April 9, 2025 • 30 mins
Everybody has a part to play in protecting the valuable resource that is water. So what is the part of farmers? As producers of our food, fiber, and fuel, farmers are essential to our economy, our plates, and our way of life. Learn from Rachel Curry about the options farmers have to protect water quality and the challenges they face in doing so. Check out the blog post on this topic for more information.
Resources:
Check out Illinois Extension’s nutrient loss reduction website to learn more about nutrient loss.
Saturated buffer video
Nutrient Loss Reduction podcast
Nutrient Loss Reduction blog
A list of all approved agricultural conservation practices can be found on a recent University of Illinois Extension factsheet.
Questions? We'd love to hear from you!
Abigail Garofalo aeg9@illinois.edu, Erin Garrett emedvecz@illinois.edu, Amy Lefringhouse heberlei@illinois.edu
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Amy Lefringhouse (00:07):
Welcome to another episode of the Everyday
Environment podcast, where weexplore the environment we see
every day. I'm your host, AmyLefringhouse.
Erin Garrett (00:15):
And I'm your cohost, Erin Garrett.
Amy Lefringhouse (00:18):
And today, we are here with Rachel Curry, and
she is a statewide ag andagribusiness educator for us
here at Illinois Extension. Andshe focuses on education and
outreach regarding the IllinoisNLRS, which we will go into a
lot more during this podcast,what those letters mean. She
focuses on agriculturalconservation, soil health, and
(00:38):
water quality. So you have a youhave a big job, Rachel. We thank
you for being here and takingyour time to be here with us
today.
Rachel Curry (00:45):
Well, thank you for having me.
Amy Lefringhouse (00:47):
Well, let's start off just by telling our
audience about your work andwhat you do.
Rachel Curry (00:55):
Well, I think you did a pretty good job covering a
lot of what I do in theintroduction, but I focus on the
nutrient loss reduction strategyor the NLRS, which is our state
strategy to reduce nutrientloss, primarily nitrogen and
phosphorus, from leaving ourstate and keeping it where it
belongs. And being an ageducator, I do that through
(01:16):
agricultural conservation andeducation outreach on different
practices. And a lot of the workthat I do also focuses on soil
health and water quality.
Erin Garrett (01:25):
That's great. And we're gonna get into a lot of
those topics today. I feel likewhen we are chatting on our
podcast and Rachel, you've beenon the pod before, so, our
listeners might remember you.And then we're back again to
chat. Of course, this season,you know, we're chatting all
about water. So we wanted tomake sure that we included lots
of different perspectives, lotsof different industries in the
(01:48):
conversation when we're chattingabout water. And so as we get
started today, you know, youmentioned the NLRS, the nutrient
loss reduction strategy, acouple other things that you
were talking about it all hadthe word nutrient in it. So
there are, you know, we couldsay excess nutrients in our
waterways. And when we talkabout that, what are the
nutrients we're talking aboutand where are they coming from?
Rachel Curry (02:09):
There are several nutrients that can cause issues
within our water and impact ourwater quality. But the work that
I do and the nutrient lossreduction strategy primarily
focuses on nitrogen andphosphorus. And we're worried
about nitrogen and phosphorusbecause, again, they impact our
water quality. And so when wehave these excess nutrients,
they can result in algal blooms.And this can happen in our local
(02:31):
water bodies or it can happen inthe Gulf. And so the nutrients
are going to feed the algae andthe algae are going to grow and
cause these algal blooms. Andonce the season changes or all
the nutrients get used up thenthe algae are going to die off
and decompose. And it's thisdecomposition process that takes
oxygen out of the water. And itcan actually be to the point
(02:51):
where it makes the wateruninhabitable for aquatic
species. I mentioned the hypoxiczone or the dead zone in the
Gulf, and that's a result ofthis process.
But when it happens in our localwater bodies, it impacts our
water quality and impacts ourdrinking water safety and
impacts our ability to userecreational sites. So people
like to go swimming or boatingor fishing or anything on the
(03:13):
water. Like, Like, I love beingon the water. If there's an
algal bloom, then thoserecreational sites are closed
and you can't do thoseactivities. We've kinda talked
about it a little bit already,but nutrients can come from
multiple sources. And within theNLRS, we focus primarily on
three different sources rightnow. We have our point sources,
which are our wastewatertreatment facilities. We have
urban stormwater. So, you know,nutrients coming from your home
(03:37):
or your community. And then, nonpoint source ag. And that's
where a lot of the work that Ido falls.
And there are other sources ofnutrients that are part of
ongoing research, like streambank erosion, which some people
may have heard about, but that'snot currently part of our
strategy until the research iscompleted and reviewed. In
Illinois, we're really concernedwith these nutrients and the
(03:58):
amount of nutrients that we'relosing, because we're a top
contributor of both nitrogen andphosphorus, not only to the
Mississippi River, buteventually to the Gulf. And so
Illinois, along with 11 otherstates within the Mississippi
River Basin, were tasked by theUS EPA to create a strategy on
how each state was going toreduce the nutrient loss from
their state. And so that's wherewe have our Illinois nutrient
(04:20):
loss reduction strategy or theNLRS.
Amy Lefringhouse (04:22):
You mentioned the agricultural source of, you
know, nutrients in in ourwaters. And, obviously, that is
your focus. So why might therest of us who are not farmers,
why might we need those farmersto pay attention to protecting
our water and pay attention tothose nutrients? Like, what's
(04:45):
going on in, you know, thefarmers' day to day?
Rachel Curry (04:47):
I think it's important that we all realize
that we're all stewards of ourresources, and farmers feel very
passionately about that. Theyare stewards of the land that is
their livelihood. But within theNLRS, there is a breakdown of
where nutrient loss isattributed to these different
sectors. And from this originalbreakdown, which happened when
our NLRS was released in 2015,it attributed about 80% of the
(05:11):
nitrogen and about half of thephosphorus leaving the state to
agriculture. A lot of that iscoming from fertilizers that
aren't being taken up by thecrop. And for us, we look at it
as an environmental issue, butfor farmers, that's an economic
issue. Fertilizers are notcheap. They are not getting any
cheaper and they're necessary tomaximize their yield. And so if
(05:32):
the fertilizer isn't staying ontheir field and being taken up
by their crop, it's being lost,like that's a loss of return on
their investment.
Erin Garrett (05:40):
Mhmm. Yeah. So is there a research I assume
there's tons of research beingdone on, like, how to maximize
the amount of fertilizerapplication, the timing of the
application to try to figure outhow to keep it on the land,
prevent it from going into thewater, and maximize the yield.
Rachel Curry (05:57):
Yes. There's a bunch of research being done on
the agricultural four r's, theright source, right rate, right
time, and right place to makesure that we are maximizing our
nutrient efficiency. And that'sactually one of the agricultural
conservation practices that arerecommended by the NLRS called
nutrient management.
Erin Garrett (06:17):
Okay. Awesome. I can imagine that would be really
complicated too. Right? Itsounds simplistic, but there's
lots of different topography.Right? There's lots of different
weather conditions, and thatchanges year to year. So I can
imagine this is, like, supercomplicated to figure out.
