Latest / The Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Podcast / Episode 12 | Cultivating Change in Conservation - Illinois Farm Bureau's Perspective
Transcript
- Episode 12 | Cultivating Change in Conservation - Illinois Farm Bureau's Perspective 00:00:06:12 - 00:00:33:23 Todd Gleason This is the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction podcast, episode number 12. Cultivating change in conservation. The Illinois Farm Bureau's perspective. I’m University of Illinois Extension's Todd Gleason. Lauren Lurkins, the director of natural and environmental resources at Illinois Farm Bureau, now joins us. I'm wondering, Lauren, if you can tell me a little bit about how the Farm Bureau has been involved in the process of implementing the nutrient loss reduction strategy in the state? 00:00:33:27 - 00:00:58:12 Lauren Lurkins Absolutely. So our work at Illinois Farm Bureau on the nutrient loss reduction strategy focuses in four primary areas. The first is education and outreach. And we try to track our numbers to the best, to the best of our abilities, which is difficult with, you know, being the state's largest farm organization. But as of the end of 2018, we believe that we have reached over 42,000 individuals. 00:00:58:15 - 00:01:20:04 Lauren Lurkins And that's through a combination of face-to-face conversations, presentations, conferences, and even a couple of webinars in the process. We are able to utilize our existing structure of County Farm bureaus, both the leadership of farmers at that county level and our staff to be able to execute that level of outreach. Our second priority is that we support research initiatives. 00:01:20:04 - 00:01:43:25 Lauren Lurkins So at Farm Bureau, we work with researchers at all of our state universities that are working on this issue to be able to, at a bare minimum, tell our farmers what the research is that's happening and what they're finding. But sometimes those those researchers need places to look at these practices. So we partner with the researchers and the farmers to find locations across the state. 00:01:43:28 - 00:02:06:14 Lauren Lurkins And we come up with a lot of very good partnerships across the state to be able to implement that research. Our third area of prioritization is really supporting implementation efforts. And that's where the bulk of this three quarters of a million in commitments has gone. One of the things that we're most proud of is a grant program focused on this issue to our county farm bureaus. 00:02:06:14 - 00:02:36:17 Lauren Lurkins So we have locally led initiatives that that come from our grassroots all the way up. And we just help fund them a little more than what the counties would be able to do on their own. And over the course of three, almost four years now, we're entering our fourth year of grant programs. You know, we've installed saturated buffers, we've installed woodchip bioreactors, done tons of work on cover crops, and, even looked at different, you know, database and technology driven, information for our farmers. 00:02:36:17 - 00:03:02:02 Lauren Lurkins So it's all farmer ideas that we just put a little bit of resources behind. And then finally, our fourth priority is demonstrating progress. So we know as the state's largest farm organization that we have to, you know, tell several different audiences what our farmers in the state of Illinois are doing on this topic. So we spend a lot of time, reporting these metrics back to our state agencies, the Illinois Department of AG and Illinois EPA. 00:03:02:05 - 00:03:15:24 Lauren Lurkins We also take that message to U.S. EPA, both the headquarters in D.C., as well as the regional office in Chicago. And we spend time talking to the general public and all of this work is still continuing as we enter into 2019. 00:03:15:25 - 00:03:28:18 Todd Gleason Speaking of that work, Lauren, Michael Ganschow now joins us. He's a Bureau County farmer that's in the northern part of the state and used some of these funds to have a woodchip bioreactor installed on his farm last fall. 00:03:28:21 - 00:03:32:10 Todd Gleason Michael, thanks for being with us. Can you tell me about this installation? 00:03:32:15 - 00:03:55:28 Michael Ganschow I had the opportunity to to install bioreactor here, in August of 2018. And really, for me, one of the biggest reasons why we decided to install the bioreactor is the more that I've learned about this, nutrient loss reduction strategy, I've come to the conclusion that it's really not going, it's going to take a multiple practice approach to really help solve this problem long term. 00:03:56:01 - 00:04:16:21 Michael Ganschow And there's a lot of good avenues to, to help prevent nutrient loss. But if you want to talk about taking what the environment gives you and trying to react to it, you know, installing something like a bioreactor really helps you do some of that, because a lot of the practices that we have, they're really good practices, but they're really dependent on what happens afterwards as far as the weather is concerned. 00:04:16:24 - 00:04:34:06 Michael Ganschow So if you have an ability to install a lot, you know what I call a filtration device on your tile system that really enables you to take what the weather gives you. And, you know, no matter what you do, you know, to a degree, you're controlling that water flow coming out of your of your tile system and and cleaning it before it gets to the water system. 00:04:34:08 - 00:04:46:13 Michael Ganschow So that that for me was, was one of the biggest reasons that I did it and the Illinois farm bureau really stepped up and, and helped me, accomplish that goal and getting it installed. 00:04:46:16 - 00:04:53:27 Todd Gleason A good ways to the south of you, Michael in Moultrie County. Clint Robinson has also used some of those funds. 