ISAP partners align to promote, educate

URBANA, Ill. — Eliminating the information gap to help agriculture voluntarily meet the Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy goals has been a top priority for the Illinois Sustainable Ag Partnership.

ISAP was formed in 2017 by agriculture leaders to ensure unified action in meeting the state’s NLRS interim targets of a 15% decrease in nitrate-nitrogen and 25% decrease in total phosphorus loads by 2025 and a long-term goal of a 45% reduction in both loads.

Helen VanBeck, ISAP coordinator and American Farmland Trust Midwest program manager, said the organization was developed in response to the establishment of the NRLS and has since grown in membership.

“It came from conversations that some of our now-member organizations were having at the time around how Illinois as a state and how Illinois agriculture specifically was going to address the goals established in the strategy,” said VanBeck in a recent NLRS podcast.

“Since then, the partnership has grown. We’ve added new members and we filed for a 501c3 nonprofit in 2023, but we still are using the goals that were developed in the Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy as kind of a North Star of the organization.

“We took on a train-the-trainer model, understanding that we’re going to need a lot of people across the state — farmers and their advisers — who are well equipped to implement these conservation practices that are suggested in the strategy. Also, to help their neighbors, their customers, other farmers that they’re working with to also adopt some of these practices.”

ISAP’s core strategies include increasing farmer recognition in the economic value of conservation practices, serving as a clearinghouse for soil health and conservation drainage education and accelerating the adoption of conservation practices that improves soil health, “carbon cycle balance” and water quality.

Partnerships

The organization receives various support mechanisms from the Agricultural Drainage Management Coalition, American Farmland Trust, Association of Illinois Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Illinois Central College, Illinois Certified Crop Advisers, Illinois Corn Growers Association, University of Illinois Extension, Illinois Land Improvement Contractors Association, Illinois Soybean Association, Midwest Dairy, Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever, Precision Conservation Management, The Nature Conservancy, The Wetlands Initiative and Zea Mays Foundation.

“It’s a good mix across types of entities. All of our 15 individual members have their specific priorities for their organizations and they have unique connections with farmers,” VanBeck said.

“Some of us across the partnership are working with a different subset of farmers, but there’s really value in the partnership coming together and agreeing on a unified message for how we talk about these practices, how we talk about the benefits both environmentally and economically and how that unified message that’s being spread to farmers across the state is one of the strongest benefits of collaborating through ISAP.”

Challenges

VanBeck was asked what the challenges farmers face when they’re transitioning to more sustainable practices.

“We’ve collected a lot of information about this. We’re all trying to crack this nut of what is it going to take to get adoption,” she said.

“One of the things ISAP has really focused on is kind of this information gap. So, when we’re talking to farmers, we’re doing a lot of education around the benefits of the practices, but once someone decides — ‘I’ll plant some cover crops. Where do I get the seed from?’ — having some of this information easily accessible for them is important.

“A couple of things we’ve put together over the past years include a directory of cover crop service providers. That includes seed dealers, applicators and a variety of different services that are offered to farmers.”

ISAP also provides several financial incentive directories.

“We want to make it really easy and clear for farmers to see where they can get paid to implement these practices. We have a cover crop incentive directory for edge-of-field practices. We put together an overview of carbon market opportunities for farmers and really just try to help connect farmers to the information easily,” VanBeck said.

“A lot of times I think it’s hard for farmers in that space, specifically where it feels like people are trying to sell you something. So, ISAP has really tried to be that independent third-party just sharing information.”

Trusted Sources

Farmers want to hear from other farmers who have implemented nutrient loss reduction practices and how they are working.

“That’s really a trusted source of information. ISAP has tried to uplift successful stories from farmers who are implementing these practices — so, whether that’s including farmer voices in our trainings and in our workshops and webinars, but also putting together farmer profiles to share their stories a bit further out,” VanBeck said.

“One of the things we’ve also put together is our conservation story map which includes pins across the state of farmers’ service providers people who have gone through ISAP’s training programs, as well as demonstration sites where some of these practices can be seen. That’s just another way to connect people to local sources of information about these practices.”

ISAP’s website — ilsustainableag.org — has more details about the program.

“We also have a resource library that we keep updated. We have an events calendar so you can find a workshop or a field day near you. We have a career page where people can stay up to date if they’re looking for jobs in the conservation space,” VanBeck said.

“We also put out a monthly newsletter, The Aggregate. You can sign up for the newsletter on our website and that’s where we send out a recap every month of articles and other resources, as well as upcoming events and job opportunities.

“That’s the best way to stay up to date as we roll out new projects and new resources for farmers.”