Rachel Curry (06:34):
Oh, yes. And that is why I could never be a
farmer. It's it's too stressfulfor me trying to make all of
these decisions that are bestfor the land and best for their
economics without having all ofthe information. Cause you never
know what each year is going tobring. And like you pointed out,
Illinois is a really long stateand what works well in southern
(06:56):
Illinois doesn't work well innorthern Illinois and vice
versa. So simple as we wouldlike to make it, it is very,
very complicated.
Erin Garrett (07:03):
And I think that also just shows too for, you
know, the general public whereit could be really easy to say,
well, like, just figure out theright amount and put it out
there. It's not that simple. Andeven if what works in one year
might be completely differentthan the next year, and there's
always gonna be uncertainty.Right? Definitely with our
weather conditions. So I thinkthat helps bring it into
perspective of, like, maybe whywe have such a big issue is it
(07:25):
is really difficult to figureout the right amounts of
fertilizer, of nutrients to addin order to be successful in our
crops that we need because weneed food. That's important. And
so, you know, all of thatbalance is is definitely a huge
challenge. Something that it'sgood to learn. There is a lot of
research being done to try tocreate, I assume, strategies or
(07:46):
tools or things to help with allof that.
Rachel Curry (07:49):
Make it as easy for the farmers as possible to
make sure that they're beingenvironmentally sound as well as
focus on the economics. Becauseat the end of the day, farming
is a business just like anythingelse. And so you have to make
sure that you are beingeconomically sound.
Amy Lefringhouse (08:03):
Sure. And and, I mean, it's beneficial to the
farmers. Right? You already saidthat, Rachel, their crops need
these nutrients to grow and to,you know, maximize their
production. You know, farmersdon't want it to flow into our
waterways and down theMississippi River. You know, we
need it on our fields. So theywant to do this. They need to
(08:25):
and they want to to make theirbusiness profitable and provide
the food, like you said, fiberand things like that that we
need it day to day. In that samevein then, what are farmers
doing to protect, you know, ourwater resources? I know there's
lots of folks out there doingsome really cool things. So what
are farmers doing that are beingsuccessful?
Rachel Curry (08:47):
Well, there are a lot of agricultural conservation
practices out there that areavailable to farmers, and
they've been shown to improvewater quality. Within the NLRS,
we've got a much smaller list,and that's based on practices
that have been submitted andreviewed by our NLRS ag water
quality science team. A lot ofit has to do with the research
that's being done here inIllinois. So it's Illinois
(09:08):
focused. So we can understandhow these practices work in
Illinois and in our systems withour climate and assign a
nutrient reduction rate, whichis approximate cause like you
pointed out each year isdifferent. So we can't say that
every year this practice isgoing to have this nutrient
reduction rate. But within ourpractices, we have a variety of
(09:31):
different practices. So we haveinfield practices. And when we
say infield practices, it's justlike what it sounds like. There
are practices that happen on thefield. So that includes things
like cover crops andconservation tillage.
Then we have edge of fieldpractices. And again, it's just
like what it sounds like. Thesepractices are implemented at the
edge of the field. So these arewhen we'd be talking about wood
(09:53):
chip bioreactors and saturatedbuffers. And then within the
NLRS, we have a third type ofpractice and it's called land
use change. The idea behind thisis that there are acres that are
less productive. And so if theyare taken out of row crop
production, they can betransitioned to an energy or
perennial crop rather thancontinued in row crop
(10:14):
production. So that's just tosay that there are a lot of
different practices out therethat can be implemented, but
nothing is cookie cutter. Youcan't just implement practices
without understanding howthey're gonna impact an
operation.
Erin Garrett (10:27):
Can you give us some examples of each of those?
Like what are some examples ofinfield practices and edge of
field practices?
Rachel Curry (10:33):
Yep. So when we're talking about infield practices,
we have our cover crops,nutrient management is a big one
that we've seen a lot of peopleadopt that practice recently, as
well as splitting yourfertilizer application instead
of putting it all on at onetime, breaking it up. So that
way it's there when the plantsneed it. Terraces are a
(10:54):
relatively new practice thathave been part of the NLRS, but
they've been implemented inIllinois for a very long time,
as well as water and sedimentcontrol basins or WASCOBS. Did I
say cover crops already? If not,cover crops are a huge one that
are a big practice that we'retrying to talk more about
because they are one of the fewpractices that can result in
(11:17):
nitrogen and phosphorusreductions. But here in the
state of Illinois, according toone of the most recent NASS
surveys, only about 6% of ourrow crop acres have cover crops
on them. That's an area where wecan improve. When we're talking
about edge of field practices,we have wood chip bioreactors,
saturated buffers, and then nontile drain buffers, which are
(11:39):
like grass waterways along awaterway and then constructed
wetlands. Edge of fieldpractices are are taking less
productive row crop acres andtransitioning them to perennial
or energy crops.
Amy Lefringhouse (11:51):
I have two questions. Number one, I hear
the word bioreactor all thetime, and I'm like, woah. What
does that even mean? It soundslike when you first hear it,
you're like, woah. Are they,like, building this building and
something's happening there andthey're, you know, whatever? I
know that that's not what it is.Can you, like, just very simply
talk about a bioreactor? Becauseit sounds
Rachel Curry (12:14):
I don't think that there's anything simple about a
bioreactor, but I'll do my best.
Amy Lefringhouse (12:18):
Well, I guess in general, is it a you know,
what is it? Like, paint apicture, I guess.
Rachel Curry (12:24):
I don't know how many people are gonna be
familiar with tile drainage, buttile drainage is something that
is quite common in central andnorthern Illinois, and it's
necessary for farmers to have intheir fields to allow them to
farm these fields. It helpsremove excess water when we've
had heavy rainstorms or in thespring as the snow melts. And
(12:44):
nitrogen is highly mobile withwater. And so when this water is
entering the tidal drain, it isleaving the field. And so a
bioreactor is a practice that isimplemented at the edge of the
field at an outlet for a tiledrain and it's in very
simplistic terms. So I hopenobody gets mad at me. A big
(13:04):
hole in the ground
Amy Lefringhouse (13:05):
Okay.
Rachel Curry (13:06):
With wood chips in it. The tile drain water is
diverted into this bioreactor.And without getting too
complicated, the microbesconvert the nitrate nitrogen,
which is in the tile drain waterinto nitrogen gas and that's
released.
So then the nitrates aren'tgetting into our groundwater. So
as the water moves through thebioreactor, when it's done its
(13:27):
thing, there's an outlet, whichthen puts the tile drain water
into wherever the tile is gonnahave an outlet anyway. But
because we also wanna make surethat these practices aren't
impacting the farmability of thefields, there's a bypass. So if
there's too much water comingin, instead of backing it up
into the field, there's anoutlet that will divert the
(13:50):
water. And so, unfortunately,that means that not all the
water is going to be treated bythe bioreactor, but that things
that have to be considered inorder to make sure that the
farmer is not
Amy Lefringhouse (14:00):
Yeah. Impacted. Negatively impacted.
