The Nutrient Research & Education Council was created in 2012 by the state of Illinois and is managed by representatives from farmer organizations, commercial fertilizer retailers, specialty fertilizer retailers, certified crop advisers, and IDOA. NREC is a public-private partnership that assures a sustainable source of funding for nutrient research and education programs (illinoisnrec.org/). The partnership between NREC and IDOA ensures that an assessment of $0.75/ton on all bulk fertilizer sold in Illinois is allocated to research and educational programs focused on nutrient use and water quality. From 2012 to 2020, NREC invested $23 million in nutrient efficiency research. In 2021, an additional $3.75 million will be directed towards applied research, with another $60,000 for outreach and educational activities.
NREC funds research projects in four main categories, with specific issues identified in each of the categories:
- Applying and understanding the 4Rs — identifying conservation practices and expanding the understanding of these practices related to more efficient fertilizer applications and using those nutrients for crop production.
- Capturing excess nutrients in the field, primarily using cover crops, with a focus on finding the most economical strategies for adopting these methods on a wide scale.
- Mitigating the loss of excess nutrients to water supplies through edge-of-field practices — woodchip bioreactors, wetlands, saturated buffers, water and sediment control basins, and other practices designed to capture nutrients before they enter water supplies.
- Studying other nutrient management issues, including the impact of tile depth and spacing, the use of gypsum and drainage water management, and emerging topics, such as dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium for nitrate retention and the use of biochar to remove phosphorus from drainage water.
NREC also encourages education-based projects that incorporate research findings and effectively promote conservation practice implementation to farmers and crop advisers. NREC partners with others in the industry to focus on knowledge transfer and usefulness of the generated data. NREC
publishes periodic “Investment Insights,” which focus on particular research projects and provide a one-page summary of the work and findings. In addition, they post project videos on their YouTube channel and utilize their other social media platforms to widely distribute research data. In 2020, the group held their first Investment Insight Live event where they brought together academic partners from across the state to share their research, have meaningful dialogue, and share ideas and concepts to move research forward. In addition, many of the 40-plus students who contribute to NREC-funded projects had the opportunity to present their work and interact with stakeholders and other researchers at the event’s poster session.
NREC works with industry stakeholders to identify needs and prioritize areas of research. Annually, NREC requests proposals for projects that examine, test, and measure the effectiveness and economic viability of farming practices that reduce nitrogen and phosphorus losses to water and are not detrimental to agricultural production or yield. In addition, NREC funds the biennial NLRS Survey conducted by NASS, which measures adoption and awareness of NLRS practices.
For more information, visit illinoisnrec.org/.
