DES MOINES — USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has announced that variances may be granted for crop season 2015 to Iowa farmers who need to meet highly erodible land (HEL) requirements, following damaging weather earlier this year.
Because of 2014 rainfall events, planting the 2015 crop could be difficult or impossible because of severe rill and ephemeral erosion. Hail in areas also destroyed crops, raising the concern over crop residue levels for spring 2015.
Variances are only available for farmers in counties that have requested and been approved for them. Farmers must make a written request prior to any spot tillage.
Below are variances for the 2015 crop year:
• Variance 1 – Spot Treatment of Rill Erosion. Farmers will be allowed to spot till portions of the field planned for no-till to eliminate excessive rill erosion and allow the field to be planted.
“This does not allow a producer to till an entire field,” said Barb Stewart, state agronomist for NRCS in Iowa. “Only till the areas with rill erosion that would prevent successful planting.”
For this request to be approved, ephemeral areas must be tilled and seeded immediately after harvest to a winter hardy grain cover crop, such as cereal rye or winter wheat.
• Variance 2 – Residue Amounts Are Less Than the Planned Amounts. For fields hit with hail in 2014, producers may have less than the planned amount of residue after planting. Fields that required no-till are expected to be no-till planted unless spot tillage is allowed, per Variance 1.
Variances do not apply to tracts where permanent practices, such as grassed waterways, water and sediment control basins, terraces, or field borders, are needed to control ephemeral gully erosion and those practices were not in place or were not maintained.
Producers need to meet certain requirements to be eligible for a variance. Visit or call your local NRCS office for additional questions regarding 2015 crop year variances.