NUTRIENT LOSS THREAT: Illinois agriculture continues to battle nutrient pollution
Nutrient loss is one of the most serious pollution threats faced in the U.S., causing a Rhode Island-sized dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, poisoning local lakes and streams and causing serious health problems for people and domesticated animals. This year, Illinois lawmakers are considering how to best direct state resources to help reduce […]
Lack Of Testing Means Millions Of Rural Midwesterners Risk Water Contamination
Millions of rural residents across the Midwest are at risk of nitrate contamination in their drinking water, but they might not know it. Many rural residents get their drinking water from private wells, which are not regulated by state or federal governments. And if residents aren’t regularly testing their well water, they could be at […]
Cover Crops Can Help Slow Climate Change, But Few Farmers Are Planting Them
Amid a push from the Biden administration for U.S. agriculture to help slow climate change, a new study shows farmers in the Corn Belt are dropping the ball on adopting a climate-friendly practice. A mountain of research shows the benefits of planting cover crops — from sequestering carbon from the environment to keeping waterways […]
For Farmland Conservation, It Comes Down To Who Owns It
TOLONO — Lin Warfel puts farmland owners in central Illinois into two categories: Those with a deep connection and desire to preserve their land, and those obsessed with short-term money. The 80-year-old still owns the land that’s been in his family since his great-grandfather arrived in Champaign County in the 1800’s. After farming it […]
It’s Been Six Years Since Illinois Set Out To Improve Water Quality. So Far, Farm Runoff Is Worse
BROADLANDS — When it rains on Joe Rothermel’s central Illinois farm, most of the water drains into the nearby East Branch Embarras River. There, it begins a journey south through the Wabash, Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. As it flows through more and more farmland, fertilizer runoff — which once nourished crops — compounds the water’s […]
More Farmers Are Planting Cover Crops Thanks To State Incentive Programs
Last month, the Illinois Department of Agriculture opened applications for its second annual Fall Covers for Spring Savings Program — which provides a…
‘We Have One Earth’: Researchers Work To Boost Farm Production Without Causing More Harm
At the edge of a corn field on a clear but windy June day, microbiologist Tom Moorman lifts a metal lid and reveals a collection of bottles, tubes,…
News Around Illinois – November 27, 2019
State Crop Sustainability Goal Is Centuries Away PEORIA – Illinois is still two centuries away from hitting towards its goal of planting enough cover crops to make a significant dent in nutrient pollution in waterways. That’s according to a coalition of environmental groups responding to the state’s recently-released biennial Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy report. Nutrient […]