Latest / The Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Podcast / Episode 77 | Batch and Grow with Farmer-Led Advances in Soil Health (FLASH)
Transcript
- **Episode 77 | Batch and Grow with Farmer-Led Advances in Soil Health (FLASH)** Morgan Cauble, Midwest Watershed Specialist - American Farmland Trust Malina Przygoda, Coles County Soil and Water Conservation District Bobby Orman, Coles County, Illinois Farmer participating in FLASH Todd Gleason: This is episode 77 of the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction podcast. Batch and Grow with Farmer-led Advances in Soil Health, FLASH. I'm University of Illinois Extension's Todd Gleason. Coming up, we'll talk about the FLASH program and Batch and Grow, we'll begin with a farmer participant. His name is Bobby Orman. Bobby Orman: Yeah, so my name's Bobby Orman, we farm right here in western Coles County. We hit three main watersheds. One runs to Lake Mattoon, one runs off to the Embarras River, one runs off to the Kaskaskia River, so in the middle of everything here in the western part of Coles County. Todd Gleason: What kinds of conservation practices have you already adopted within the operation? No-till, those kinds of things? Bobby Orman: Yeah, we do no-till, and I'll say that with minimum till, because we use a VT tool to seed our cover crops. We'll say minimum till with cover crops, and that's the method we've pretty much switched to. Todd Gleason: What made you decide to join FLASH? Bobby Orman: There was a local NRCS and soil and water personnel that recognized what we were doing in our immediate watershed area. They approached us and thought we should be a part of the group, and it's been fruitful ever since, so that's been good. Todd Gleason: What are the benefits you've received? Bobby Orman: The benefits I've received specifically through the FLASH group lately has been networking with people from different walks of life, whether they're on the agency side, in research and development, or administration distributing information and funds if available. It's networking with people doing these practices in other parts of the state, as well as everybody in between. Todd Gleason: Are there things that you think farmers should consider before they look at FLASH or maybe start a FLASH group in their area? Bobby Orman: This is a really interesting question. To me, it's what things should you consider, and that is, you don't know what you don't know. My opinion on what you should consider is, is there a check engine light, is there a problem on your farm or in your community that really needs to be addressed, you just don't know how to go about it, and possibly the FLASH organization or group would be the remedy for those questions or concerns you may have already. The big thing about FLASH is it is a farmer-led initiative. The problem that needs to be addressed and the remedy are developed on the ground versus somewhere else and administered later. Todd Gleason: Do you have an example with your own farm, is there something that you either knew or did not know that was a problem and that a solution was found? Bobby Orman: On our own farm, wind and water erosion were always glaring. You could see it in the wintertime in the snow, you could see it in the springtime in the water in the road ditches when the water runs off the fields. You could see those things glaring, but what we didn't realize is by using cover crops and putting a living root in the ground more months of the year than not, that started to develop a whole different avenue and perspective on what's going on below our feet versus just inert matter that we grow plants in. That's been a big turnaround here. Todd Gleason: Any advice to farmers who are considering FLASH? Bobby Orman: Get two, three, or four neighbors, and if you've got a common problem, if you can develop that commonality, you've got all the ingredients for a FLASH group. It's pretty simple. You just have to have a common problem, a unified view that there is an issue, and once you get that commonality, it starts to fall right into place. Todd Gleason: Bobby Orman is a Coles County Illinois farmer participating in the Farmer-Led Advances in Health Soil program, supported by the American Farmland Trust. We'll start with Morgan. I asked her to tell me about FLASH and then the Batch and Grow program. Morgan Cauble: FLASH stands for Farmer-Led Advances in Soil Health. We have groups across Illinois focused on establishing farmer-led networks in priority watersheds. Farmers often learn best and are more receptive to information from other farmers. This peer-to-peer network opportunity connects experienced conservationists with newcomers who may have questions or face barriers when adopting new practices. Todd Gleason: As we heard from the farmer already that we've talked with, this peer-to-peer is really important to him and to the farmers that are working through this FLASH program. There is a format to some financing I think that is available called Batch and Grow. Can you tell me about it? Morgan Cauble: Batch and Grow is a cover crop program that became available to our FLASH group participants in 2025. The seed mixes offered were selected by the farmer leaders of each group based on what works well in their area. Between