Recent News
More Work Needed to Meet Nutrient Loss Reduction Goals in Illinois
More Work Needed to Meet Nutrient Loss Reduction Goals in Illinois Author: American Farmland Trust Policy Manager, Max Webster Illinois released the third update to the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy, or NLRS, report to show where progress is being made and where certain challenges persist. In 2015, a policy working group led by the Illinois Water Resource Center-Illinois Indiana Sea Grant,...
Making Observations Easier with ISAP’s Rainfall Simulator
Making Observations Easier with ISAP's Rainfall Simulator Author: ISAP Soil Health Specialist, Jim Isermann Thinking through how our soil functions is not always an easy concept, or even an idea we consider very often. Getting down to the basics of how we want our soils to perform can help us better understand the role the soil plays and what effects...
PCM Impacts: Summarizing Practice Adoption, Nutrient and Sediment Loss Reductions
Impacts: Summarizing Practice Adoption, Nutrient and Sediment Loss Reductions Author: Travis Deppe Precision Conservation Management (PCM) is a conservation program initiated through funding by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) – Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). PCM combines precision technology and data management with farm business and financials to help farmers manage, adopt, and adapt conservation practices long term...
Edge-of-Field Roadmap
Roadmap seeks to accelerate adoption of edge of field conservation practices In early 2021, The Nature Conservancy, the Soil and Water Conservation Society, and Meridian Institute released Leading at the Edge: A Roadmap to Advance Edge of Field Practices in Agriculture, a new resource to build awareness, generate momentum, and catalyze adoption of conservation practices such as wetlands, buffers, and...
Soil Health Basics for Technical Service Providers
We met with Dr. Stacy Zuber, USDA-NRCS State Soil Health Specialist, on March 15th to discuss details about the new national course for certification of Technical Service Providers to write Soil Health Management System Conservation Activity Plans (CP 116). This training will be hosted by the USDA-NRCS Soil Health Division through virtual delivery April 27-29th. Dr....
Carbon Farming Strategies – Dr. Emily Bruner
Every day, more and more articles pop up in my news feed highlighting carbon as a potential revenue source for farmers. I admit, as a soil scientist my feed may be a bit biased, but news about farming practices that store soil carbon are no longer limited to scientists or conservation-minded farmers, soil carbon has infiltrated the mainstream. In fact,...