Latest / The Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Podcast / Episode 68 | Building Better Waterways: Installing Woodchip Bioreactors
Transcript
- Episode 68 | Building Better Waterways: Installing Woodchip Bioreactors Todd Gleason: 00:06 This is the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction podcast episode 68, building better waterways: installing wood chip bioreactors. I'm University of Illinois Extension's Todd Gleason. You know, today, we're going to listen in on a couple of conversations Helen VanBeck of the American Farmland Trust had during the fall of 2024 as a bioreactor was being installed at the end of a waterway on Brian Corkill's farm in Henry County, Illinois. Now VanBeck is a program manager and responsible for the American Farmland Trust's interaction with the Illinois Sustainable Ag Partnership, otherwise known as ISAP, and Saving Tomorrow's Ag Resources or STAR. She works closely with partners across Illinois to advance the adoption of conservation practices that are proven to build soil health, improve water quality, and, of course, support climate resiliency, adaption, and mitigation. Todd Gleason: 00:58 On this fall Friday, Helen and farmer landowner Brian Corkill were watching the Johnston brothers install a second bioreactor on his farm near Galva. Helen had just asked Brian to tell her about himself and the farm. Brian Corkill: 01:14 So my name is Brian Corkill, I farm, I raise corn and soybeans, also do a lot of work with cover crops and some edge of field practice, conservation practices. So we're here today. We're installing a bioreactor, to remove nitrates from tile water. Helen VanBeck: 01:32 And what types of water management practices have you implemented on your farm to help improve water? Brian Corkill: 01:39 So from a water management standpoint, we've been adding waterways to farms. Also, cover crops help with water management. We've done some tiling projects on some farms to help with water management, and we actually have an existing bioreactor that we put in 4 years ago in conjunction with the one that we're doing now. Helen VanBeck: 02:02 And what motivates you to advance conservation practices and help reduce nutrient loss? Brian Corkill: 02:08 So I guess it's how I was raised. So conservation has always been a part of kinda what my family's done. Goes clear back, I didn't know my great grandfather, but I know he did stuff. My grandfather and my father started with no till and, conservation tillage at the time back in the 70s where they were probably the first ones that started, that moved away from moldboard plowing to more of a conservation tillage, and we started no tilling in the early 80s. So that's kinda always been part of my DNA. Brian Corkill: 02:53 So now I'm just trying to take it to the next level as I take over the farm, have full control over the farming operation. Helen VanBeck: 03:02 So talk a little bit about some of the benefits that you've seen. Brian Corkill: 03:05 Sure. So implementing no till and cover crops, we've seen a lot of improvement on our soil health from a visual standpoint, and we've also noticed that we've cut back quite a, we haven't completely eliminated applying commercial fertilizer, but we've been able to drastically scale back what we would have put on in the past. So, and then also with the bioreactors from our current existing bioreactor, there are water samples that get pulled every month, and we've been able to see, you know, kinda what the impact of that is on the amount of nitrates going in versus going out. So, while maybe bioreactors can't cover a huge amount of ground in singularity, every little bit helps. So that's why we're putting in another one to try to help make as much of an impact as we can. Helen VanBeck: 04:06 So sometimes we hear from people when we talk about edge of field practices that there was not a big return on investment. Can you talk about why you think those practices are important and kind of what else besides that ROI did you take into consideration? Brian Corkill: 04:21 I guess my feeling is trying to leave things better than when I took it over. So if we can make an impact to help the environment, even if it might be a little thing, but every little thing that's done helps. So, that's kind of the way I look at it. It isn't all necessarily all about the return on investment. It's about making an impact on the environment and leaving things better than when I got here. Helen VanBeck: 04:49 What advice would you give to farmers who are thinking about installing a bioreactor or might be interested? Brian Corkill: 04:56 You know, seek out guidance. There is funding available out there, you know, whether it's through CSP or private grant funding, things like that. You know, there are ways to be able to fund that. If you're truly interested in doing something like this, there are ways to get that done and work with the groups and things like that. Helen VanBeck: 05:20 So talk a little bit about why a bioreactor was the right practice here and not a saturated buffer or other. Brian Corkill: 05:28 I guess, why we chose bioreactor here, this probably isn't a really good spot for a saturated buffer and we have an existing bioreactor and we've seen the benefits from that. So I actually