Right. Yeah. Absolutely. Thankyou for that. Because sometimes
I'm like, woah. I don't knowwhat that means and it sounds
really like technical. So thanksfor that explanation. My second
question was when you sayperennial crop, I just wanted to
know some examples of perennialcrop. Are we talking pollinator
areas? Are we talking about whatare we talking about there?
Rachel Curry (14:20):
So a lot of that is gonna follow under this under
CRP.
Amy Lefringhouse (14:24):
Mhmm. Okay.
Rachel Curry (14:25):
The conservation reserve program. And so there
are opportunities for that to beplanted for pollinators. That is
an option. That's a conversationthat the landowner and farmer
need to have with the NRCS.
Amy Lefringhouse (14:38):
Okay. Cool. So where you're having a perennial
crop where there's you don'tplant it year after year after
year. Obviously, like yourannual crops, you're just
planting it, and it is comingand going season after season.
Rachel Curry (14:50):
There's usually a little bit of maintenance that's
needed and required, but that's,yeah, my level of expertise.
Amy Lefringhouse (14:58):
Sure. Absolutely. Thank you.
Erin Garrett (15:00):
I did have a question because we talk about
cover crops all the time. Couldyou give us a small breakdown of
how does a cover crop work?Like, when is it planted? What
are the typical cover crops thatwe see? And, like, what is it
doing?
Rachel Curry (15:13):
So most of the time, what we're seeing is
cereal rye. There areconsiderations when to plant
cereal rye. A lot of farmersdon't necessarily like planting
cereal rye ahead of corn becausethey're both grasses. And so
that can make some managementdecisions a little bit tricky.
But there are also farmers outthere that have been using cover
crops for years. And so theyhave learned what works best for
(15:37):
them and will sometimes do amix. So they'll incorporate
things like tillage radishes ifthey need that over legumes to
fix a little bit of extranitrogen and have that in the
soil. There's a lot of differentways to plant cover crops. The
most common tend to be eitheraerial seeding, which is either
by helicopter or airplane. Somebroadcast it with their fall
(16:00):
fertilizer application.
Amy Lefringhouse (16:02):
Okay.
Rachel Curry (16:02):
Some will drill it in after harvest. It all depends
on where the farmer's located,what they have access to, and
what the season doing. Are theyharvesting in December? Because
at that point in time, that maychange their decisions on what
cover crops do. And there'sresearch coming out of U of I
through Extension. DennisBowman, who's doing a lot with
(16:24):
artificial intelligence usingrobots and drones to seed cover
crops into standing crops. Andso that prolongs the growing
season.
Erin Garrett (16:34):
That's really fascinating. I was just
personally interested because Idon't know that much about it.
At least on my old route that Iwould commute to work, I know I
was driving past a cereal rye, afield of it, and it was so
beautiful. I always love seeingit because it's just I'm a grass
girl. So to see that? Like, it'sso pretty. But I was just
interested to hear, especiallywhen you mentioned, like, the
(16:56):
implementation rate of that isquite low in Illinois, right, at
this point. But it's justinteresting just how it works
because that is one that I thinka lot of people have heard
about, but I don't know if theyknow exactly how it works or all
the details and things that gointo that. So it's really
interesting.
Rachel Curry (17:10):
I enjoy driving by in the colder month, and I'm
like, oh, look. There's somegreen on that field. Oh, yeah.
It makes me happy.
Erin Garrett (17:17):
Alright. So we've talked a lot about the
challenges that come, right,with implementing these
strategies. But if there'sanything more that you wanna
speak to when it comes tochallenges that our farmers have
to face or different prioritiesthat they have to kinda balance
with implementing these, let'sfocus on that for a little bit.
Rachel Curry (17:36):
I've mentioned a few of the challenges, but there
are some serious considerationthat these farmers have to take.
And we've talked about theeconomics already. You know,
people may not realize, but atthe beginning of the season,
farmers are taking out hugeloans to make sure that they can
cover the cost of equipment andrepairs and seed and other
inputs like fertilizer in orderto make sure that they're
maximizing their yields so theycan pay off that loan at the end
(17:59):
of the year. Some years arebetter than others. And 2024, we
had lower commodity prices andso that makes things a little
bit tighter. Their profitmargins are a little bit thinner
than they would be on maybe amore average year.
And so when we're talking aboutthese different practices, some
of them like reuse tillage andcover crops, they can provide a
return on investment, but ittakes a little while. We're
(18:21):
talking about improved soilhealth and that doesn't happen
overnight. So there's a windowin which it's gonna take for
these practices to to reallytake off. Then we have some
other practices like nutrientmanagement where that can result
on less being spent on theirfertilizer. So you're seeing a
more immediate return on thatinvestment. But when we're
talking about some of our edgeof field practices, like
(18:42):
saturated buffers and bioreactors, they're in place to
capture the nutrients afterthey've already left the field.
And so, you know, the idea isthat it's reducing the nutrient
load in our local waterways, butthey're not seeing a return on
investment on those practices.
Amy Lefringhouse (18:57):
That makes sense. Nutrients leaving the
field. Right? That's what theythey need that.
Rachel Curry (19:01):
Yeah. And they're really expensive. Yeah. We just
helped install a bioreactorearlier this fall. The average
price for a wood chip bioreactorruns between $10,000 and $20,000
So for these type of practices,cost share opportunities are
really important. And so we havelots of cost share opportunities
out there. We've got state,federal, local, and there's even
(19:23):
some private cost shareprograms. But when we're talking
about like our federal and stateprograms, oftentimes the
landowners have to approve thepractice implementation. They
have to sign off on, on all ofthese things. And we know from
our most recent biannual reportthat there are a lot more
applications coming in for thesecost share opportunities than
(19:44):
there are available funding forthese projects. And I mentioned
landowners. I think this issomething that a lot of people
aren't really aware of. About75% of Illinois row crop ground
is farmed by somebody other thanthe owner of that land. So 75%
of Illinois row crops on averageare on rented ground.
Amy Lefringhouse (20:05):
It's in your blog, Rachel. And when I read
that, I was like, wow. I didn'trealize it was the percentage
was that high.
Rachel Curry (20:11):
Yeah. So when you don't own the ground, you may be
a little bit more hesitant toinvest a lot of money, not
knowing how long you're going tohave that contract. And if the
landowner isn't supportive, thenit doesn't matter. You can't do
it. And again, if you're rentingthe land, you have to get the
landowner's permission toinstall a practice. And there
(20:32):
are some landowners that are allin. There are some that are you
can do it, but you still have topay full cash rent on this
ground. I'm learning more andmore that there are some
landowners out there that arewilling to be really involved in
this.
Amy Lefringhouse (20:46):
I feel like in vice versa too. Right? So if
you're the renter and you wannado some of this stuff, there's
that. But then also vice versa,if you're the landowner and you
want some sustainable practicesor some of these conservation
practices on your property, thenfinding that that tenant that
would would want to do thosetoo. I feel I feel like it might
be both ways. Right?
