Latest / The Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Podcast / Episode 19 | An NLRS Update Live to Tape from the Farm Progress Show
Transcript
- Episode 19 | An NLRS Update Live to Tape from the Farm Progress Show 00:00:07:00 - 00:00:30:05 Todd Gleason This is the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy podcast. University of Illinois Extension's Todd Gleason. And this is episode 19. We're live at the farm Progress show. Let's begin by introducing our guest today. To my left. To your right. Laura Gentry is here from the Illinois Corn Growers. Laura, tell me about yourself and your job please. 00:00:30:08 - 00:00:32:17 Laura Gentry Work for the Illinois Corn Growers Association. 00:00:32:18 - 00:00:45:10 Laura Gentry And I'm the director of water quality research. And I help with the programs that we lead around water quality and soil health, including precision conservation management, lots of cover crop work, and a lot of four R practices and tillage work. 00:00:45:13 - 00:00:50:11 Todd Gleason Chris Davis is here with IEPA. Chris, can you tell me about your position? 00:00:50:15 - 00:00:56:19 Chris Davis Good morning. I'm Chris Davis, and I'm the manager of the watershed management section at the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. 00:00:56:21 - 00:01:08:19 Chris Davis We work with watershed planning groups and any anyone else that's interested in working with us to help control non-point source pollution, to protect lakes, rivers and streams in Illinois and our groundwater resources as well. 00:01:08:26 - 00:01:14:25 Todd Gleason And Chris Reynolds is here from the American Farmland Trust. Thanks for being with us, Chris. 00:01:14:27 - 00:01:34:29 Chris Reynolds Thanks Todd. Chris Reynolds with the Midwest deputy director for American Farmland Trust, working primarily here in Illinois, to help reach the goals in nutrient loss reduction strategy by utilizing our, work in our local watersheds in the upper Macoupin Creek and the Vermilion headwaters, here in Illinois. 00:01:35:03 - 00:01:39:16 Todd Gleason And Lauren Lurkins joins us from the Illinois Farm Bureau. Lauren, what do you do there? 00:01:39:17 - 00:01:59:03 Lauren Lurkins Hi. Yeah, I'm the director of environmental policy at Illinois Farm Bureau. And there I get to work with our state and federal agency staff, on environmental issues as they touch farmers and also our county farm bureaus and farmer members across the state as we try to benefit the environment and figure out how to keep going with our agricultural system that we also have. 00:01:59:04 - 00:02:07:19 Todd Gleason And rounding out our panel is Warren Goetsch with the Illinois Department of AG. And you do a whole lot of things there. Tell me about it. 00:02:07:22 - 00:02:21:26 Warren Goetsch Warren Goetsch, I'm, deputy director at the Illinois Department of Agriculture. We are the representative for the state on the Hypoxia Task force that's been meeting now for almost over 20 years. 00:02:21:28 - 00:02:36:02 Warren Goetsch We're, partners with our friends at IEPA in terms of trying to put together and and help work with our stakeholders to see the nutrient loss reduction strategy for Illinois, adopted in advanced. 00:02:36:09 - 00:02:44:06 Todd Gleason Warren, I think I'd like to start with you, because you and I have both been around for a while and probably remember the T by 2000 program. 00:02:44:09 - 00:03:07:25 Todd Gleason I was a summer intern at Illinois Department of Agriculture when that was first introduced. Back early in the 1980s, and it was about trying to save soil in the state to get down to T or what we thought was the background tonnage loss. But it really is about using the best management practices across the state to make sure that soils stay put. 00:03:07:27 - 00:03:10:05 Todd Gleason How well have we done? 00:03:10:08 - 00:03:44:21 Warren Goetsch Well, I think the T by two, the T by 2000 program was an important program. It really got people to refocus on the import of soil conservation. Working with our local soil and water conservation districts to see appropriate management practices adopted. I think, though, that as time has gone on, we've needed something to, again, refocus that attention to soil loss and, reductions in not just soil loss, but in nutrient losses. 00:03:44:28 - 00:04:15:12 Warren Goetsch And that's where I think the, nutrient loss reduction strategy really has given us, again, an opportunity to refocus all these efforts of all these stakeholders on doing the right thing, adopting management practices that promote the reduction of soil loss, promote soil health, promote all of these management practices, that are positives for Illinois agriculture as well as water quality. 