Recent News
Insights from ISAP’s Alphabet Soup Training
The Illinois Sustainable Ag Partnership and Environmental Initiative (EI) hosted three half-day workshops in February to help participants “Reach Farmers Faster.” The events were held in Effingham, Bloomington, and DeKalb in early February. This farmer-centered outreach program was developed over two years when the Environmental Initiative, Trust in Food (a Farm Journal organization), and the Midwest Row Crop Collaborative joined...
Cultivating Connections on Ag Day at the Illinois State Fair
By: Jean McGuire and Rachel Lechuga More than 60 agriculture and conservation professionals, gathered on Ag Day at the Illinois State Fair to connect, collaborate, and learn from one another and leave with new tools to carry out continued work in support of sustainability throughout Illinois agriculture. Sponsored by Midwest Dairy, the event kicked off a furious round of networking...
Farmers and Ag Professionals Cultivate Conversations on Edge-of-Field Practices
By Katie Holland, Emma Eldridge, Rachel Curry, and Nicole Haverback On June 25th, Illinois farmers, landowners, and agriculture professionals gathered at the Knox County Farm Bureau building in Galesburg for “Cultivating Conversations: How and Why Farmers Implement Edge-of-Field Practices.” The event was co-hosted by the Illinois Sustainable Ag Partnership (ISAP) and Illinois Extension, featuring a presentation from Catherine DeLong of...
Alphabet Soup Participants Develop Action Plans for Advancing Conservation
During ISAP's first convening of Alphabet Soup in 2022, over 60 conservation professionals, farmers, government agents, researchers, and industry representatives came together to talk about how behavioral science impacts their work in advancing conservation. Using eight cognitive biases that were identified in the Sand County Foundation report, “Making Conservation Conventional,” attendees participated in an interactive, task-oriented workshop which created opportunities...
Ag Professionals Identify Cognitive Biases in Conservation Agriculture
During ISAP's first convening of Alphabet Soup in 2022, over 60 conservation professionals, farmers, government agents, researchers, and industry representatives came together to talk about how behavioral science impacts their work in advancing conservation. Using eight cognitive biases that were identified in the Sand County Foundation report, “Making Conservation Conventional,” attendees participated in an interactive, task-oriented workshop which created opportunities to...
Alphabet Soup Convenes Ag Professionals to Analyze Cognitive Biases
During ISAP's first convening of Alphabet Soup in 2022, over 60 conservation professionals, farmers, government agents, researchers, and industry representatives came together to talk about how behavioral science impacts their work in advancing conservation. Using eight cognitive biases that were identified in the Sand County Foundation report, “Making Conservation Conventional,” attendees participated in an interactive, task-oriented workshop which created opportunities...