Rachel Curry (21:05):
Yeah. So I've sat in on some conversations about
that. And so that's been reallyinteresting. And so one of the
pieces of advice I give is youyou just have to have these
conversations. You have to talkto each other because you just
never know where the otherperson is in there, what they
wanna do and what they wouldlike to have done. And to help
(21:26):
with that, actually, theIllinois farm doc has a set of
they're called base addendums.And so they focus on some
different aspects ofconservation farming. So those
are things that can be used bythe farmer or primarily the
landowner to have theseconversations about maybe doing
more or different conservationpractices on the land. And I
(21:48):
think one other thing that wehaven't hit is that some of
these practices actually reduceyield, and it can be a temporary
yield reduction. But even so,when we're talking about then
profit margins, that isdefinitely a consideration. When
we're talking about cover crops,that's really one of the big
ones. You're oftentimesexpecting to see a decrease in
(22:11):
your yield for five or so yearsafter you've implemented cover
crops as the cover crops aredoing what they do to improve
your soil health and resiliencywithin your operation. But still
that is five years where Right.You may not be getting the
yields that you are used to.
Amy Lefringhouse (22:27):
Sure. Yeah. Well, that's very interesting,
Rachel, just how complex it isbetween landowners, renters,
and, you know, just just howcomplex this entire farming
operation and decision making.And it's great for us to know
just as the general public, youknow, like Erin said earlier,
how how difficult it can reallybe. So us as the general public
(22:50):
or those, you know, interestedin our natural resources, what
can we do to support thesefarmers who are working on these
these issues and protecting ourwater resources? What can we do?
Rachel Curry (23:02):
There are several different things that we can do.
And one of the things that Ilike telling everybody is talk
to your local farmers. Ask themwhat they're doing. They are
very proud of the work that theyare doing. I don't recommend
doing it during harvest orplanting because those are very
busy times, but, you know, evenjust ask to get in the tractor
with them so they can show youaround. Like that is often my
(23:25):
advice to landowners, especiallylike get a better understanding
of what's going on. Anotherthing that we can do is
advocate. Advocate to your stateand federal representatives to
increase funding forconservation practices, as well
as technical assistance. Andwe're saying technical
assistance that provides supportto these farmers to implement
these practices. You canpurchase products from farmers
(23:46):
that employ sustainablepractices. And one of the things
that my team is involved inquite a bit is watershed
planning. And so engaging andsupporting your local watershed
plans to promote agriculturalconservation. Like, these are
all great ways that we can allbecome involved. And also just
remember that we're all stewardsof the land and we can all do
(24:07):
things, whether it's around ourhouse or in our community, to
reduce nutrient loss.
Amy Lefringhouse (24:12):
Well, I'll put in a plug too. We have a program
with Illinois Extension thatwe're launching. Right?
Watershed stewards. And and thatis a way that folks in Illinois
can educate themselves or bringawareness to their own watershed
and and how they can be stewardsof of their own watershed and
(24:33):
which, again, along witheveryone else working on
conservation issues, you can bea part of that solution as well.
So just a shameless plug forwatershed stewards program that
is is beginning to emergethrough Illinois Extension.
Rachel Curry (24:49):
And I would encourage anybody who is
interested to reach out to theirlocal Extension office to see if
the training is gonna beavailable.
Amy Lefringhouse (24:56):
Well, is there anything else, Rachel, that we
didn't cover today that youwanna make sure that everyone
knows, or have we covered itall?
Rachel Curry (25:05):
We'll provide links. Illinois Extension has a
website on the nutrient lossreduction, and so it covers all
of the different sectors and thethings that we can do. There are
webinars that we've given in thepast as well as a fact sheet on
the nutrient loss reductionstrategy and agricultural
conservation. My team released avideo over the summer on
(25:27):
saturated buffers. So you canlearn more about saturated
buffers and how they work, aswell as there are links to the
nutrient loss reduction podcastand blog, which focuses on
agricultural conservation andnutrient loss.
Amy Lefringhouse (25:41):
Oh, wonderful. Well, we really appreciate your
time, Rachel, and especially inexplaining these things to folks
that might not be in theagricultural industry. I think
it's really important for us tobe aware of what others are
doing and, especially when we'redriving across the landscape and
(26:02):
and looking at different farms alot, obviously, in our state. So
we really appreciate youbreaking it down for us and
talking about what farmers aredoing out there. So thank you
again.
Rachel Curry (26:13):
Absolutely. It's been my pleasure.
Amy Lefringhouse (26:14):
Well, we, as usual, wrap up our episodes with
an everyday observation where wehighlight the mundane and normal
of our environment that isactually very interesting. So
I'm gonna start with you, Erin.Do you have an everyday
observation to share with ustoday?
Erin Garrett (26:32):
I do. So mine is gonna be seasonally relevant to
the time of our recording, whichis in December. So, you know,
this is not being released inDecember. But as I've been
driving around town here insouthernmost Illinois, I have
just been struck by the amountof mistletoe that I'm seeing in
all of the trees. So for thosethat don't know, we do have a
(26:52):
native species of mistletoe. InIllinois, it's called American
mistletoe or oak mistletoe. Andis a a parasitic plant. Right?
So it does feed off of and takenutrients from our trees, but
not in like a super detrimentalway. But it's just really
fascinating because, of course,all the leaves are gone from the
trees now. So you can see thesebeautiful brilliant, like,
(27:15):
perfectly circular bright greenmistletoe clumps that are there
all year long. Right? You justcan't see them all year. So it's
just been really fun to kindasee how prevalent it is. It's
all over the place here in thesouthernmost part of the state.
So just something kinda coolthat you don't really see all
the time, but it's there. And,we get to get to see it this
(27:35):
time of year. So I've enjoyedseeing the mistletoe.
Amy Lefringhouse (27:38):
Oh, that's very cool. That's very cool. I
have to keep my eye out. Ihaven't paid attention to that.
So that's neat. What about you,Rachel? What about you? What do
you have for your everydayobservation?
Rachel Curry (27:48):
I guess, like, Erin, it's seasonally relevant
here in the middle of Decemberwhen we're recording, but we've
had a couple of snowstorms.There hasn't been a ton of snow,
but I am not a fan of snow andcold. But my two and a half year
old woke up the other day andwas just over the moon that we
had snow. He was just soexcited, and he was like, snow.
(28:10):
So I am I am working very hardto see the snow through his eyes
and see the magic and the beautythat it is. And it it is
beautiful, but being an adult,it's lost some of its
magicalness. I'm working toseeing that as well.
Amy Lefringhouse (28:26):
Mhmm. Great. Yes. Yes. That's awesome. I have
an everyday observation. Birdrelated, I was traveling across
Central Illinois, this week andspotted some trumpeter swans
that were flying over. And it'sneat to see those because
they're so big, and theirwingspan is huge. And then, you
(28:48):
know, they have kind of like aslow wing, beat. So, you know,
they're very distinctive, Iguess, from, you know, like a
snow goose or, you know, other,migratory birds, I guess, that
we're seeing that are white.Right? So that was kinda neat to
see those. I always thinkthey're just neat and graceful.
