Recent News
Farming near Osage in northeast Iowa, this year marks the 45th crop Wayne Fredericks has planted on the 750 acres he farms using no-till, strip till and cover crops. While he’s hopeful for great soybean and corn crops, he is especially proud of the seven acres of pollinator habitat that are sprinkled around his Mitchell County farm operation.
Funding and planning assistance are available to implement habitat for monarch butterflies and other pollinators on Iowa farms through USDA’s Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). Interested landowners should visit their local Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) office by June 15 to apply.
The Midwest Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (MAFWA) welcomes public comments through May 31 on a draft conservation plan that provides a blueprint for reversing the decline of the eastern monarch butterfly population.
Upcoming Events
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Saturday, May 26, 2018 - 10:00am to 12:00pm
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Saturday, June 9, 2018 - 10:00am to 11:00am
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Saturday, June 23, 2018 - 10:00am to 2:00pm
Monarch Conservation
Iowa's role is vital to the monarch butterfly’s recovery! The Iowa Monarch Conservation Strategy is now available to guide efforts. Read a summary of the strategy, and here are five actions you can take. Read the Iowa Monarch Conservation Consortium's Strategic Goals.
Monarch Sightings
Click on the map on the right to see the progress of monarchs migrating north from Mexico.
Learning About Iowa Monarchs
We want our recommendations for monarch habitat improvement to be scientifically sound. Research projects in summer 2017 include:
- efforts to evaluate nine species of milkweed on plots at Iowa State University research farms
- a project to discover optimal monarch breeding, forage and roosting habitat characteristics in Iowa's patchy landscape and
- a survey of milkweed species and monarch occurrence, plant density, and population to establish baseline data.