Page 40 2024 Logan County Spring Farm Magazine LINCOLN DAILY NEWS March 2024 For those who may not know, cover cropping is a practice where farmers replace their summer crops with new crops to help keep the soil covered during the fall and winter seasons. According to Ohio State University, cover cropping can help to reduce nutrient loss in topsoil. The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Illinois Extension website has something they call their “Cover Crop Decision Support Tool.” This can be used to help farmers decide what cover crops to plant. You can find that tool for yourself by going to https://covercrop.ncsa. illinois.edu/. Another strategy farmers can implement to help reduce nutrient loss is what is called “edge-of-field” practices. These practices include the establishing of wetlands, prairie strips, two-stage ditches, drainage water management, and vegetated riparian buffers. The Illinois Sustainable AG Partnership has what they describe as a “roadmap” to help farmers learn about and implement these “edge-of-field” practices. You can read more about their initiative by going to https:// ilsustainableag.org/edge-of-field-roadmap/. These best management practices, or BMPs, are not free. They require not only a monetary commitment from farmers, but a time commitment as well. Luckily for farmers, the first can be taken care of via grants. One of these grants is called the Illinois Farm Bureau Nutrient Stewardship Grant. This grant allows farmers to apply for grants for projects that align with the Illinois NLRS’s goals. The process of applying for this grant is a bit involved, but has one major benefit. By the end of the process, the farmer will be connected with local partners who will help keep the project operational. Rather than having a state or national organization run the program, local farmers and partners are the ones able to make the decisions and call the shots. Lincoln Daily News also reached out to Reagen Tibbs, Commercial Agriculture Educator at the U of I Extension in Lincoln. Tibbs referred farmers to page 60 of the 2023 report for information on additional programs farmers can get involved with to help further the goal of nutrient loss reduction. In addition to referring farmers to the 2023 report, Tibbs included ways farmers can keep up to date about the Illinois NLRS. He encouraged farmers to visit the Illinois EPA’s website to view up to date information about Continued --
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