Research has found that strategically setting aside land in corn and soybean fields benefits biodiversity,[2] water and soil in a greater extent than other types of perennial vegetation.
10% of a corn field set aside for native vegetation can reduce sediment movement by 95%.
[4] In Iowa, most of the rich and fertile soils have been dedicated to corn and soybean crops.
[6] Entomologists at Iowa State University observed beneficial aphid-eating insects in soybean fields and the prairie strips.
They found that prairie strips supported twice the number of aphid-eating insects than soybean fields.