00:04:15:14 - 00:04:24:26 Todd Gleason Hey, Laura Gentry, can you explain to me where the nutrient loss reduction strategy came from and what it is? 00:04:24:28 - 00:04:45:16 Laura Gentry Todd Gleason yes, I can. So the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy was released in July of 2015, and it was released as a result of an EPA, U.S. EPA, directive that went out to 12 states in the Midwest, in the upper Mississippi River basin. 00:04:45:19 - 00:05:07:13 Laura Gentry And it was directed to these 12 states because they were found to be, significant contributors of nitrogen and phosphorus to the Gulf of Mexico. So it was all in response to the hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico that's measured every summer. And, it it was released, like I said, in July of 2015, but it was years in the making. 00:05:07:13 - 00:05:39:23 Laura Gentry It. So we started in about 2013 and it was led by Department of Ag and Illinois EPA, Illinois Department of Ag, Illinois EPA. But it was very much a stakeholder effort, and that is something that they did really well, was that they didn't just invite us. They really welcomed the farmers and the point sources, the non-point sources to have a role in developing that strategy so that we could all feel that we were reflected in it and we had a role in it, and that was why it was developed. 00:05:39:23 - 00:05:49:16 Laura Gentry And it was a big part of it was a science assessment that was written and directed by a great team of researchers at the University of Illinois and the College of ACE. 00:05:49:19 - 00:06:05:08 Todd Gleason I wanted to follow up on that with you, Chris, from Illinois EPA, Ms Davis have, that science portion of it is really important to get to because you have to translate the science into practice. 00:06:05:11 - 00:06:09:02 Todd Gleason And so part of the job is really to try to figure that out, isn't it? 00:06:09:04 - 00:06:38:19 Chris Davis Correct. The information that they've developed and and researched and quality controlled really helps us to provide the information that the individual landowners need to better understand what's happening on their property, not only as individuals, but as a watershed group, and can see how the practices that are being recommended in the nutrient loss reduction strategy can make a difference in protecting our water quality over the short term and the long term goals that we're aiming for. 00:06:38:21 - 00:06:40:09 Chris Davis With the strategy. 00:06:40:12 - 00:06:49:08 Todd Gleason Okay. Chris Reynolds from the Farmland Trust. What, in your opinion, should farmers be doing on their fields? 00:06:49:11 - 00:07:06:24 Chris Reynolds Well, I think it comes down to, you know, taking a look at what their goals are for their farm, what their resource concerns are on their farm. And then, you know, identifying what strategies, what practices would best be suited to to, address those resource concerns. 00:07:06:27 - 00:07:36:00 Chris Reynolds So I think, you know, we we start with nutrient management. It's a it's a great starting point to, to practice the four Rs. But then we start to look at, you know, how can we better improve our soil, improve as we improve the quality and health of our soil. We also improve our water quality as well. So I think, you know, taking a closer look at how we can, adopt cover crops on our farm, how we can, start leaving more residue, reduce our tillage on those farms as well is very important. 00:07:36:03 - 00:07:54:21 Todd Gleason Lauren Lurkins, how does the Illinois farm Bureau approach this as a policy situation? Because my assumption and those are usually bad, is that the Illinois Farm Bureau would prefer this be a voluntary function rather than something producers are regulated into doing. 00:07:54:26 - 00:08:01:06 Lauren Lurkins Yeah, that is true. So everything we do at Farm Bureau is backed by our policy. That's grassroots. 