And, yeah, I pointed it out tomy daughter that was like, mom,
you're such a bird nerd. But itwas super it was super cool for
(29:11):
me, for sure. So that is my thatis my everyday observation.
Erin Garrett (29:16):
I love the trumpeter swans. When I lived in
Minnesota where I went toschool, there was like a whole
bunch of lakes in around anarboretum, and we would always
look for the trumpeter swans.And they were there a lot of the
time, and it was really cool tosee them because they are
they're huge and just, like, somajestic. So that's really cool.
Rachel Curry (29:32):
Absolutely. We were outside last night for five
minutes because it was verycold. But my son was like, we
need to be outside. Like, well,you're nuts, but okay. Five
minutes. And while we were outthere and he was pretending to
mow the grass, through the snow.There was a block of geese that
flew over our house and the theperfect v shape. And they were
honking. And I was like, hey,look at this. And he was like,
(29:53):
oh, okay. Now I'm gonna go backto mowing the snow.
Erin Garrett (29:56):
We'll get there. Right? We'll get there.
Amy Lefringhouse (29:58):
Yeah. I feel like later in life, they'll be
like, remember that one time momwhen we saw that swan? You know?
It'll it'll stick. Surely, it'llstick. Well, thank you again,
Rachel, for being with us today.We appreciate it.
Rachel Curry (30:10):
Thank you for having me.
Amy Lefringhouse (30:12):
Well, this has been another episode on the
Everyday Environment podcast.Check us out next week where we
talk with Layne Knoche. He isgoing to talk to us about rain
gardens.
Rachel Curry (30:26):
This podcast is a University of Illinois Extension
production, hosted and edited byAbigail Garofalo, Erin Garrett,
and Amy Lefringhouse.
Matt Wiley (30:37):
University of Illinois Extension.
Welcome to another episode of the Everyday
Environment podcast, where weexplore the environment we see
every day. I'm your host, AmyLefringhouse.
Erin Garrett (00:15):
And I'm your cohost, Erin Garrett.
Amy Lefringhouse (00:18):
And today, we are here with Rachel Curry, and
she is a statewide ag andagribusiness educator for us
here at Illinois Extension. Andshe focuses on education and
outreach regarding the IllinoisNLRS, which we will go into a
lot more during this podcast,what those letters mean. She
focuses on agriculturalconservation, soil health, and
(00:38):
water quality. So you have a youhave a big job, Rachel. We thank
you for being here and takingyour time to be here with us
today.
Rachel Curry (00:45):
Well, thank you for having me.
Amy Lefringhouse (00:47):
Well, let's start off just by telling our
audience about your work andwhat you do.
Rachel Curry (00:55):
Well, I think you did a pretty good job covering a
lot of what I do in theintroduction, but I focus on the
nutrient loss reduction strategyor the NLRS, which is our state
strategy to reduce nutrientloss, primarily nitrogen and
phosphorus, from leaving ourstate and keeping it where it
belongs. And being an ageducator, I do that through
(01:16):
agricultural conservation andeducation outreach on different
practices. And a lot of the workthat I do also focuses on soil
health and water quality.
Erin Garrett (01:25):
That's great. And we're gonna get into a lot of
those topics today. I feel likewhen we are chatting on our
podcast and Rachel, you've beenon the pod before, so, our
listeners might remember you.And then we're back again to
chat. Of course, this season,you know, we're chatting all
about water. So we wanted tomake sure that we included lots
of different perspectives, lotsof different industries in the
(01:48):
conversation when we're chattingabout water. And so as we get
started today, you know, youmentioned the NLRS, the nutrient
loss reduction strategy, acouple other things that you
were talking about it all hadthe word nutrient in it. So
there are, you know, we couldsay excess nutrients in our
waterways. And when we talkabout that, what are the
nutrients we're talking aboutand where are they coming from?
Rachel Curry (02:09):
There are several nutrients that can cause issues
within our water and impact ourwater quality. But the work that
I do and the nutrient lossreduction strategy primarily
focuses on nitrogen andphosphorus. And we're worried
about nitrogen and phosphorusbecause, again, they impact our
water quality. And so when wehave these excess nutrients,
they can result in algal blooms.And this can happen in our local
(02:31):
water bodies or it can happen inthe Gulf. And so the nutrients
are going to feed the algae andthe algae are going to grow and
cause these algal blooms. Andonce the season changes or all
the nutrients get used up thenthe algae are going to die off
and decompose. And it's thisdecomposition process that takes
oxygen out of the water. And itcan actually be to the point
(02:51):
where it makes the wateruninhabitable for aquatic
species. I mentioned the hypoxiczone or the dead zone in the
Gulf, and that's a result ofthis process.
But when it happens in our localwater bodies, it impacts our
water quality and impacts ourdrinking water safety and
impacts our ability to userecreational sites. So people
like to go swimming or boatingor fishing or anything on the
(03:13):
water. Like, Like, I love beingon the water. If there's an
algal bloom, then thoserecreational sites are closed
and you can't do thoseactivities. We've kinda talked
about it a little bit already,but nutrients can come from
multiple sources. And within theNLRS, we focus primarily on
three different sources rightnow. We have our point sources,
which are our wastewatertreatment facilities. We have
urban stormwater. So, you know,nutrients coming from your home
(03:37):
or your community. And then, nonpoint source ag. And that's
where a lot of the work that Ido falls.
And there are other sources ofnutrients that are part of
ongoing research, like streambank erosion, which some people
may have heard about, but that'snot currently part of our
strategy until the research iscompleted and reviewed. In
Illinois, we're really concernedwith these nutrients and the
(03:58):
amount of nutrients that we'relosing, because we're a top
contributor of both nitrogen andphosphorus, not only to the
Mississippi River, buteventually to the Gulf. And so
Illinois, along with 11 otherstates within the Mississippi
River Basin, were tasked by theUS EPA to create a strategy on
how each state was going toreduce the nutrient loss from
their state. And so that's wherewe have our Illinois nutrient
(04:20):
loss reduction strategy or theNLRS.
Amy Lefringhouse (04:22):
You mentioned the agricultural source of, you
know, nutrients in in ourwaters. And, obviously, that is
your focus. So why might therest of us who are not farmers,
why might we need those farmersto pay attention to protecting
our water and pay attention tothose nutrients? Like, what's
(04:45):
going on in, you know, thefarmers' day to day?
