State, farmer partnerships aid conservation efforts

EMINGTON, Ill. — Growing up on his grandfather’s western Illinois farm, Michael Woods never understood the beliefs of some that agriculture and conservation were at opposite ends of the spectrum.

“My grandfather started farming in the 1920s. He’d be 110 years old if he was alive today. And I never understood what it meant when I heard people say that because on my grandfather’s farm agriculture and conservation were together,” said Woods at the Vermilion Watershed Field Tour, hosted by Swartz Farms.

Woods manages the Illinois Department of Agriculture’s Division of Natural Resources.

“Every day everything we do we try to save the most important engine of our industry, and that’s our soil. To save our factory, the production of everything we do, to feed the world that we’re demanded to do, not just asked to do, but demanded to feed the world,” he said.

“So, when I hear those words conservation and agriculture are not connected, I’m confused because they are together and it’s important for us to recognize that and celebrate.”

Farmer-to-farmer education events such as field days are critical in helping understand the role farmers continue to play in serving the nation and world.

“We need to tell the story and share the story that what you’re doing every day on your farm is a form of conservation and celebrate that, reward that and acknowledge that what you do every day is vital not only to your family and your community and nation, but also the globe. We continue to look at these efforts and to find ways to support everything you do,” Wood said.

Partners

He referred to the Partners for Conservation Program, a long-term, state-supported initiative to protect natural resources and enhance outdoor recreational opportunities in Illinois, as an example of the state partnering with agriculture.

“With programs like the Partners for Conservation initiative that are offered, or whether it is through the Vermilion Headwaters Partnership, all these initiatives are here to support you. We’re not here from the government to tell you what to do. We’re here to help you be productive and find solutions,” he said.

In 2019 the state invested $2.89 million in the Partners for Conservation initiative, with 1,153 conservation practices installed statewide. And the initiative continues to grow.

In addition, Woods said, $3.5 million in new funding for the Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy was earmarked for the Soil and Water Conservation Districts.

“It’s exciting to see more money redirected for these initiatives to support what you are doing,” he said. “Thank you to all of our Soil and Water Conservation Districts. They’re the most important people on the ground, boots on the ground making a difference in what we do.”

Cover Crop Program

Illinois also supports a “Fall Cover for Spring Savings” initiative to promote cover crops. Eligible acres will be funded on a first-come, first-served basis and receive premium discount of $5 per acre on the following year’s crop insurance invoice for every enrolled, certified cover crop acre.

In 2019, the first year of the program, there were 512 applicants and enrollment was filled in 12 days for 131,000 acres of cover crops. Applicants jumped to 768 the following year and the funding limit was hit within 12 hours for just over 185,000 acres.

“We had 53,000 acres outside the program in 2019 and in 2020 we had an additional 31,500 acres of cover crops outside of that program,” Woods said.

“The funding level from the state for the cover crops program in 2019 was $300,000 and that was increased to $660,000 in 2020. We continue to invest, so while the government is not here to help you, we are here to support you in ways your tax dollars can advance efforts like conservation on your farm. We’re here to support whatever needs you have.

“The Illinois Department of Agriculture is still a producer/family title. We’re from your neighborhoods, we’re from your community and we’re there from an historic perspective to say, how can we support these initiatives to showcase the dynamic impacts that you’re having every day, whether it is right here in Livingston County or across the state.”

He closed with a quote from Wendell Berry in his book, “The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture,” published in 1977. Berry is a farmer, poet, author, activist and academic.

“The soil is the greatest connector of lives, the source and destination of all. It is the healer and restorer and resurrector, by which disease passes into health, age into youth, death into life. Without proper care for it we can have no community, because without proper care for it we can have no life,” Berry wrote.

“He was sort of a front-runner when it comes to promoting and advancing the concepts of conservation in the 1970s. In 1977 he articulated that and many years later we still continue to recognize how important our soil is,” Woods said.

“Things that we’re doing here and the farmer-to-farmer education showcased today is what’s going to help to continue to save and preserve the most important aspect of our industry, our soil.”