In Illinois, Young, Conservation-minded Farmers Race Against Climate Change to Save Their Soil

Drought, dust storms and sediment piles the size of skyscrapers are wreaking havoc on central Illinois farms. Can the next generation innovate fast enough? Jake Lieb drives his John Deere two-seater around his property and across the shallow Camp Creek. The waterway cuts back and forth through miles of farm fields until it reaches the Sangamon River and eventually pours into Lake Decatur 32 miles away — the man-made source of water for 200,000 people.

These are troubled waters. The city of Decatur paid $100 million in 2021 to dredge enough polluted sediment out of the lake to fill seven Willis Towers — and much of it was from farms like Lieb’s, swept away by increasingly heavy and unpredictable rains. When those rains pour, they funnel topsoil and costly fertilizer into the creek, the river and miles downstream into the lake.

The problem doesn’t end there. This agricultural runoff, occurring in watersheds all over Illinois, eventually ends up in the Gulf of Mexico where it contributes to an oxygen-starved “dead zone” that threatens fish and other sea life.

Lieb wants his remaining soil to stay where it is, and he’s among a small but growing percentage of Illinois farmers experimenting with how. Well before the pile-up in the lake, and before dust storms blanketed I-55 in central Illinois and led to eight fatalities, Lieb was rolling out soil conservation projects. What motivates him, in part, is his two young sons.

“I got to save something for my family, you know what I mean?” asked the 41-year old on a humid afternoon.

Now the city of Decatur, the federal government and a large membership group, the Illinois Farm Bureau, have pledged to assist and pay farmers to reduce water and wind erosion. The extra money is good news for Lieb, who is an early adopter and experimenter. He’s not alone, but he is surrounded by many farmers who stick to the tried-and-true methods of heavy plowing and bare winter fields to grow crops and pay the bills.

Source: wglt.org

Photo Credit: gettyimages-zoran-zeremski