New Study Supports Relay Intercropping for Flood Control

Apr 07, 2025
By Farms.com

Iowa Research Connects Regenerative Farming with Flood Relief

A growing body of research is pointing to the benefits of regenerative farming practices like relay intercropping in controlling flood damage.

A recent study in Iowa led by Ross Evelsizer of Northeast Iowa RC&D shows promising results in improving flood resilience through improved water infiltration and plant evapotranspiration.

Evelsizer will share these insights in a free webinar hosted by Iowa Learning Farms (ILF) on April 9 at noon CDT. The session, titled “Assessing the Flood Reduction Benefits of Relay Intercropping Practices in Iowa,” will highlight a study that began in 2021, conducted with support from the American Flood Coalition, Iowa Flood Center, and Iowa State University.

The research explores relay intercropping’s role in mitigating flooding by using a second crop alongside an existing one, reducing bare soil exposure, and increasing soil absorption capacity. It found a strong connection between these practices and reduced flood severity at the field level.

“This study showed that there is a definite correlation between relay intercropping and flood impact reductions,” said Evelsizer. “The increases of water infiltration and evapotranspiration delivered through regenerative agricultural practices showed a significant impact on flood severity at field scale.”

The webinar encourages participation from individuals of all backgrounds and interests. Questions and discussions are welcome as researchers aim to connect with farmers, landowners, and conservation professionals.

This new data supports sustainable land management and highlights relay intercropping as a useful strategy to manage excess water, build soil health, and prepare farms for extreme weather.

As interest in climate resilience grows, these practices offer tools for both environmental and economic sustainability.

Video: Spring 2026 weather outlook for Wisconsin; What an early-arriving El Niño could mean

Northeast Wisconsin is a small corner of the world, but our weather is still affected by what happens across the globe.

That includes in the equatorial Pacific, where changes between El Niño and La Niña play a role in the weather here -- and boy, have there been some abrupt changes as of late.

El Niño and La Niña are the two phases of what is collectively known as the El Niño Southern Oscillation, or ENSO for short. These are the swings back and forth from unusually warm to unusually cold sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean along the equator.

Since this past September, we have been in a weak La Niña, which means water temperatures near the Eastern Pacific equator have been cooler than usual. That's where we're at right now.

Even last fall, the long-term outlook suggested a return to neutral conditions by spring and potentially El Niño conditions by summer.

But there are some signs this may be happening faster than usual, which could accelerate the onset of El Niño.

Over the last few weeks, unusually strong bursts of westerly winds farther west in the Pacific -- where sea surface temperatures are warmer than average -- have been observed. There is a chance that this could accelerate the warming of those eastern Pacific waters and potentially push us into El Niño sooner than usual.

If we do enter El Nino by spring -- which we'll define as the period of March, April and May -- there are some long-term correlations with our weather here in Northeast Wisconsin.

Looking at a map of anomalously warm weather, most of the upper Great Lakes doesn't show a strong correlation, but in general, the northern tiers of the United States do tend to lean to that direction.

The stronger correlation is with precipitation. El Niño conditions in spring have historically come with a higher risk of very dry weather over that time frame, so this will definitely be a transition we'll have to watch closely as we move out of winter.