Prairie Strips to Combat Field Flooding from Extreme Precipitation

Commodities

Practices

Sand County Foundation (SCF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit conservation organization with a mission to inspire and enable a growing number of private landowners and managers to ethically manage natural resources so future generations have access to clean and abundant water, healthy soils, and plentiful habitat.

Prairie strips are strategically planted strips of native perennial forbs and grasses within or along the edge of a row crop field that act as biological corridors and enhance farm viability, reduce soil erosion, improve water quality, and support biodiversity.

Midwest soils are expected to be subjected to more intense periods of wetting and flooding conditions, which can exacerbate water quality concerns. Partnering with three innovative Wisconsin farmers, all of who have some of the first established prairie strips on their land, our project objective is to demonstrate how prairie strips can play a critical role in mitigating these environmental and agronomic threats.

Data will be collected to compare soil health and hydrology within a prairie strip compared to the adjacent row crop field. Knowledge gained will be shared at field days, workshops, and webinars to advance prairie strip adoption.

Partnering with three innovative Wisconsin farmers, each with an established prairie strip on their land, our objectives are to:

• Collect real-time soil data to quantify the hydrologic benefits of prairie strips
• Sample soils to quantify the soil health benefits of prairie strips
• Increase the understanding of prairie strips as a water quality (and carbon sequestration) practice for the partnering farmers, their farmer-led group, and Midwest conservation professionals
• Partner on two prairie strip field days to engage 50+ regional farmers
• Host a webinar to share outcomes beyond Wisconsin (75+ participants)
• Present at farmer-led group workshops (100+ participants)