Written by: Rachel Owen, SHLP Participant
Last month, the newest cohort of the Illinois Soil Health Leadership Program gathered in Peoria for our first training session. Participants came to the program with a wide range of backgrounds and experiences, but the session offered a valuable reminder for all of us: sometimes moving soil health forward requires going back to the basics.
SHLP participants hear from Adrienne Marino from The Nature Conservancy about demonstration Edge-of-Field Practices on the Illinois Central College Campus.
Throughout the training, we revisited fundamental concepts in soil science and agronomy while exploring how they translate into practical decisions on Illinois farms. For those who work in soil health every day, the opportunity to return to these fundamentals helped reinforce not only how these systems function, but how we can better explain them, troubleshoot challenges, and think creatively about what comes next.
Jim Isermann and Pete Fandel opened the training with an overview of soil health principles, using demonstrations to make complex concepts tangible. Their sessions gave participants practical tools for explaining how soil health practices work and communicating their potential benefits to farmers and partners.
Pete Fandel, professor at Illinois Central College, leads participants on an afternoon tour, demonstrating concepts taught during the morning session of the course.
Rachel Curry with University of Illinois Extension connected those principles to the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy. Looking at soil health through the lens of nutrient management helped connect individual field decisions with broader water quality goals and demonstrated how improved nutrient use can benefit both Illinois waters and farm profitability.
Talon Becker, also with University of Illinois Extension, took us deeper into soil biology. The session highlighted the complexity of agricultural ecosystems and challenged us to think about how soil health practices influence biological processes and vice versa. Understanding those relationships can help advisors, farmers, and conservation professionals better anticipate issues such as pest pressure and nutrient cycling as management systems change.
Laura Lant with Midwest Grass and Forage brought those concepts into practice through a deeper look at cover crop selection. With so many species and mixtures available, it can be tempting to default to what has worked elsewhere. Instead, the training encouraged participants to start with the farmer’s goals and field conditions, then select species accordingly. That intentionality can help maximize benefits, reduce frustration, and improve the likelihood of long-term success.
Finally, a field visit to Pete Fandel’s farm, with insights from conservation agronomist Torey Colburn, brought the pieces together. Seeing soil health systems in practice reinforced an important lesson from our first session: innovation does not mean leaving the fundamentals behind. A strong understanding of how soil, plants, nutrients, and biology interact gives us a better foundation for adapting practices, solving problems, and helping farmers build systems that work for both their soils and their bottom line.
