BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — As the ground thaws from winter and growers head back into the field, Illinois Farm Bureau (IFB) and its membership will continue to promote water quality and soil health through Nutrient Stewardship Field Days this spring.
With environmental stewardship remaining top of mind for farmers heading into the 2022 planting season, a series of three events focusing on cover crop management will take place this April.
“Thanks to new technologies and innovative practices farmers continue to find solutions that preserve the soil and water quality on their farms,” said Richard Guebert Jr, president, IFB. “These field days provide opportunities for farmers to share the tools that work best on their farms, talk through research behind the solutions, and collaborate with a wide range of community partners and organizations who are just as passionate about limiting impacts on the environment.”
The first round of events hosted through IFB’s Nutrient Stewardship Grant Program will focus on cover crop research in Washington, Knox and Clinton counties. Nine additional field days across the state will take place this summer.
The 2022 Spring Field Days schedule is listed below. The schedule contains dates, locations, hosting county Farm Bureaus (CFBs) and short summaries on each field day event.
2022 Spring Nutrient Stewardship Field Days Schedule:
Date | County Farm Bureau | Time | Location |
Tuesday, April 5 | Washington
| 10:00 a.m. – noon | 25443 N. Carolina Rd., Ashley, IL 62808 |
Wednesday, April 6 | Knox | 10:00 a.m. – noon | O’Connor Farms, 1/4 mile south of 2083 Knox Road 800, Wataga, IL 61488 |
Saturday, April 9 | Clinton | 10:00 a.m. – noon | Sugar Creek Valley Farms, 12555 Poettker Road, Aviston, IL 62216 |
2022 Spring Nutrient Stewardship Field Days Project Summaries:
Washington CFB – April 5
- Washington County Farm Bureau is hosting a spring field day as part of their multi-year cover crop project. Through active collaboration with Gateway FS, local farmers have been evaluating different cover crop practices, such as planting cash crops into existing green cover crops, otherwise known as “planting green,” compared to terminating the over-wintering cover crop ahead of planting. Partners have also evaluated soil health through soil testing throughout the growing season and tissue tests to evaluate crop health.
Knox CFB – April 6
- As part of a multi-year cover crop program led by the Young Farmer Committee, a program which was awarded a New Horizon Award, Knox County Farm Bureau (CFB) is hosting a spring field day to share details of their ongoing project and preliminary results. Through an active partnership with West Central FS, leaders of this program have been able to plant 20-acre cover crop plots across the county for three years, allowing producers to try cover crops on a small scale to help meet their individual goals. The field day will conclude with a panel of producers discussing their experiences with cover crops.
Clinton CFB – April 9
- Clinton County Farm Bureau (CFB) is hosting a spring field day as part of their multi-year Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy (NLRS) project. The focus of this event will be on their cover crop test plot, including information about manure application research, forage quality testing, ongoing soil testing, and more. Attendees will also receive an update on ongoing Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC) manure management and cereal rye research taking place in the county.
The 2022 Nutrient Stewardship Field Days are funded through IFB’s Nutrient Stewardship Grant Program. The program, now in its seventh year, committed over $150,000 to the grant program in 2022 and is working with 25 counties on 21 projects throughout the state.
“Illinois Farm Bureau and county Farm Bureaus are among the agriculture and environmental groups who have continued to work towards the state’s NLRS goals,” said Raelynn Parmely, environmental program manager, IFB. “These field days are a great forum for farmers to share ideas with researchers and other organizations that we partner with, while also showcasing the incredible amount of work being done to protect the resources in our state to those inside and outside agriculture.”
The NLRS, which was released by the Illinois Department of Agriculture and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency in July 2015, calls for wastewater treatment plants, urban areas and agricultural areas to reduce the state’s phosphorous load by 25% and its nitrate-nitrogen load by 15% by 2025. The eventual target is a 45% reduction in the loss of these nutrients to the Mississippi River.
Visit www.ilfb.org/FieldDays for additional details on upcoming field days and to browse information related to past events.
— Illinois Farm Bureau