00:08:01:09 - 00:08:27:16 Lauren Lurkins And right now, it's very robust and in the support of the nutrient loss reduction strategy, but it does want to maintain, it as a voluntary strategy. And that policy has existed, for a very long time. I've been in this position for about six and a half years, and it predated me. And it was always tied to the Gulf of Mexico and how we wanted to work with stakeholders in the state and be, proactive on this. 00:08:27:16 - 00:08:57:15 Lauren Lurkins So, so, yes, we want to keep it voluntary, but, we're very proud, with the investment that's been made by our board of directors since 2015, when, the strategy was unveiled. We're right at, $1.3 million of commitments, which is an unprecedented, amount of money for the Illinois Farm Bureau to commit. Most of that goes toward either supporting research, including inside the University of Illinois, and also just implementation activities, watershed groups and and coordinators and, you know, different field days. 00:08:57:15 - 00:09:08:10 Lauren Lurkins We spend all summer going from field day to field day, I suppose. And it's really, really powerful when you kind of take a look back at what's happened inside our organization from the beginning of 2015. 00:09:08:17 - 00:09:21:06 Todd Gleason So Laura Gentry, it is about trying to control the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus, in this case, that it is moving off of farm fields into places it's not supposed to be. 00:09:21:09 - 00:09:33:27 Todd Gleason What are the barriers to doing that, especially if you're talking about maybe a reduction of 15 or 25% if in the next 5 to 7 years. 00:09:33:29 - 00:09:50:15 Laura Gentry Yeah. So those, those numbers that you're putting out there are the goals of the Illinois nutrient loss reduction strategy in the short term. So we have the 2025 goal of a 25% reduction in total phosphorus and a 15% reduction in nitrate nitrogen. 00:09:50:15 - 00:10:17:25 Laura Gentry And then the long term goal is by 2035 to have that total, phosphorus nitrate nitrogen reduction of 45% for both of those. The obstacles to that are it's it's really difficult that especially when you consider that 80% of the nitrate nitrogen losses are coming from agricultural fields, non-point sources. It means that every farmer in the state has some responsibility to doing something to help reduce those goals. 00:10:17:25 - 00:10:40:24 Laura Gentry And we have been very successful in agriculture in helping to we're moving in the right direction, for sure. With nitrate, nitrogen, we can demonstrate that we are, reducing our nitrate nitrogen losses in the state. That's what this new nutrient loss reduction strategy annual report will demonstrate. For total phosphorus. It's a different story. And it's not as it's not as favorable. 00:10:40:24 - 00:11:20:02 Laura Gentry We need to be doing more now to really start addressing those total phosphorus losses that farmers and point sources and, are emitting into our waters. And we've been doing such a good job of of advertising, of educating our farmers, getting them involved in practices. But now the challenge for us is to scale that. And the big challenge in this farm economy, with all of the uncertainty, with the terrible year that we've experienced in 2019, is the financial risk that we are assuming with asking any farmer to do anything new that adds any kind of additional risk to their to their operation. 00:11:20:09 - 00:11:40:10 Todd Gleason And I think I'd like to poll all of you to see what initiatives across the state are most important to you, in the potential to decrease, the nutrients that are flowing out of these fields. And Warren, can you start from the Illinois Department of Agriculture? 00:11:40:13 - 00:11:43:24 Warren Goetsch Well, I think there's perhaps two that I would highlight. 00:11:43:24 - 00:12:25:04 Warren Goetsch One, certainly, is the incorporation of cover crops. I'm stealing someone else's thunder, so I won't say much more. Other than that, I think that that is a practice that I think can add, not just reduce, reduce nutrient loss, but it also can enhance, soil health. And then I think the, the. Well, and let me just stop there and because I don't want to steal everybody's thunder, but I think cover crops is probably one of the things that producers should really consider at least experimenting on small acreages to start with and then scaling up, as I think someone also mentioned already. 00:12:25:06 - 00:12:26:03 Todd Gleason Lauren Lurkins. 00:12:26:10 - 00:12:47:26 Lauren Lurkins Yeah, I think I'm going to focus on two different initiatives. The first is, you know, I think from Illinois Farm Bureau's perspective, we've always been very supportive of of watershed level activity. And one of the things that we were most excited about was the investment by the state, in the watershed coordinator. So we're starting to see that, actually make some, some headway. 