two and five seed mixes were offered for each group. There were options for ahead of corn and ahead of beans. AFT provided the cover crop seed and application, so there was no upfront cost to the farmers. Seed dealers and applicators worked directly with AFT or a local agency, which eliminated a lot of the paperwork for farmers as well. Participants can also receive technical assistance from other farmers in their FLASH group, or AFT has a soil health specialist and an agronomist on staff they're able to ask questions to. Our goal with Batch and Grow is to create a simple cover crop program suited for experienced conservationists or beginners and to remove as many of the common barriers as possible. Looking at that, we've found that especially within the first three to five years of conservation practice adoption, this added support is critical for continued use. Todd Gleason: Because you mentioned an agronomist, I'm wondering on the cover crops whether those agronomists work to help set things that producers may not know particularly as they start, like seeding rates and such. Morgan Cauble: Right, all of our seeding rates are determined based on NRCS standards using the Midwest Cover Crop Council guidance. Our agronomist is available for any termination assistance. He also does frequent blog posts on Farm Advisor. His name is Tory Colburn if you're interested in looking up his posts there. He has a lot of good guidance, especially as we're looking toward coming off of a very dry fall where a lot of these areas experienced drought, so what they can expect with their cover crops and how they might want to adjust their termination strategies for spring. Todd Gleason: How much of Illinois is covered by this program called FLASH, and are there many active groups, where might they be located? Morgan Cauble: We currently have five active FLASH groups. I'll list them off here: Jo Daviess County, Coles County, Vermilion Headwaters, which covers Livingston and Ford counties, Hillsboro Lakes in Montgomery County, and the Black Slough Watershed in Champaign County. Some groups are county-wide and others are focused on specific watersheds. It all comes down to the resource concerns and geographic preferences of the FLASH group. Todd Gleason: Okay Malina, this brings me back to you there in Coles County. If a farmer is interested in FLASH, what's the best way for them to learn more about that program. Is it through you? Malina Przygoda: Yes, if they are interested in Coles County obviously they'd reach out to me. If you're in a different county, I definitely recommend reaching out to your local soil and water, and they will more than likely know if there's one in the area. If not, showing interest that you're wanting one in the community might encourage them to start trying to get something started in the area if there isn't one already. Todd Gleason: A couple of things, if farmers are interested in FLASH, what's the sign-up process like, what's the time commitment for them, and is there any record keeping requirement for it? Malina Przygoda: For the FLASH group itself, we mostly just need your name, your contact information so we can reach out to you when there's meetings, and where you farm. Like Morgan said, it's mostly about the geographic preference of the group. We just want to make sure that you are somewhere in the county or the watershed, whatever that preference is, we'd probably be interested in you. Even if you aren't, kind of to pick your brain on getting us more connected. The time commitment will vary based on the group. We only meet a couple times a year. That may pick up next year as things get moving more, but I think it varies based on group. For the Batch and Grow program, there's the application for the farmers to fill out and a start report, which is a little more thorough than just to be a part of the FLASH group, but there's nothing too complex, and the conservation districts can always help you walk through it. I helped a couple farmers get through the application process this year. For the most part, there's not really a whole lot we need for you to get into FLASH, just an interest and a way to get a hold of you to get you started. Todd Gleason: Now we have talked already in this program with Bobby Orman who is a farmer in Coles County that I believe you work with, and he told us that the peer-to-peer, just being able to talk to other farmers, was really important and one of the things he really liked best about the FLASH group. What can farmers expect other than that? I found a group of people that are working in concert sort of to develop these kinds of farming practices that they really haven't used before. What else can they expect from FLASH? Malina Przygoda: Honestly, that is a huge part of what FLASH is. It's a network of other farmers who are interested in taking care of their soil health. It's a great way to ask questions to each other, to brainstorm how to better their fields and the community, so they can put these visions forward and see how they want to move forward with them, to talk about what has and hasn't worked for them, and to connect them to resources to make the choices they're wanting to try. Especially like Bobby, where they are 100% cover cropping and they've been doing it