Rachel Curry (04:47):
I think it's important that we all realize
that we're all stewards of ourresources, and farmers feel very
passionately about that. Theyare stewards of the land that is
their livelihood. But within theNLRS, there is a breakdown of
where nutrient loss isattributed to these different
sectors. And from this originalbreakdown, which happened when
our NLRS was released in 2015,it attributed about 80% of the
(05:11):
nitrogen and about half of thephosphorus leaving the state to
agriculture. A lot of that iscoming from fertilizers that
aren't being taken up by thecrop. And for us, we look at it
as an environmental issue, butfor farmers, that's an economic
issue. Fertilizers are notcheap. They are not getting any
cheaper and they're necessary tomaximize their yield. And so if
(05:32):
the fertilizer isn't staying ontheir field and being taken up
by their crop, it's being lost,like that's a loss of return on
their investment.
Erin Garrett (05:40):
Mhmm. Yeah. So is there a research I assume
there's tons of research beingdone on, like, how to maximize
the amount of fertilizerapplication, the timing of the
application to try to figure outhow to keep it on the land,
prevent it from going into thewater, and maximize the yield.
Rachel Curry (05:57):
Yes. There's a bunch of research being done on
the agricultural four r's, theright source, right rate, right
time, and right place to makesure that we are maximizing our
nutrient efficiency. And that'sactually one of the agricultural
conservation practices that arerecommended by the NLRS called
nutrient management.
Erin Garrett (06:17):
Okay. Awesome. I can imagine that would be really
complicated too. Right? Itsounds simplistic, but there's
lots of different topography.Right? There's lots of different
weather conditions, and thatchanges year to year. So I can
imagine this is, like, supercomplicated to figure out.
Rachel Curry (06:34):
Oh, yes. And that is why I could never be a
farmer. It's it's too stressfulfor me trying to make all of
these decisions that are bestfor the land and best for their
economics without having all ofthe information. Cause you never
know what each year is going tobring. And like you pointed out,
Illinois is a really long stateand what works well in southern
(06:56):
Illinois doesn't work well innorthern Illinois and vice
versa. So simple as we wouldlike to make it, it is very,
very complicated.
Erin Garrett (07:03):
And I think that also just shows too for, you
know, the general public whereit could be really easy to say,
well, like, just figure out theright amount and put it out
there. It's not that simple. Andeven if what works in one year
might be completely differentthan the next year, and there's
always gonna be uncertainty.Right? Definitely with our
weather conditions. So I thinkthat helps bring it into
perspective of, like, maybe whywe have such a big issue is it
(07:25):
is really difficult to figureout the right amounts of
fertilizer, of nutrients to addin order to be successful in our
crops that we need because weneed food. That's important. And
so, you know, all of thatbalance is is definitely a huge
challenge. Something that it'sgood to learn. There is a lot of
research being done to try tocreate, I assume, strategies or
(07:46):
tools or things to help with allof that.
Rachel Curry (07:49):
Make it as easy for the farmers as possible to
make sure that they're beingenvironmentally sound as well as
focus on the economics. Becauseat the end of the day, farming
is a business just like anythingelse. And so you have to make
sure that you are beingeconomically sound.
Amy Lefringhouse (08:03):
Sure. And and, I mean, it's beneficial to the
farmers. Right? You already saidthat, Rachel, their crops need
these nutrients to grow and to,you know, maximize their
production. You know, farmersdon't want it to flow into our
waterways and down theMississippi River. You know, we
need it on our fields. So theywant to do this. They need to
(08:25):
and they want to to make theirbusiness profitable and provide
the food, like you said, fiberand things like that that we
need it day to day. In that samevein then, what are farmers
doing to protect, you know, ourwater resources? I know there's
lots of folks out there doingsome really cool things. So what
are farmers doing that are beingsuccessful?
Rachel Curry (08:47):
Well, there are a lot of agricultural conservation
practices out there that areavailable to farmers, and
they've been shown to improvewater quality. Within the NLRS,
we've got a much smaller list,and that's based on practices
that have been submitted andreviewed by our NLRS ag water
quality science team. A lot ofit has to do with the research
that's being done here inIllinois. So it's Illinois
(09:08):
focused. So we can understandhow these practices work in
Illinois and in our systems withour climate and assign a
nutrient reduction rate, whichis approximate cause like you
pointed out each year isdifferent. So we can't say that
every year this practice isgoing to have this nutrient
reduction rate. But within ourpractices, we have a variety of
(09:31):
different practices. So we haveinfield practices. And when we
say infield practices, it's justlike what it sounds like. There
are practices that happen on thefield. So that includes things
like cover crops andconservation tillage.
Then we have edge of fieldpractices. And again, it's just
like what it sounds like. Thesepractices are implemented at the
edge of the field. So these arewhen we'd be talking about wood
(09:53):
chip bioreactors and saturatedbuffers. And then within the
NLRS, we have a third type ofpractice and it's called land
use change. The idea behind thisis that there are acres that are
less productive. And so if theyare taken out of row crop
production, they can betransitioned to an energy or
perennial crop rather thancontinued in row crop
(10:14):
production. So that's just tosay that there are a lot of
different practices out therethat can be implemented, but
nothing is cookie cutter. Youcan't just implement practices
without understanding howthey're gonna impact an
operation.
Erin Garrett (10:27):
Can you give us some examples of each of those?
Like what are some examples ofinfield practices and edge of
field practices?
Rachel Curry (10:33):
Yep. So when we're talking about infield practices,
we have our cover crops,nutrient management is a big one
that we've seen a lot of peopleadopt that practice recently, as
well as splitting yourfertilizer application instead
of putting it all on at onetime, breaking it up. So that
way it's there when the plantsneed it. Terraces are a
(10:54):
relatively new practice thathave been part of the NLRS, but
they've been implemented inIllinois for a very long time,
as well as water and sedimentcontrol basins or WASCOBS. Did I
say cover crops already? If not,cover crops are a huge one that
are a big practice that we'retrying to talk more about
because they are one of the fewpractices that can result in
(11:17):
nitrogen and phosphorusreductions. But here in the
state of Illinois, according toone of the most recent NASS
surveys, only about 6% of ourrow crop acres have cover crops
on them. That's an area where wecan improve. When we're talking
about edge of field practices,we have wood chip bioreactors,
saturated buffers, and then nontile drain buffers, which are
(11:39):
like grass waterways along awaterway and then constructed
wetlands. Edge of fieldpractices are are taking less
productive row crop acres andtransitioning them to perennial
or energy crops.
Amy Lefringhouse (11:51):
I have two questions. Number one, I hear
the word bioreactor all thetime, and I'm like, woah. What
does that even mean? It soundslike when you first hear it,
you're like, woah. Are they,like, building this building and
something's happening there andthey're, you know, whatever? I
know that that's not what it is.Can you, like, just very simply
talk about a bioreactor? Becauseit sounds
Rachel Curry (12:14):
I don't think that there's anything simple about a
bioreactor, but I'll do my best.
Amy Lefringhouse (12:18):
Well, I guess in general, is it a you know,
what is it? Like, paint apicture, I guess.