00:12:47:28 - 00:13:21:17 Lauren Lurkins We see more applications coming in the door for our priority watersheds, like the Embarras, for 319 funding under the Clean Water Act. Unfortunately, we just need a lot more money. In 319. But I hear that from other states as well. So we're very excited about just kind of seeing that play forward. The second initiative that we're very excited about, because we work mainly for rural citizens in the state of Illinois, is really is a very purposeful partnership between Illinois Farm Bureau and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, which is the largest wastewater treatment plant in the world. 00:13:21:19 - 00:13:35:17 Lauren Lurkins We get lots of farmers who said, well, what about those wastewater treatment plants? And so we have made a concerted effort to build partnerships, including on the ground research, with them over the last couple of years. So we're excited to see where that partnership goes. 00:13:35:19 - 00:13:37:21 Todd Gleason Chris Davis from Illinois EPA? 00:13:37:23 - 00:13:43:17 Chris Davis What I would say that we're most interested in and proud of is not necessarily an initiative of ours, but of everyone else's. 00:13:43:25 - 00:14:14:19 Chris Davis We've got 30 organizations that are working with us, the Illinois Department of Agriculture and all of the other partners moving things forward, doing outreach and education. So if I would stress, an initiative that we could be moving forward on even more, though, would be getting all of the landowners and producers out there, to get, nutrient management plans on their own property and learn more about the technical and financial programs that are available for them to move forward in a voluntary program. 00:14:14:26 - 00:14:19:13 Chris Davis And really get done as much as they can without causing any hardship to themselves. 00:14:19:16 - 00:14:22:04 Todd Gleason Chris Reynolds from the American Farmland Trust. 00:14:22:07 - 00:14:34:16 Chris Reynolds Yeah, so we're really excited about a new program that'll be coming out this fall. Fall covers for Spring Savings, which is a crop insurance reward program, a pilot program here in Illinois. And so be working with the Department of Ag. 00:14:34:19 - 00:15:11:22 Chris Reynolds And also it's, also initiative through the Soil and Water Conservation District. So, that'll give farmers an opportunity to receive a reduction in crop insurance cost in the amount of $5 per acre. And these will be, you know, eligible farmers and eligible acres will be those that are not in the existing program. So it'll give farmers to, an opportunity to, add additional acres to their operation and also give farmers, start to think a little bit more about risk mitigation, with, with cover crops, with some of these practices and how they can make our farms more resilient. 00:15:11:22 - 00:15:20:15 Chris Reynolds So really excited about the opportunity, there with that pilot program in Illinois and hopefully expanding on that, in the years to come. 00:15:20:17 - 00:15:22:21 Todd Gleason And Laura Gentry of Illinois corn. 00:15:22:23 - 00:15:37:05 Laura Gentry Thank you. The, the effort that Chris just mentioned, the fall planting for Spring Savings program is just such an excellent effort, and it demonstrates so much cooperation among so many groups like ours. 00:15:37:05 - 00:16:06:13 Laura Gentry We also have the Illinois Sustainable AG Partnership that most of us are involved in. If we were going to encourage farmers to do one thing, it's find out where your real conservation interest is and then find a local effort that you can get involved with, whether it's your county Farm Bureau or it's one of these local RCPP regional programs, or it's the Illinois corn's precision conservation management effort, find a local program because all of us are already linked in. 00:16:06:13 - 00:16:11:14 Laura Gentry So when you find a local program, we will find ways to connect you to your larger interests too. 00:16:11:21 - 00:16:19:03 Todd Gleason Speaking of connected, can you tell me about the PCM program which connects Illinois corn and the University of Illinois? 00:16:19:04 - 00:16:28:16 Laura Gentry Sure. The Precision Conservation Management program is led by the Illinois Corn Growers, but I think all of us up here are, partners in that effort of our 30 partners. 00:16:28:16 - 00:16:48:25 Laura Gentry And it's a way for farmers who have a conservation interest to begin to look at the financial implications of those. So we start to take these really hard nosed financial business management approach to looking at conservation practices. And we just came out with an article in June that went out in the prairie farmer to about 80,000 different, individuals. 