for years now, that's an extremely useful resource to have, especially for someone who is just starting out in cover crops and doesn't know the best termination and has that barrier to entry of understanding what works best in your area because every area is going to be slightly different with what works and what doesn't work. To have someone in the local area that you can pick their brain and see what's worked for them and what hasn't, and hear some of their horror stories and successes is a great resource to have. Todd Gleason: So he told us during the conversation that one of the things he liked best about FLASH was this interaction with farmers, and that for him, trying to find solutions for issues he knew was happening not only on his farm but that was happening because of his farm and those surrounding him, and trying to bring a group of people together where the farms really were connected and adjacent to each other to solve larger problems usually related to water flow, some to wind. That's kind of part of what FLASH does as peer-to-peer. It may be a larger group spread across a region, but as much could be a more localized group that you helped to learn how to work together, is that right? Malina Przygoda: Yes, it definitely can be both. On the individual basis, helping a farmer to understand what works best for his field, and as those fields continue to add up, that helps on a much larger scale. Everybody doing a little bit of their part can help with erosion and water control across a large watershed. We are mostly based right now in the Mattoon Lake Paradise watershed, which this year has had a rough go with water quality issues in the drinking water. We are uniquely placed at the moment to be able to do some great things with that. To help on the individual basis helps to reduce all of the runoff running into the lakes that are part of that drinking water as well. There is a lot of big picture on a smaller scale across the FLASH group, which is really nice to see. Todd Gleason: Yeah, FLASH really supports farmers interested in keeping their nutrients in their fields, and your job is to help coordinate that. Malina Przygoda: Yes, that's correct, yes. Todd Gleason: Let's talk about some of the ins and outs of the program directly before we get out to how farmers might participate. I want to know, Morgan, from you if there have been any updates to FLASH or anything that's planned for 2026. Morgan Cauble: We're currently wrapping up the rest of our drill seeded acres specifically in Jo Daviess County, they're planting some cereal rye up there. That will be the last thing that we are completing for the 2025 Batch and Grow program. That'll put us at about 8,000 total acres of cover crops enrolled in the program this year across the five different groups. We're really hoping to expand the number of FLASH groups and the acres covered through the Batch and Grow program next year. It would be great to establish a group in the Lower Wabash watershed, as that is a priority as identified in the Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy. We're also open to expanding into watersheds that aren't necessarily the NLRS priority watersheds. Wherever there are passionate people excited to work to improve water quality and soil health, that's where we want to go. I think Bobby is a great example of a farmer that is extremely personally passionate and invested and wants to motivate a lot of other farmers to get involved in this conservation work. Just identifying, reaching out to those people, and AFT and the local soil and water conservation districts can work with them through our FLASH program to give them the platform, help them do that outreach, provide funding for conservation practices, but also field days, and we're also offering soil health plans for our FLASH participants. Just taking the motivation of the farmer and empowering that, bolstering it to help them reach other farmers in their area that want to get involved in this work. Todd Gleason: Are the properties, do they need to be owned by the farmer, or can these be rented properties as well that would be involved in these FLASH programs? Morgan Cauble: Renters can participate as well. We are USDA funded through a Regional Conservation Partnership Program grant, so we do have to abide by NRCS and USDA program standards. Basically, they would just need to work with their local Farm Service Agency office to be sure they're listed as an operator on the specific farm or field they're planning to enroll. As always, I recommend the renter work out that conversation and make sure the landowner they're renting from is aware and knows they are planning to implement these conservation practices and are accepting of that. AFT also offers resources for renters and landowners through our Farmland Information Center website and through our Land Transfer Navigators. You can always reach out to AFT staff if you're interested more about navigating those conversations. Any farmers who rent land can participate in Batch and Grow or the FLASH program itself. We really encourage all farmers, landowners, even ag retailers, conservation professionals, and community members to get involved with the FLASH groups if they're interested. While ultimately keeping the decisions