Why Native Prairie Grass Matters in the Midwest?

(Hey you! Want to be thoroughly convinced? Or maybe convince your uncle? Check out The Prairie Farm Podcast. You’ll learn SO MUCH about prairie, conservation, and humans on that podcast.)

Let’s take a jump back 12 thousand years. The wholly mammoth, ground sloth, and saber tooth tiger had just retired from this earth, and the last glacier had receded to its bed in the north. The Midwest had a lot of open space recently created by the glacier and needed something to fill it. Along comes prairie grass. Indiangrass and Big Bluestem were believed to have traveled here first from the east coast. Traveling a few miles per year, they made the trek to its current home, the great Midwest. These deep-rooted grasses, plus the deposits of minerals left by the glaciers created possibly the greatest soil the earth has ever known… not an exaggeration.

But happily ever after doesn’t end there. Enter farmers, not family famers that had a few acres of land each to supply food for their families and maybe an extra cow or two for milk for the neighbors. No, we’re talking about the famers that came in with the newest tech for their day and ripped up the deep roots of our ancient friends and started to grow fewer and fewer species as their profits grew higher and higher.

That brings us to today. And allow us to state right away that farmers are not bad. We’ve worked with thousands of farmers, and most are some of the most amazing people you’ve ever met. But I suppose that’s not why you’re here. You want to know why native prairie even matters. Maybe you’re looking to planting native prairie seeds and wildflower seeds in your front lawn. Maybe you want CRP seed to put into your newly enrolled CRP acres. Maybe you have a pond you just planted and need native prairie seed mix to go along the dikes just so you don’t have to mow. All are good reasons to plant prairie. But why? Why plant prairie? Why is it important? Well, let’s boil it down to three major points.

-       Soil

-       Water

-       Habitat

There are countless reasons why planting native wildflower or CRP seed mixes are important, but most of them can fall under the previous mentioned three.

Soil. Soil is the reason people live in the Midwest. Yes, the seclusion from city life is awesome, and the lakes are beautiful, and the rivers and strong. But when the gold rush was happening, people were walking right over the midwestern gold, its soil. Why? Because they didn’t know it was there, and without the knowledge of the perfect soil, they had no reason to stay in the waves of gold. But the soil is under attack. Farming practices are causing the soil to erode. This is a big deal. In the 80’s before no till farming was acceptable, anyone who did it was considered a fool. Now, it’s known that this saves soil. Prairie roots hold soil. Not only that but they harvest the sun and add energy back into the soil. The biological mass that prairie adds to soil is a large reason we have the soil we have today. It took thousands of years to build this soil, and we’re dissolving it at an alarming rate. So planting CRP mixes, or using prairie grass seed in our own lawns allows us to support the soils that have so generously supported us.

Water. The dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico is the second largest dead zone in the world. What’s causing this growing dead zone? Runoff from the Midwest through the Mississippi River. The nitrogen and phosphorous in the fertilizer used for agriculture creates a chain reaction that is causing the dead zone in the Gulf to grow. What can we do about it? One of the biggest things we can do is plant prairie. Native prairie mixes can help catch the phosphorous and nitrogen before it can make it to our water streams and sources. The deep roots in the CRP mixes and backyard pollinators help limit the number of nitrates in our water, which Iowa is having a particularly hard time with right now. The prairie grasses and native wildflowers work as a filter and screen to protect the water.

Habitat. As more and more land get turned into farm land, the ones who are suffering the most are the creatures we share the land with. Raccoons and Deer and Coyotes have adapted well and have a blossoming population. Many of the other species have been forced to small habitats or even driven to full extinction. With more CRP and more Backyard Pollinator and more roadside prairies and more public land prairie mixes, we can help these species blossom once again. The prairie chicken is one example that is almost non-existent outside of captivity. Jack Rabbits, which were plentiful even 50 years ago, would be difficult to find anymore. When we plant prairie and pollinator, we give a lifegiving habitat for thousands of species.

Though agriculture is largely responsible, it cannot be fully blamed. Most farmers are doing what’s needed to make ends meet for their farms. We can definitely turn this giant ship around, but it will take everyone working together—Republicans and Democrats, landowners and urban renters, CEO’s and Blue Collar workers. And one of the best things we can do is plant prairie.

If you are looking for CRP mixes, Backyard Pollinator Mixes, or Prairie Strip Mixes, check out our website.

Blessings!