Resources

Documents & Websites

Soil Health Assessment

This video series produced by University of Illinois Extension demonstrates three creative ways to assess the soil health of your farm.

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SARE Interactive Exploration of Soil Health

More and more, producers are understanding that healthy soils are more productive and lead to healthier crops. Dig into this interactive infographic to learn more about sustainable production practices that can help build healthy soil. Explore the on-farm benefits of using cover crops, crop rotation, manure amendments, composting and more on the complex web of life below the surface of the soil.

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ADMC Saturated Buffer Fact Sheet

This ADMC webpage provides information on saturated buffers including considerations for installation and financial impacts.

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SWCS Saturated Buffers

This video, in the SWCS Conservation Media Library, shows how saturated buffers serve as a nutrient removal option for farmers.

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Illinois NREC Saturated Buffer Video

Jon Schoonover with Southern Illinois University has designed a unique Saturated Buffer configuration that he has installed and tested in Moultrie County Illinois. The project is funded by NREC in partnership with Illinois Farm Bureau, Land Improvement Contractors of America (LICA) and others.

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IL Farm Bureau Saturated Buffer Field Day

Illinois Farm Bureau, Southern Illinois University College of Agriculture, Illinois Land Improvement Contractors Association, and USDA-NRCS partnered together to bring Illinois farmers an educational demonstration of our latest edge of field practice. Together they are striving to protect our natural resources and seeking out new ways to be better stewards of our land.

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University of Illinois Saturated Buffer

A grassed buffer between a field and a stream provides important benefits to the environment but underground a tile pipe can send nitrogen straight to the stream. Dr. Laura Christianson of the University of Illinois talks about how we can modify grassed buffers to remove nitrogen from the tile drainage water before sending the water downstream.

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Transforming Drainage: Saturated Buffers

The Transforming Drainage project brings together research from experimental saturated buffer sites across the U.S. Midwest to evaluate the full potential of this new and exciting practice, and develop tools and resources that will help farmers, drainage contractors, conservation staff, and others locate, design, and install saturated buffers within tile-drained landscapes.

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University of Illinois Extension: “Buffing Up” Water Quality

This saturated buffer fact sheet outlines the benefits of this practice and lists several considerations and requirements of installment.

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ADMC Controlled Drainage Fact Sheet

This ADMC webpage provides information on controlled drainage, also referred to as drainage water management, including considerations for installation and financial impacts.

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