Rachel Curry (12:24):
I don't know how many people are gonna be
familiar with tile drainage, buttile drainage is something that
is quite common in central andnorthern Illinois, and it's
necessary for farmers to have intheir fields to allow them to
farm these fields. It helpsremove excess water when we've
had heavy rainstorms or in thespring as the snow melts. And
(12:44):
nitrogen is highly mobile withwater. And so when this water is
entering the tidal drain, it isleaving the field. And so a
bioreactor is a practice that isimplemented at the edge of the
field at an outlet for a tiledrain and it's in very
simplistic terms. So I hopenobody gets mad at me. A big
(13:04):
hole in the ground
Amy Lefringhouse (13:05):
Okay.
Rachel Curry (13:06):
With wood chips in it. The tile drain water is
diverted into this bioreactor.And without getting too
complicated, the microbesconvert the nitrate nitrogen,
which is in the tile drain waterinto nitrogen gas and that's
released.
So then the nitrates aren'tgetting into our groundwater. So
as the water moves through thebioreactor, when it's done its
(13:27):
thing, there's an outlet, whichthen puts the tile drain water
into wherever the tile is gonnahave an outlet anyway. But
because we also wanna make surethat these practices aren't
impacting the farmability of thefields, there's a bypass. So if
there's too much water comingin, instead of backing it up
into the field, there's anoutlet that will divert the
(13:50):
water. And so, unfortunately,that means that not all the
water is going to be treated bythe bioreactor, but that things
that have to be considered inorder to make sure that the
farmer is not
Amy Lefringhouse (14:00):
Yeah. Impacted. Negatively impacted.
Right. Yeah. Absolutely. Thankyou for that. Because sometimes
I'm like, woah. I don't knowwhat that means and it sounds
really like technical. So thanksfor that explanation. My second
question was when you sayperennial crop, I just wanted to
know some examples of perennialcrop. Are we talking pollinator
areas? Are we talking about whatare we talking about there?
Rachel Curry (14:20):
So a lot of that is gonna follow under this under
CRP.
Amy Lefringhouse (14:24):
Mhmm. Okay.
Rachel Curry (14:25):
The conservation reserve program. And so there
are opportunities for that to beplanted for pollinators. That is
an option. That's a conversationthat the landowner and farmer
need to have with the NRCS.
Amy Lefringhouse (14:38):
Okay. Cool. So where you're having a perennial
crop where there's you don'tplant it year after year after
year. Obviously, like yourannual crops, you're just
planting it, and it is comingand going season after season.
Rachel Curry (14:50):
There's usually a little bit of maintenance that's
needed and required, but that's,yeah, my level of expertise.
Amy Lefringhouse (14:58):
Sure. Absolutely. Thank you.
Erin Garrett (15:00):
I did have a question because we talk about
cover crops all the time. Couldyou give us a small breakdown of
how does a cover crop work?Like, when is it planted? What
are the typical cover crops thatwe see? And, like, what is it
doing?
Rachel Curry (15:13):
So most of the time, what we're seeing is
cereal rye. There areconsiderations when to plant
cereal rye. A lot of farmersdon't necessarily like planting
cereal rye ahead of corn becausethey're both grasses. And so
that can make some managementdecisions a little bit tricky.
But there are also farmers outthere that have been using cover
crops for years. And so theyhave learned what works best for
(15:37):
them and will sometimes do amix. So they'll incorporate
things like tillage radishes ifthey need that over legumes to
fix a little bit of extranitrogen and have that in the
soil. There's a lot of differentways to plant cover crops. The
most common tend to be eitheraerial seeding, which is either
by helicopter or airplane. Somebroadcast it with their fall
(16:00):
fertilizer application.
Amy Lefringhouse (16:02):
Okay.
Rachel Curry (16:02):
Some will drill it in after harvest. It all depends
on where the farmer's located,what they have access to, and
what the season doing. Are theyharvesting in December? Because
at that point in time, that maychange their decisions on what
cover crops do. And there'sresearch coming out of U of I
through Extension. DennisBowman, who's doing a lot with
(16:24):
artificial intelligence usingrobots and drones to seed cover
crops into standing crops. Andso that prolongs the growing
season.
Erin Garrett (16:34):
That's really fascinating. I was just
personally interested because Idon't know that much about it.
At least on my old route that Iwould commute to work, I know I
was driving past a cereal rye, afield of it, and it was so
beautiful. I always love seeingit because it's just I'm a grass
girl. So to see that? Like, it'sso pretty. But I was just
interested to hear, especiallywhen you mentioned, like, the
(16:56):
implementation rate of that isquite low in Illinois, right, at
this point. But it's justinteresting just how it works
because that is one that I thinka lot of people have heard
about, but I don't know if theyknow exactly how it works or all
the details and things that gointo that. So it's really
interesting.
Rachel Curry (17:10):
I enjoy driving by in the colder month, and I'm
like, oh, look. There's somegreen on that field. Oh, yeah.
It makes me happy.
Erin Garrett (17:17):
Alright. So we've talked a lot about the
challenges that come, right,with implementing these
strategies. But if there'sanything more that you wanna
speak to when it comes tochallenges that our farmers have
to face or different prioritiesthat they have to kinda balance
with implementing these, let'sfocus on that for a little bit.
Rachel Curry (17:36):
I've mentioned a few of the challenges, but there
are some serious considerationthat these farmers have to take.
And we've talked about theeconomics already. You know,
people may not realize, but atthe beginning of the season,
farmers are taking out hugeloans to make sure that they can
cover the cost of equipment andrepairs and seed and other
inputs like fertilizer in orderto make sure that they're
maximizing their yields so theycan pay off that loan at the end
(17:59):
of the year. Some years arebetter than others. And 2024, we
had lower commodity prices andso that makes things a little
bit tighter. Their profitmargins are a little bit thinner
than they would be on maybe amore average year.
And so when we're talking aboutthese different practices, some
of them like reuse tillage andcover crops, they can provide a
return on investment, but ittakes a little while. We're
(18:21):
talking about improved soilhealth and that doesn't happen
overnight. So there's a windowin which it's gonna take for
these practices to to reallytake off. Then we have some
other practices like nutrientmanagement where that can result
on less being spent on theirfertilizer. So you're seeing a
more immediate return on thatinvestment. But when we're
talking about some of our edgeof field practices, like
(18:42):
saturated buffers and bioreactors, they're in place to
capture the nutrients afterthey've already left the field.
And so, you know, the idea isthat it's reducing the nutrient
load in our local waterways, butthey're not seeing a return on
investment on those practices.
Amy Lefringhouse (18:57):
That makes sense. Nutrients leaving the
field. Right? That's what theythey need that.
Rachel Curry (19:01):
Yeah. And they're really expensive. Yeah. We just
helped install a bioreactorearlier this fall. The average
price for a wood chip bioreactorruns between $10,000 and $20,000
So for these type of practices,cost share opportunities are
really important. And so we havelots of cost share opportunities
out there. We've got state,federal, local, and there's even
(19:23):
some private cost shareprograms. But when we're talking
about like our federal and stateprograms, oftentimes the
landowners have to approve thepractice implementation. They
have to sign off on, on all ofthese things. And we know from
our most recent biannual reportthat there are a lot more
applications coming in for thesecost share opportunities than
(19:44):
there are available funding forthese projects. And I mentioned
landowners. I think this issomething that a lot of people
aren't really aware of. About75% of Illinois row crop ground
is farmed by somebody other thanthe owner of that land. So 75%
of Illinois row crops on averageare on rented ground.
