What are prairie strips?
Prairie strips are a conservation practice that uses strategically placed native prairie plantings in crop fields.
The practice was developed and tested by the STRIPS (Science-based Trials of Rowcrops Integrated with Prairie Strips) team at the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge in Iowa.
The STRIPS research team is multi-institutional, primarily housed at Iowa State University, but also at the University of Nebraska, USDA Agricultural Research Service National Lab for Agriculture and the Environment, and USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station. The STRIPS team works with a broad array of partners across the Midwestern region to research the impact of prairie strips and communicate our results, including private farmers and farmland owners.