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Iowa Conservation Partnerships

Summary: 
Jess Maher, Associate Director for Legislative Affairs at the White House Council on Environmental Quality, travels to Iowa to learn about partnership-based efforts to support natural resource conservation.

On Monday, I joined USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment Ann Mills and USDA Legislative Director Tina May in Iowa to meet with the Iowa Soybean Association (ISA) and learn about their partnership-based efforts to support natural resource conservation. ISA is working with its members on a number of programs to enhance water quality. During our visit, we had the chance to see an on-farm water quality monitoring station and learn how farmers are reducing nitrate loading in the Boone River watershed. We also met with a farmer who has implemented strip-till practices and installed a bioreactor on his land, both of which help bolster watershed water quality. The trip certainly helped to further my understanding of on-farm energy use and the opportunities available in this arena. The visit to Iowa was educational, and I look forward to learning more about the energy and environmental initiatives of ISA and other agriculture organizations. It was a terrific experience!

ISA

CEQ Associate Director for Legislative Affairs Jess Maher, USDA Legislative Director Tina May, and USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment Ann Mills meet with Iowa farmers

Jess Maher is the Associate Director for Legislative Affairs at the White House Council on Environmental Quality