"A new study says small patches of native prairie plants provide a range of conservation benefits to Iowa’s landscape and could reduce water pollution from farm fields.

So-called “prairie strips” are patches of land strategically planted to native, perennial mixes of grasses and flowers on the edges of crop fields.

“What we've been able to document over a decade worth of research on prairie strips,” says Iowa State University professor Lisa Schulte Moore, “is that by converting just a little bit of that crop area to prairie strips we get very substantial benefits.”"

Amy Mayer reports for Harvest Public Media October 2, 2017. [2]