The dead zone is real: why US farmers are embracing wildflowers

Between two corn fields in central Iowa, Lee Tesdell walks through a corridor of native prairie grasses and wildflowers. Crickets trill as dickcissels, small brown birds with yellow chests, pop out of the dewy ground cover. “There’s a lot of life out here, and it’s one of the reasons I like it, especially in these late summer days,” Tesdell said. This is a prairie strip. Ranging from 10-40 metres (30120ft) in width, these bands of native perennials are placed strategically in a row-crop field, often in areas with low yields and high runoff. Tesdell has three on his farm. He

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