looked into 2 years ago starting a new CSP contract, looked at putting in another bioreactor, and the funding really wasn't available for that type of project. So talking to other people, I was able to get, you know, some other funding and some help out to do this. So I felt like in this spot, a bioreactor would be a much better fit than something like a saturated buffer or something like that. Helen VanBeck: 06:16 And then kinda walk us through the process of, you know, kinda start to finish. You reached out to NRCS, right? And they did the, kinda take us through what the process is. Brian Corkill: 06:27 So because we had worked with NRCS on our first bioreactor through a CSP contract, when we started thinking about doing this again, didn't really have anybody that could do the design work, so we went back to NRCS and they were willing to do the design and engineering. And we have a contractor that we've worked with for a long time that has done tiling projects for us, did our first bioreactor. So they were a natural fit to do this one and reach out to them and worked out a timeline, and they got the, obviously, design, and they're very familiar with working that with that kind of stuff. So, and then here we are today in construction. Todd Gleason: 07:10 Construction that farmer Brian Corkill and the farmland trust Helen Van Beck had been watching through the morning hours. I'm University of Illinois Extension's Todd Gleason. As a reminder, you're listening to the Illinois nutrient loss reduction podcast. Now David Johnston and his brother, Brian, were doing that installation of the wood chip bioreactor. David Johnston: 07:31 I'm David Johnston, and my brother and I, Brian, have been in this an awful long time. And we do tiling and any type of earthmoving. Helen VanBeck: 07:46 And so, obviously, today we're here installing a bioreactor. Can you talk about how that kinda fits into your business model and what might incentivize you to do more of installing these kinds of practices? David Johnston: 08:00 It's really neat to see people experimenting with them and seeing, you know, how to get rid of more of the nitrates. Helen VanBeck: 08:08 If there's a farmer out there who's interested in installing one of these, what should they know about working with the contractor to get them installed? David Johnston: 08:17 Oh, well, hopefully, they find the contractor that's got the basic knowledge of how to accomplish something like this. But, Helen VanBeck: 08:26 Yeah. When's the best time to install them in your experience and sort of start to finish? How long does that process take from when a farmer should reach out to you versus when you can be ready to install? David Johnston: 08:36 Oh, be ready to install? We have done some of them in the summer when the crops are up. It's actually been very nice this year on this one being we've been so dry. Helen VanBeck: 08:47 Yeah David Johnston: 08:48 That made the tile work a lot easier. Helen VanBeck: 08:51 Yeah. How large is this bioreactor gonna be? David Johnston: 08:55 Well, it's 9 foot wide and 36 foot long, and the wood chips are supposed to come up, approximately, a little over 4 and a half foot. Helen VanBeck: 09:08 Mhmm. And then you'll cover it? David Johnston: 09:10 Yes. And then there, we'll cover that with, after the wood chips are in, then it gets covered with geotextile fabric. Helen VanBeck: 09:19 Mhmm. Todd Gleason: 09:21 The fabric, by the way, keeps soil from making its way into the wood chips. The water needs to flow through the bioreactor in order for it to work properly, and the soil would just clog it up, make it dirty. And that's not the point, says Brian Corkill. Brian Corkill: 09:36 We obviously play a huge role in keeping waterways clean and safe. Obviously, municipalities and things like that do as well, but we all have to do our part. And, you know, we obviously control as farmers as a whole, control a lot larger areas. So any practices that we can do to help keep our waterways clean and safe and, you know, help with the hypoxia zone and things like that, I think we that's what we need to do is we need to do our part. Todd Gleason: 10:09 That's Brian Corkill. He is a farmer near Galva in Henry County between the Illinois and Mississippi rivers. He's concerned about the welfare of the soils on his farm and the nation's lakes, streams, and rivers. Among the many practices he uses to keep his soils in place are waterways to which he has now added two wood chip bioreactors. Those are in place to remove nitrates from subsurface tile drainage water at the edge of his fields and before it can enter the nation's waterways. Todd Gleason: 10:38 Bioreactors do not interrupt any practices occurring in the field nor do they change the effectiveness of the tile drainage systems. A wood chip bioreactor is considered an edge of field practice. You've been listening to episode 68 of the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction podcast today with Helen VanBeck of the American Farmland Trust, the Johnston brothers, Brian and David, who did the bioreactor installation, and the farmer, Brian Corkill. Our program was produced with the aid of Rachel Curry, Nicole Haverback, and Emma Eldridge, all like me with University of Illinois Extension. I'm Todd Gleason.