Iowa is a state known for its rolling hills and vast farmland, but one expert says more trees could help farmers. While trees are abundant in the state, Dr. Billy Beck wants to educate Iowans about how trees and forests can help water quality and flood water management. Beck, an assistant professor and Extension Forestry Specialist at Iowa State University, tells KCII News how planting more trees can further benefit Iowa in the long run, “Their upright stems really provide a lot of surface roughness and slows that flow down. When they do that, that allows the stream to drop its sediment and drop any kind of nutrients associated with it and trap it there on the floodplain. Another thing they do is their roots act like an iron rebar in the stream banks. They increase the tensile strength of soil and they help protect against stream bank erosion when we get those high flows. So those trees along the banks really do a great job at armoring and preventing those banks from being washed away in high flow events. It comes down to a lot with the roots. The roots do a lot of good for water quality and slowing those waters down.” 

Beck believes farmers can gain some additional income from niche markets by taking care of their timbers and trees. During hardships in agricultural markets, Beck suggests farmers look at selling firewood, forest mushrooms, or hazelnuts and chestnuts to offset some financial losses during low market prices. While not an immediate solution for farmers, he wants to get farmers in touch with resources to provide clarity on how to properly take care of timbers and trees.