Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig announced a partnership Thursday between the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and Wright County government agencies on the first phase of the Boone River Edge-of-Field Project to mitigate farmfield nitrate runoff into the waterway. According to a news release, the project will install more than 25 edge-of-field conservation practices, including bioreactors and saturated buffers, in the Boone River Watershed. Wright County will finance the project upfront and provide contracting oversight for practice installation, the release says. The Wright County Soil and Water Conservation District will also help implement the initiative. The state will reimburse Wright County for eligible project construction costs and provide technical, design and engineering support. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service is also providing additional support to the project. The release said that the project will use a “batch and build” model that installs projects on multiple farms at once. “As a farmer, landowner, county supervisor and Boone River Watershed chairman, I fully recognize the need to implement these voluntary practices and continue to improve water quality in the state of Iowa,” Dean Kluss, Wright County Board of Supervisors chair, said in the release. “The funding of these practices makes them attractive to landowners who are reluctant to make a capital outlay without a return on their investment. The batch-and-build approach is critical in finding contractors willing to undertake the projects.”  Farmers and landowners interested in getting involved should contact the Wright County Soil and Water Conservation District or stop in at their office within the USDA Service Center. The release says the first phase of this project agreement is in effect through June 30, 2028.