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The Illinois Sustainable Ag Partnership brings together member organizations who work collaboratively to encourage the adoption of sustainable and profitable production practices that improve soil health and restore local waters. ISAP’s programs are based on a combination of academic and on-farm research data, employing a “train-the-trainer” approach that results in a cadre of professionals who are able to inform and influence producers across the state. By developing comprehensive programming, building a strong network of sustainable agriculture advocates, and sharing relevant research and resources, ISAP is committed to working together to support healthy soil, clean water, and profitable farms in Illinois. ISAP invites conservation leaders to share their own conservation story by adding their pin to ISAP’s new Conservation Story Map at ilsustainableag.org/conservation-story-map.
ISAP’s members include: The Nature Conservancy, American Farmland Trust, Precision Conservation Management, Illinois Corn, Illinois Central College, The Wetlands Initiative, The Zea Mays Foundation, Illinois Land Improvement Contractors Association, Association of Illinois Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Illinois Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever, University of Illinois Extension, Agriculture Drainage Management Coalition, Illinois Soybean Association, Illinois Certified Crop Advisers, and Midwest Dairy. For more information, visit www.ilsustainableag.org.
ISAP’s programs fall into four pillars: Production Risk Management, Soil Health & In-field Management, Water Quality & Edge-of-Field Practices, and Network of Practitioners.
Production Risk Management
ISAP’s biennial Risk Management Conference highlights the use of soil health and conservation drainage practices as tools to mitigate production risk. The conference aims to increase the knowledge of farmers, landowners, and advisers, bringing the agriculture industry together to highlight how conservation practices build resiliency for Illinois farms. In June 2022, ISAP brought together experts on cover crops, tile drainage, and economics to tackle common myths in conservation cropping systems. The series was well attended with over 120 individual attendees representing 17 states/provinces across North America. Farmers, ag advisers, Illinois Extension staff, and non-profit conservation advocates had the opportunity to learn how, in a well-managed system, cover crops and tile drainage can be incorporated into successful, sustainable, and profitable farms.
ISAP’s risk management conference addressed common conservation myths
ISAP’s Ecosystem Markets work provides farmers with transparent and practical information that will increase their confidence to evaluate ecosystem market opportunities. In 2021, ISAP hosted five webinars covering ecosystem markets, connecting farmers with data platforms, input providers, and other members of the food and ag supply chain. The webinars reached an initial audience of over 2,000 attendees, and the recordings have been viewed over 1,500 times on YouTube. Between 2021 and 2022, ISAP shared resources and tools to communicate and evaluate ecosystem market opportunities during 16 workshops, reaching over 3,300 individuals. These workshops provided a comprehensive overview of concepts farmers should know and consider when navigating the rapidly evolving space of carbon and ecosystem markets.
Soil Health and In-Field Management
ISAP developed the Advanced Soil Health Training to support Illinois farmers, retailers, crop advisors, and conservation professionals as they improve their understanding of soil health science and the production management changes needed to maximize on-farm benefits of soil health systems. The intensive classroom and in-field training model spans 18 months. Graduates are encouraged to share what they learn through presentations and field days to farmers in their network.
In June 2021, the third Advanced Soil Health Training was launched for a Bi-State Cohort of 25 individuals from Iowa and Illinois. In August 2022, the third cohort of trainees graduated from the Advanced Soil Health Training program, further increasing the number of soil health specialists prepared to support Illinois farmers. The fourth Advanced Soil Health Training cohort, made up of 17 retailers and ag education professionals based in Central Illinois, kicked off their program in August 2022. The classroom and in-field sessions have focused on soil health, soil biology, and nutrient management. This class will graduate in winter of 2023.
ISAP published Illinois’s first Cover Crop Incentive Directory that provides an overview of 15 unique cover crop incentive payment opportunities for farmers in Illinois. The directory includes both publicly and privately funded programs as well as a “Stacking Matrix” so farmers can easily determine if they may be eligible to stack payments from multiple programs. The directory is available at ilsustainableag.org/resource/isaps-cover-crop-incentives-directory.
Water Quality and Edge-of-Field Practices
ISAP’s Advanced Conservation Drainage Programs highlight practices like saturated buffers, constructed wetlands, controlled drainage, and bioreactors, which are designed to capture and treat high levels of nitrate-nitrogen from tile flow and improve water quality. The program provides relevant research on the effectiveness of conservation drainage and sharing comprehensive planning tools to enable practice prioritization at the watershed scale. In 2022, ISAP tailored training information for specific key audiences and integrated conservation drainage content and messaging into existing meetings and events, including a presentation at the 2022 Certified Crop Advisors conference (photo below).
Network of Practitioners
ISAP leads the Illinois Cover Crop On-Farm Network, a group of farmers and cover crop practitioners from across Illinois and the broader Midwest who join monthly discussions to explore new research, troubleshoot field conditions, and provide updates on policies and programs related to cover crops. In 2021-22, ICCON calls were attended by 186 cover crop enthusiasts who learned about cover crop resources, producer-led watershed programs, commercial cover crop projects, carbon sequestration, grazing considerations, and robotic planting technology. With support from the Illinois Nutrient Research & Education Council, ICCON hosted a winter series on New and Emerging Cover Crops, exploring the cover crop potential of Balansa clover, Camelina, CoverCress, and Berseem clover.
In 2022, ISAP launched an interactive Conservation Story Map to showcase sustainable agriculture efforts in Illinois and facilitate connections among leaders in soil health and nutrient loss reduction. ISAP’s Conservation Story Map features farmers, service providers, conservation specialists, research, and demonstration sites across the state of Illinois that are successfully adopting, exploring, or promoting conservation cropping systems and conservation drainage management. The Conservation Story Map communicates the system-wide approach that is necessary to achieve the state’s nutrient loss reduction goals, acknowledging that every farmer’s soil health and water quality journey may look a little different. ISAP invites farmers, service providers, researchers, and other conservation professionals to put their pin on the map by visiting www.ilsustainableag.org/conservation-story-map.