00:04:54:00 - 00:05:18:11 Todd Gleason His farms lay up against Lake Shelbyville, and he's been concerned about some of the nutrients that might run off into that very valuable recreation and game lake and has installed some saturated buffers. He's now here as well. Clint, thanks for being with us. Tell me about some of the things that are site specific for your installation. 00:05:18:11 - 00:05:21:29 Clint Robinson Well, obviously, you know, the first thing, it's a tile system, so. 00:05:22:01 - 00:05:48:00 Clint Robinson And, and most likely, people already have a 1026 done through their NRCS office. If so, like, my tile system was done before 1026 wasn't even really worried about too much. So I didn't have one of those on my field. And that basically is a a wetland determination that NRCS does, if it is a wetland, you can have tile. 00:05:48:03 - 00:06:09:18 Clint Robinson So, before we could move forward, we had to have a 1026 done. And those kind of take, you know, maybe up to 3 to 6 months depending on how the workload is at, at the state offices and then obviously us. So, that's, that's one of the things we had to, to do. And then, secondly, it does take up some space. 00:06:09:18 - 00:06:33:20 Clint Robinson They want longer. They prefer longer runs. So we need about 500 to 1000ft depending on internal system and flow. In order to run your saturated line out so that you got enough space to handle the volume of water and treat it with your cover crops or your grasses or whatever, taking the nutrients out of that water. 00:06:33:20 - 00:06:39:05 Todd Gleason Clint and I suppose you too, Michael, why did you both decide to get involved? 00:06:39:05 - 00:07:05:06 Clint Robinson You know, I guess the biggest thing, there's a lot of new technology out there, to evaluate our nutrient loss and our nutrient, contribution to water. So there's a lot of different things. Bioreactors and and saturated buffers and, wetlands and, and, I think the saturated buffers especially, is one that I know of NRCS 00:07:05:07 - 00:07:29:22 Clint Robinson is very interested in studying Carbondale, is interested in studying. We don't have a lot of data on it yet to see maybe how successful is going to be. But, that's kind of the point of getting this one put in and, and using those tools to, to figure out, what we can do to reduce our nutrient load on, on the springs and make some and all that. 00:07:29:22 - 00:07:56:22 Clint Robinson So I guess, stay tuned. Do some research, find some people to partner with. And and seeing what, what you can make work on your farm because I. If there's one thing we've learned, not everything works on every field or every farm or for every form. So, it's one of those things that you know, you need to talk to people that have done it, and then and then see if you've got the right location for that saturated buffer to go in. 00:07:56:25 - 00:08:20:17 Michael Ganschow The only thing that I would say is that, you know, if you're thinking about it, don't don't get worried about, some of the things that I worried about as far as ruining your drainage or having a problem with backup and backing up in the field because, you know, they've they've done a lot of research on these things and they've and they're continuing to do more research on it, but they've worked a lot of the bugs out that can, potentially be worrisome for farmers to do this. 00:08:20:17 - 00:08:40:15 Michael Ganschow And just like anything else, you know, I always tell guys that if they're, they're looking at trying something, you know, go ahead and try it. And if it doesn't work out, try to continue to work hard at making it work. Because if you really are committed to a practice and trying to make it work on your farm, you'll find a way to do it. 00:08:40:18 - 00:08:43:29 Michael Ganschow So trial, trial and error is a lot of this job. 00:08:43:29 - 00:09:09:18 Todd Gleason Indeed it is. And it doesn't hurt that the Illinois Farm Bureau has been there with a little funding. There's some science that's really backing this up from places like the university of Illinois, the other universities in the state. Laura Lurkins, since 2015, do you think the Farm Bureau, and the state has been very successful at changing the minds of producers across the state as it relates to nutrient loss? 00:09:09:21 - 00:09:30:09 Lauren Lurkins It's pretty amazing when I, as the staff person working on an issue, read something, that's not one of our publications or talk to a farmer in passing out in the countryside. And they're telling me about this effort called the Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy, or telling me about science coming out of, the University of Illinois. That can help them make better decisions. 00:09:30:09 - 00:09:40:15 Lauren Lurkins And so that's when I know that all of this is working. It's still, it's it's an exercise in incremental progress, for sure, but we sure are moving right along that spectrum. 00:09:40:21 - 00:09:56:05 Todd Gleason That’s Laura Lurkins, she's the director of natural and environmental resources for the Illinois Farm Bureau. We were joined on this podcast as well by Michael Ganschow, a Bureau County farmer, and Clint Robinson, a Moultrie County farmer in the state of Illinois. 00:09:56:07 - 00:10:18:24 Todd Gleason If you're a farmer or a landowner that's interested in learning more about the NLRS or the nutrient loss reduction strategy, you can contact your local Farm Bureau, the Soil and Water Conservation District, or the University of Illinois Extension Watershed Outreach Associates. They’re Haley Haverback and Jennifer Woodyard. You can find their contact information online on the University of Illinois extension page. 00:10:19:01 - 00:10:29:19 Todd Gleason That's at extension Dot Illinois dot edu. Look under the Environmental and Energy stewardship team for Illinois extension. I'm Todd Gleason.