1. Prairie Strips

2. What Are Prairie Strips?
Small portions of crop land are taken out of production and planted with native prairie plants for conservation benefits for the entire field.
Prairie strips at Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge outside of Prairie City, Iowa. NRCS/SWCS photo by Lynn Betts.

3. Why use Prairie Strips?
By planting 10% of a field into 15 ft to 30 ft strips of prairie along the contour, farmers can reduce soil movement by 95%.
Photo credit: Jose Guttierez Lopes

4. Why Use Prairie Strips?
Prairie strips increase the diversity of plant species, which in turn attracts pollinators and creates habitat for wildlife.

5. What Can Prairie Strips Do for Water Quality?
Prairie strips can also have a major effect on nutrient loss from farm fields:
Reducing phosphorus loss by up to 90%
Reducing nitrogen loss from surface water by up to 85%
Prairie strips on Tim Smith’s land in Wright County, Iowa NRCS/SWCS photo by Lynn Betts.

6. Benefits of Prairie Strips
44% reduction in water runoff
95% reduction in soil loss
90% reduction in phosphorus runoff
84% reduction in nitrate-nitrogen runoff
No difference in per acre corn and soybean yields
No difference in weed abundance
Reduced emissions of heat-trapping gases, especially nitrous oxide
Potentially improved beneficial insects and wildlife
Gray-Headed Coneflower
Butterfly Milkweed
NRCS/SWCS photos by Lynn Betts.

7. What Is the Cost of Prairie Strips?
Estimated to cost between $24 and $35 per treated acre per year.
Cost share is available through:
NRCS: Code 393 (filter strip), Code 332 (contour buffer strip), CRP Practice CR33 (habitat buffer)
FSA (Pollinator Enhancement Program)
US Fish and Wildlife Partners Program
IDALS
Pheasants Forever
Trees Forever
Prairie Strips
Prairie strips in their first year in Tama County, Iowa NRCS/SWCS photo by Lynn Betts.

8. How to Establish Prairie Strips?
Prairie strips take about three years to establish. Prairie strips should be planted in the fall (after harvest) or in the spring (before June 30 in Iowa).
Frost seeding of prairie strips in Tama County, Iowa. 
Corn starting to emerge in between the frost-seeded prairie strips
NRCS/SWCS photos by Lynn Betts.

9. How to Establish Prairie Strips?
A good phrase to remember about prairie is that “the first year it sleeps, the second year it creeps, and the third year it leaps.”
Year 3
Year 2
Year 1
NRCS/SWCS photos by Lynn Betts.

10. How to Establish Prairie Strips?
Year 1: Prairie Strips will look “stubby” and need consistent mowing in order to develop a diverse plant mix.
Year 2: Some forbs (flowering plants) will start to bloom. Some mowing and spot application of herbicide may be needed.
Year 3: Should begin to resemble a tallgrass prairie. Some spot application of herbicide may be needed. The strips can also be managed with baling or prescribed burns.
NRCS/SWCS photos by Lynn Betts.

11. “STRIPS the Movie” from the ISU STRIPS Research Team

12. Other Resources
A step by step visual guide to prairie strips implementation. These photos were taken on real farms across Iowa and are part of the Conservation Media Library.
A video about prairie strips implementation that is part of the Conservation Media Library.
Iowa State University’s Science-based Trials of Rowcrops Integrated with Prairie Strips (STRIPS) research initiative.
Frequently asked questions from Iowa State University’s STRIPS project about integrating prairie strips into the farm landscape.
Iowa State University Extension’s Landowner Guide to Prairie Strips.
The Tallgrass Prairie Center’s website which features general information as well as examples of prairie restoration on working farms.

13. This presentation is part of the Conservation Media Library
This presentation is part of the Conservation Media Library. To learn more about it and access other resources, go to The Library was supported by an Iowa NRCS funded Conservation Innovation Grant to the Soil and Water Conservation Society and Conservation Districts of Iowa.