Farmers and landowners from around Washington County can learn how native perennials can generate profitability while benefiting wildlife, pollinators, and improving soil and water quality during a free event next week.

Iowa Learning Farms and the Consortium for Cultivating Human Naturally reGenerative Enterprises are hosting a “Finding Profit in Perennial Vegetation Workshop” from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday, February 1st at Dallmeyer Hall at the Washington County Fairgrounds. Iowa Learning Farms Conservation and Cover Crop Outreach Specialist Liz Ripley says producers can thank the state’s prairies from hundreds of years ago for the soil that helps make our corn, soybeans, and other crops. Ripley hopes the workshop being held in Washington and other communities throughout the state can help farmers return to this regenerative practice, “There’s been some targeted approaches to looking at if we put a portion of this field into perennial vegetation at this particular area we can maximize the benefit with very little impact on total farm yields. But overall improving profitability because it’s an area that honestly probably doesn’t produce very much based on the cost of inputs which are incredibly high right now. So if we can seed it to perennial vegetation that doesn’t require those inputs we can help boost the entire field profitability because we’re reducing our overall costs.”

Ripley will be facilitating the discussion with ISU Agricultural Specialist Matt Woods, and ISU STRIPS project coordinator and communications lead Omar de Kok-Mercado. Attendees will get to ask questions and share their experiences of perennial planting, and a free lunch will be provided. For reasonable accommodations and to RSVP contact Ripley at 515-294-5429 or ilf@iastate.edu. Attendees will be entered in a drawing that evening for ISU Prairie Strips honey. Listen to Ripley on air during today’s Halcyon House Washington Page.