00:16:48:25 - 00:17:09:01 Laura Gentry That was showing them how their reduced tillage programs are, are affecting bottom line, how’s cover crops affecting bottom line. How is nitrogen management affecting bottom line. So PCA is really about working with our universities to develop those economic cost tables and helping farmers understand how that applies to them. 00:17:09:03 - 00:17:26:13 Todd Gleason Are there any initiatives? And the one I think I'm familiar with, I know I am, is STAR, that try to help recoup dollars for producers for using sustainable context, in their, farming operations. 00:17:26:16 - 00:18:19:07 Warren Goetsch I guess the best way to for me to respond to that is that one of the challenges that we have, and this may not answer your question, but I really think that as, Doctor David said early on, not every acre doesn't need every practice, but every acre needs at least one practice. And we have to come up with ways that producers can see a value added as a result of an activity, whether it's, enhance soil health, whether it's being able to reduce, nutrient use more because we're saving more or with the Star program adding value to the market, the market price to a product, if we can find 00:18:19:07 - 00:18:52:27 Warren Goetsch ways to enhance that producer's bottom line, we will see these BMPs be adopted. That's what I think the power of the Star program has the potential, to acknowledge producers doing the right things in the right ways provides a premium for that, that that crop that they're producing. We need to find more ways to do that so that we can have the marketplace actually acknowledge and reward producers for doing the right thing. 00:18:52:27 - 00:19:12:09 Warren Goetsch So I would certainly recommend folks find out about the Star program, talk to your local soil water conservation district, see how you might be able to participate and see then if we can develop those markets to allow people to to be rewarded for doing the right thing. 00:19:12:12 - 00:19:27:02 Chris Davis Yeah. I would just add that one of the the con, concepts that we had always talked about, even from the first strategy that went out, was this concept of water quality or nutrient trading, sort of between your point source, world and also the non-point source world. 00:19:27:02 - 00:19:48:12 Chris Davis So we've been engaged in a lot of conversations about what that would look like, particularly in our partnership with Greater Chicago being, you know, a major, contributor of phosphorus and also having an NPDS permit and a settlement about their phosphorus limit. So I don't think that that has been fully flushed out yet. But we do know that at the federal level, U.S.. 00:19:48:12 - 00:20:04:01 Chris Davis EPA Back to Doctor Gentry's point about their guidance memos, even on this topic to start from, they've also released a recent, guidance memo updating their opinion on, on trading. And so I think that we look forward to seeing how that plays out in the state of Illinois. 00:20:04:07 - 00:20:18:03 Laura Gentry And just as a final word about, where farmers are getting the squeeze on these issues around water quality and soil health, it's not just coming from the departments of agriculture in the states or the EPA's in these states. 00:20:18:03 - 00:21:00:20 Laura Gentry It's coming from our supply chain on the other end of the force. So farmers are being, asked by both their governmental agencies, but we're also getting asked by the people who are our customers buying our grain. We need to demonstrate to our stakeholders that we are sourcing these programs sustainably. And so groups like Pepsi and Mars and, Cargill, ADM are all very interested in working with groups like Star and Precision Conservation Management and other efforts that can help them to better understand which farmers are producing crops the most sustainably, and then giving them some kind of an incentive to work more with them. 00:21:00:24 - 00:21:16:04 Laura Gentry So we're working on that sourcing the the supply chain is very interested in sourcing sustainably produced products that they can verify. And of course, groups like ours are interested in helping them to be able to demonstrate farmers to demonstrate their sustainability back to those groups. 00:21:16:04 - 00:21:29:08 Todd Gleason Laura Gentry is with the Illinois Corn Growers Association, joined us here at the Farm Progress Show in 2019 for a recording of this episode, number 19 of the nutrient loss reduction strategy. 00:21:29:10 - 00:21:42:29 Todd Gleason Also on stage with us, Chris Davis of the Illinois EPA, Chris Reynolds of American Farmland Trust, Lauren Lurkins of the Illinois Farm Bureau, and Warren Goetsch of the Illinois Department of Agriculture. I'm Illinois Extension's Todd Gleason.