Dubuque Ecosystem Farm Management Model
Farmers want to understand if their practices are having a positive impact and what small adjustments they can make to be better environmental stewards on their land. Through a recent NRCS Regional Conservation Partnership Program award, Sand County Foundation and Dubuque County Watersheds are delivering a “Pay for Performance” incentive program in Dubuque County, Iowa. By using a whole-farm approach, farmers can choose conservation practices that will make the most benefit. The payment system has been developed in collaboration with the local farmer-to-farmer group to ensure it is enticing, practical, and meaningful.
Engagement Targets
Notes: (1) Minor fluctuations in the number of retained growers is expected from year to year. These fluctuations may be due to year-over-year crop rotation effects or other factors beyond the control of the project. Enrolled acres represent the total number of acres on an individual farm in a specific year. The ability to report enrolled acres is based on the Fieldprint Project Standard requirement that individual growers enrolled in projects enter at least 10% of the acres managed for a specific crop. (2) Entered acres represent the actual number of enrolled acres for which data is entered in the Fieldprint Platform for analysis.
Objectives
In 2024, we assessed current sediment erosion levels from 10 farmers participating in the project. By starting with a small subset of farmers, we can gradually expand the program to achieve our erosion reduction goal in future years.
The project has closed due to lack of continued interest from the farmers.
In 2024, we evaluated current greenhouse gas emissions from 10 farms enrolled in the project. We expect this program to grow to additional farmers as the original subset begins implementing practices and seeing benefits.
This project has completed due to lack of continued interest from the farmers.