairie strips

Prairie strips are strips of land strategically reserved in corn and soybean fields planted with native perennial vegetation. This technique is used in conservation farming to improve biodiversity, and protect soil and water.[1]

Native prairie vegetation improves soil stability, reduces soil erosion and nutrient runoff, and concentrates more organic carbon in soil than corn and soybean crops. Research has found that strategically setting aside land in corn and soybean fields benefits biodiversity, water and soil in a greater extent than other types of perennial vegetation. Ten percent of a corn field set aside for native vegetation can reduce sediment movement by 95%.Phosphorus and nitrogen lost through run off are reduced by 90% and 85% respectively.[2]

In Iowa, most of the rich and fertile soils have been dedicated to corn and soybean crops. Only around .01 percent of the original tallgrass prairie remains. Prairie strips are among the few remaining areas for the native vegetation.[3]

Entomologists at Iowa State University observed beneficial aphid-eating insects in soybean fields and the prairie strips. They found that prairie strips supported twice the number of aphid-eating insects than soybean fields.[4]

References
  1. "How Absentee Landowners Keep Farmers From Protecting Water and Soil". NPR. 14 July 2020. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  2. "Prairie Strips". Iowa State University of Science and Technology. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  3. Oldfield, Sara F. Seeds of Restoration Success: Wild Lands and Plant Diversity in the U.S. Springer.
  4. Farming with Native Beneficial Insects: Ecological Pest Control Solutions. Storey Publishing.
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