farmer-led, we think it's important to have the perspectives and understanding of these different groups and stakeholders in the watershed as well. Todd Gleason: Clearly Malina is a group leader in Coles County. I'm wondering though, Morgan, how folks like in the Wabash where you're looking for a group leader, how do people become a group leader? How do you find them? Morgan Cauble: We have an interest form on our website which can be found at farmland.org/flash. From there, we'll reach out and figure out what your needs are and what our next steps should be. This usually looks like setting up an initial informational meeting to explain the farmer-led model and how AFT can assist. I can also explain some of the things that we're able to offer as well. We can do everything from administrative support, outreach, technical assistance, providing funding for field days, and offering money for conservation practices through our Batch and Grow program. I also want to mention here that although all five groups we worked with in the previous year chose to only offer cover crops through the program, we're looking into the possibility of funding other practices in 2026. Nutrient management, no-till, habitat buffers, those are just some of the things we're looking at offering for next year but open to the specific needs of each farmer group. Todd Gleason: The incentives, financially, are oftentimes what can drive the beginning of this. Do you have an idea of what producers might be able to reap in those kinds of benefits by joining a FLASH group? Morgan Cauble: It's not like an incentive, we just pay for the cover crops outright through seed and application. The only thing the farmer would be financially responsible for is termination if they chose a winter hardy mix. For our costs this year, we averaged about 35 to 40 dollars an acre. That could be a good measure of financial benefit to the farmer. Once again, we didn't pay that directly to them, that's the financial benefit they received if they were going to plant cover crops anyway basically. Todd Gleason: So Malina, if a farmer is interested in participating in FLASH, how can they do that? Malina Przygoda: Definitely reach out to your soil and water district. Again, if it's Coles then it'd be me, but the resource conservationist in that area should be pretty familiar with if there is a group or not. Many districts have websites and Facebooks, but you can also find their number online, so there should be a couple different ways to get a hold of them. They'll likely know if there's a group in the area, and like I said earlier, if not, showing interest might encourage them to start one if there isn't one already. Todd Gleason: So Morgan, just one final question, why is it that AFT the American Farmland Trust is interested in helping producers learn how to use cover crops? Morgan Cauble: I think the reason AFT focused on cover crops through the Batch and Grow program specifically this year was it's just a simple practice to offer in this format of Batch and Grow. The seed mixes were predetermined, selected by the farmer leaders in each group to suggest to others what has worked well for them. That really cuts down the barriers of if a farmer is interested in using cover crops but doesn't know exactly what mix to use or what works best in their area, we gave them a specific set of options to choose from and they were also predetermined based on their upcoming crop. If they selected that they were going to plant soybeans next year, for example, it would automatically recommend through our application online cereal rye. Really cutting down the decision making and the guesswork out of it. Also, cover crops are pretty simple to do in this format of AFT is handling the contracting with the seed dealers and applicators or we're working with local fiscal agents to do that such as a soil and water conservation district. It's fairly easy for the farmers to be hands-off in this format. They don't have to change anything necessarily about their management practices other than adjusting for termination in the spring if they chose to do a winter hardy mix. We had some groups that the farmer leaders preferred to offer the winter kill mixes to make the termination process even simpler in that way. And also in focusing with our watershed work, cover crops have a very high impact on nutrient loss reduction, especially with nitrogen and phosphorus in these specific areas. So we're focused on that and helping to improve water quality with those cover crops as well. Todd Gleason: Morgan Cauble is with the American Farmland Trust joined us on this episode number 77 of the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Podcast. Today's title, Batch and Grow with the Farmer Led Advances in Soil Health program, that's FLASH. You can search it out easily enough by looking for American Farmland Trust, FLASH. We were also joined by group leader in Coles County at the Soil and Water Conservation District Soil Conservationist Malina Przygoda and Bobby Orman who is a Coles County Illinois farmer and participating in FLASH. Our podcast is produced with the help of University of Illinois Extension Educators Rachel Curry, Nicole Haverback, and Luke Zwilling. I'm University of Illinois Extension's Todd Gleason.