Iowa Seed Corn Cover Crops Initiative

The Iowa Seed Corn Cover Crops Initiative is a new project developed by the Iowa Seed Association in conjunction with the Agribusiness Association of Iowa, Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, Iowa Corn, and the Soil and Water Conservation Society. A $1.1M grant from the Iowa Department of Agriculture under their Clean Water Initiative program will fund the project starting this growing season and running through the end of 2018.

The Iowa Seed Corn Cover Crops Initiative will focus on ways to help increase adoption of cover crops specifically within the seed corn production system in Iowa. The focus on seed corn is driven by the unique opportunity that seed corn provides due to the earlier harvest, thereby providing better timing opportunities for establishing cover crops in the late summer and fall after harvest. This focus is also heavily driven by the seed corn industry in Iowa, and their efforts to help promote and support the use of cover crops as part of Iowa’s Nutrient Strategy.

Primary Objectives:

• Directly engage seed corn companies to work with their growers on adopting cover crops
• Increase the number of seed corn growers utilizing cover crops
• Develop and deploy new strategic partnerships with agricultural retailers to provide turn-key services for growers to assist them with cover crop implementation
• Develop and distribute educational and informational materials primarily targeted to entry-level audiences to provide more focus on beginning cover crop user needs
• Hold demonstration field days and grower meetings to provide information and advice designed to equip farmers with the resource support needed for successful establishment and management of cover crops

Project Details:

• Funds will be made available exclusively to farmers that grow seed corn
• Cost-Share (C/S) assistance is available to growers for planting cover crops on seed corn acres only.
• Both winter and non-winter hardy cover crops are allowed.
• C/S rate available to growers is $15/acre regardless of cover crop type.
• Seed companies and other supporting partners can offer incentives of their own in addition to the $15/acre C/S from project funds if they desire to do so (e.g. discounts on cover crop seed or seeding services, or $/acre incentives from seed companies).

For More Information:

Call or e-mail Shawn Richmond at 515-868-0201 or shawnagribizorg  (shawnagribizorg)  .

Iowa Seed Association Awards Nine Scholarships to ...

Pictured above: first row left to right, Susana Goggi, Iowa State University Seed Center, Anthony Moellers, Kelsey Baumhover, Rebekah Arnold, Sarah Striegel, Haleigh Summers, Kathryn Hoemann, Dr. Manjit Misra, Iowa State University Seed Center and Iowa Seed Association Ex-Officio, Shannon Latham. Second row left to right, Lucas Roberts, Jamie Pokorny, Catherine Leafstedt, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey, Chris Latham, John Latham.

Des Moines, IA – The Iowa Seed Association (ISA) recently awarded nine Iowa Seed Association (ISA) Scholarships of $1000 each. The awards ceremony was held during the Agribusiness Showcase & Conference at the Varied Industries Building at the Iowa State Fairgrounds, Des Moines, IA on February 10, 2016. Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey also attended the ceremony. One of these students, Haleigh Summers, was also selected as our “Manjit Misra Outstanding Senior Scholar,” and that individual will receive $500 in addition to the $1000 ISA scholarship.  ISA also award another $1000 scholarship sponsored by the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA).

2015-2014 Scholarship Recipient Recognition

The Iowa Seed Association (ISA) recently awarded eight scholarships of $1,000 to students in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Iowa State University. One student was also selected as the “Manjit K. Misra Outstanding Senior Seed Scholar,” receiving a $500 scholarship in addition to the $1,000 scholarship sponsored by the ISA. One student also received an award from the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA).

During the awards ceremony held at the Agribusiness Showcase and Conference on February 11, 2015 at the Varied Industries Building, Susana Goggi, Seed Paysiologist, Dpt of Agronomy, ISU read bios, accomplishments, and goals of each student.

Recipients of the ISA 2014-2015 academic year scholarships are : Jeffery Barnes, Hillary Kletscher, Katharina Wigg, Madison Schulte, Lucas Roberts, Morgan Shrader, and Catherine Leafstedt.

Kathryn Hoemann received the ISA and the Manjit Misra Outstanding Senior Scholarship. Brandon Miller was the ASTA scholarship recipient.

The ISA scholarships are open to students in any major in ISU’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Scholarships are awarded on the bases of: academic excellence, leadership skills, interpersonal skills, and most important to the selection committee, a demonstrated interest in a career in the seed industry or seed science.

Also Pictured below are: Iowa Secretary of Agriculture, Bill Northey, far right, Susana Goggi, second from right, Max Smith, AAI Chairman, far left, and Manjit K. Misra, ISA Director, 2nd from left.

Congratulations to all these students!

The Annual Iowa Seed Association Golf Tournament

Click here to download a PDF.

ISA News Bulletin

December 2013 edition of the ISA News Bulletin

The document is a PDF file, so you should be able to open it by simply clicking here. If you are unable to open the document, you may need to download the Adobe Acrobat Reader from the internet (it’s free) at: www.adobe.com/acrobat/readstep.html.

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