(Radio Iowa) – Four of the five Republicans running for governor were asked about Iowa’s water quality during a debate that aired last (Tuesday) night on K-C-C-I and Gray T-V stations in Sioux City, Cedar Rapids and the Quad Cities. Pastor Brad Sherman says there’s a place for government to step in and put the focus on soil health.
“The structure of healthy soil holds water, it doesn’t let it run off, it prevents flooding, prevents erosion, it takes care of nitrates because it sits there and it gets absorbed naturally,” Sherman said. “Compare that to the soil that’s scorched by just continual row cropping. That’s a big problem.”
Businessman Zach Lahn says the state should provide incentives to farmers who bury fertilizer about six inches below the surface of a field, to prevent run off. “Farmers do not want to lose their inputs and right now, we’re losing 30-50%,” Lahn said. “So by providing refundable tax credits, we’ll put it on cost parity. We’re actually able to save them money.”
Former state agency director Adam Steen says farmers are already doing what they can by planting buffer strips, cover crops and changing the timing of phosphate applications. “There are innovators right now that have different products, different services that they can use that’s going to bolster the ability to keep nitrates out of our water,” Steen said, “and when you combine that with what’s already working, we’re going to solve the issue and can move on to bigger and better things.”
State Representative Eddie Andrews says some amount of regulation and direction from the state is required — and that includes state funding of water quality projects.
