Managing Iowa Acreages: Where to Begin

Start by looking at what you have. Make a sketch and a few notes about your property. In your sketch, show property boundaries, fences, buildings, wells, septic system, streams, ponds or wetlands, bare ground, weeds, lawn, pasture or cropland, trees or shrubs.

Identify your goals

What do you want to do with your acreage? Graze livestock? If so, what kind and how many? Do you want an attractive spot for wildlife? If so, what kind? Good water quality for fishing? Restoring prairie? Something else?

Then you need to ask yourself, can this land support your goals? You may need some assistance from the local Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) or USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) office (found in blue part of the phone book or at http://offices.sc.egov.usda.gov) to help you identify the productivity limitations of your property.

Once you’ve decided on your realistic goals, you’ll need to develop a management plan for reaching them. Again, that’s where the local SWCD and NRCS come in. Even if you like things just the way they are on your property, you will need to do something for weed control or protecting water quality. This booklet, as well as the local conservation experts, are here to help you develop the different aspects of your management plan.

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