The Illinois Farm Bureau (IFB) Nutrient Stewardship Grant (NSG) Program was developed in 2015 to support the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy and is the topic of the NLRS Podcast Episode 51. The NSG is now a cornerstone of IFB for its efforts and initiatives on nutrient loss reduction.
About the NSG In 2023, 23 different County Farm Bureaus (CFB) are working on 17 NSG projects across the state. NSG projects typically fall into one of four priority areas:
Provide education and outreach to farmers, landowners, and the public
Supporting research of BMPs to reduce nutrient losses
Supporting farmer implementation of BMPs
Demonstrating progress toward the long-term goals of the NLRS
The areas help prioritize all IFB projects, including those in the NSG program. The 2023 grant program has seen a lot of creative uses of these funds to support some of the bigger projects such as matching funds required for Illinois Section 319 and RCPP grants. Furthermore, grant funds are being used to support research and demonstration projects taking place on member farmers’ fields, hosting watershed planning meetings, developing and distributing fact sheets, and hosting field days. You can explore their site to learn more here.
County efforts NSG has been used to support watershed planning and implementation efforts across the state, but especially within the N-priority (Lower Rock River and Mississippi North Central) and P-priority (Little Wabash and Embarras) watersheds outlined in the NLRS. The CFB managers featured in the latest episode of the podcast are representatives of counties within these priority watersheds.
Knox County Knox County falls within the Mississippi North Central Watershed and has used the NSG program to fund ongoing projects that support the NLRS. One of the projects works with the Young Farmers Group, which consists of farmers ages 18 – 35, focuses on cover crops. The project started in 2019 and has farmers in 18 of the 20 townships planting a 20-acre plot of cover crops. The cover crop mix is determined by the issue or goal of the field. In collaboration with West Central FS, cover crop seed is subsidized. Soil samples have been taken from each of the fields and are being analyzed by Dr. Giovani Preza-Fontes, University of Illinois Extension Agronomist, to create sharable information regarding this project.
Knox County also plays a supporting role in the creation of the Mississippi North Central Watershed Characterization. Knox CFB has hosted watershed planning meetings in 2021 and 2022, with funding from the IFB Nutrient Stewardship Grant program, which allowed area landowners opportunities to discuss their concerns and project interests in the watershed. In
As the current projects mature, the Knox CFB is looking forward to continuing to provide education and outreach opportunities from the cover crop project, as well as sharing watershed planning updates to their members and other area farmers.
Lawrence & Richland Counties Lawrence and Richland counties are both located within the Embarras River Watershed (ERW). Richland and Lawrence CFBs are long-time supporters of watershed improvement projects in the ERW. Alongside IFB and several other CFBs, they committed in-kind match for education and outreach as part of a 2019 IEPA 319 grant application to update the 2011 ERW Management Plan and write watershed plans for the Slough and Polecat Creek sub-watersheds.
In 2021, the counties partnered together to host a cover crop field day near the Embarras River which consisted of topical experts and a farmer panel to provide information to producers on soil health. This field day is one component of their ongoing support of ERW efforts and the CFBs look forward to continuing to engage in watershed initiatives as they arise. Read more about this field day on FarmWeekNow.
Source: illinois.edu
Photo Credit: istock-pkujiahe
Categories: Illinois, General