DEKALB, Ill. — The Illinois Sustainable Agriculture Partnership (ISAP) will be holding a free, four-part webinar series this summer, exploring new ecosystem services market opportunities for Midwest farmers. The series will provide farmers and their advisors with practical and straightforward information on innovative market incentives.
The webinars will be held on Tuesday, June 22, Thursday, June 24, Tuesday, July 13 and Thursday, July 15, 2021 from 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM CDT. The webinars will feature programs available from input providers such as Bayer, Corteva and Nutrien; explore innovative markets and data platforms available from CIBO, Farmers Business Network, and Land O’Lakes; examine market opportunities through the lens of the agricultural supply chain companies Cargill, General Mills, and PepsiCo; and investigate water quality markets and additional potential revenue streams for ecosystem services.
“Interest in ecosystem markets continues to rise, and with all the new options popping up it is difficult to decide which program, if any, may be a good fit for a particular operation,” says Emily Bruner, American Farmland Trust Midwest Science Director. “ISAP’s goal with this series is to develop a portfolio of resources to inform farmer decisions and build confidence around navigating market and innovative incentive opportunities.”
The event is hosted by ISAP with help from more than 20 organizations spanning across Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin.
The adoption of practices like no-till, cover crops, pasture management, and agroforestry can sequester carbon in the soil and reduce greenhouse gases by soaking up carbon that would otherwise trap heat in the atmosphere. Expanding financial incentives and markets for carbon and other ecosystem services present an opportunity for Midwest farmers to combat climate change while improving water quality and building on-farm resiliency and profitability.
More information can be found online at https://ilsustainableag.org/ecomarkets
along with registration information and additional event details. If you have questions or need assistance with registering, please send email inquiries to ilsustainableag@gmail.com. Participants are encouraged to submit questions ahead of time during the registration process.
For more details, contact: April Ann Opatik: aopatik@farmland.org.
— Illinois Soybean Association
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