Amy Lefringhouse (20:05):
It's in your blog, Rachel. And when I read
that, I was like, wow. I didn'trealize it was the percentage
was that high.
Rachel Curry (20:11):
Yeah. So when you don't own the ground, you may be
a little bit more hesitant toinvest a lot of money, not
knowing how long you're going tohave that contract. And if the
landowner isn't supportive, thenit doesn't matter. You can't do
it. And again, if you're rentingthe land, you have to get the
landowner's permission toinstall a practice. And there
(20:32):
are some landowners that are allin. There are some that are you
can do it, but you still have topay full cash rent on this
ground. I'm learning more andmore that there are some
landowners out there that arewilling to be really involved in
this.
Amy Lefringhouse (20:46):
I feel like in vice versa too. Right? So if
you're the renter and you wannado some of this stuff, there's
that. But then also vice versa,if you're the landowner and you
want some sustainable practicesor some of these conservation
practices on your property, thenfinding that that tenant that
would would want to do thosetoo. I feel I feel like it might
be both ways. Right?
Rachel Curry (21:05):
Yeah. So I've sat in on some conversations about
that. And so that's been reallyinteresting. And so one of the
pieces of advice I give is youyou just have to have these
conversations. You have to talkto each other because you just
never know where the otherperson is in there, what they
wanna do and what they wouldlike to have done. And to help
(21:26):
with that, actually, theIllinois farm doc has a set of
they're called base addendums.And so they focus on some
different aspects ofconservation farming. So those
are things that can be used bythe farmer or primarily the
landowner to have theseconversations about maybe doing
more or different conservationpractices on the land. And I
(21:48):
think one other thing that wehaven't hit is that some of
these practices actually reduceyield, and it can be a temporary
yield reduction. But even so,when we're talking about then
profit margins, that isdefinitely a consideration. When
we're talking about cover crops,that's really one of the big
ones. You're oftentimesexpecting to see a decrease in
(22:11):
your yield for five or so yearsafter you've implemented cover
crops as the cover crops aredoing what they do to improve
your soil health and resiliencywithin your operation. But still
that is five years where Right.You may not be getting the
yields that you are used to.
Amy Lefringhouse (22:27):
Sure. Yeah. Well, that's very interesting,
Rachel, just how complex it isbetween landowners, renters,
and, you know, just just howcomplex this entire farming
operation and decision making.And it's great for us to know
just as the general public, youknow, like Erin said earlier,
how how difficult it can reallybe. So us as the general public
(22:50):
or those, you know, interestedin our natural resources, what
can we do to support thesefarmers who are working on these
these issues and protecting ourwater resources? What can we do?
Rachel Curry (23:02):
There are several different things that we can do.
And one of the things that Ilike telling everybody is talk
to your local farmers. Ask themwhat they're doing. They are
very proud of the work that theyare doing. I don't recommend
doing it during harvest orplanting because those are very
busy times, but, you know, evenjust ask to get in the tractor
with them so they can show youaround. Like that is often my
(23:25):
advice to landowners, especiallylike get a better understanding
of what's going on. Anotherthing that we can do is
advocate. Advocate to your stateand federal representatives to
increase funding forconservation practices, as well
as technical assistance. Andwe're saying technical
assistance that provides supportto these farmers to implement
these practices. You canpurchase products from farmers
(23:46):
that employ sustainablepractices. And one of the things
that my team is involved inquite a bit is watershed
planning. And so engaging andsupporting your local watershed
plans to promote agriculturalconservation. Like, these are
all great ways that we can allbecome involved. And also just
remember that we're all stewardsof the land and we can all do
(24:07):
things, whether it's around ourhouse or in our community, to
reduce nutrient loss.
Amy Lefringhouse (24:12):
Well, I'll put in a plug too. We have a program
with Illinois Extension thatwe're launching. Right?
Watershed stewards. And and thatis a way that folks in Illinois
can educate themselves or bringawareness to their own watershed
and and how they can be stewardsof of their own watershed and
(24:33):
which, again, along witheveryone else working on
conservation issues, you can bea part of that solution as well.
So just a shameless plug forwatershed stewards program that
is is beginning to emergethrough Illinois Extension.
Rachel Curry (24:49):
And I would encourage anybody who is
interested to reach out to theirlocal Extension office to see if
the training is gonna beavailable.
Amy Lefringhouse (24:56):
Well, is there anything else, Rachel, that we
didn't cover today that youwanna make sure that everyone
knows, or have we covered itall?
Rachel Curry (25:05):
We'll provide links. Illinois Extension has a
website on the nutrient lossreduction, and so it covers all
of the different sectors and thethings that we can do. There are
webinars that we've given in thepast as well as a fact sheet on
the nutrient loss reductionstrategy and agricultural
conservation. My team released avideo over the summer on
(25:27):
saturated buffers. So you canlearn more about saturated
buffers and how they work, aswell as there are links to the
nutrient loss reduction podcastand blog, which focuses on
agricultural conservation andnutrient loss.
Amy Lefringhouse (25:41):
Oh, wonderful. Well, we really appreciate your
time, Rachel, and especially inexplaining these things to folks
that might not be in theagricultural industry. I think
it's really important for us tobe aware of what others are
doing and, especially when we'redriving across the landscape and
(26:02):
and looking at different farms alot, obviously, in our state. So
we really appreciate youbreaking it down for us and
talking about what farmers aredoing out there. So thank you
again.
Rachel Curry (26:13):
Absolutely. It's been my pleasure.
Amy Lefringhouse (26:14):
Well, we, as usual, wrap up our episodes with
an everyday observation where wehighlight the mundane and normal
of our environment that isactually very interesting. So
I'm gonna start with you, Erin.Do you have an everyday
observation to share with ustoday?
Erin Garrett (26:32):
I do. So mine is gonna be seasonally relevant to
the time of our recording, whichis in December. So, you know,
this is not being released inDecember. But as I've been
driving around town here insouthernmost Illinois, I have
just been struck by the amountof mistletoe that I'm seeing in
all of the trees. So for thosethat don't know, we do have a
(26:52):
native species of mistletoe. InIllinois, it's called American
mistletoe or oak mistletoe. Andis a a parasitic plant. Right?
So it does feed off of and takenutrients from our trees, but
not in like a super detrimentalway. But it's just really
fascinating because, of course,all the leaves are gone from the
trees now. So you can see thesebeautiful brilliant, like,
(27:15):
perfectly circular bright greenmistletoe clumps that are there
all year long. Right? You justcan't see them all year. So it's
just been really fun to kindasee how prevalent it is. It's
all over the place here in thesouthernmost part of the state.
So just something kinda coolthat you don't really see all
the time, but it's there. And,we get to get to see it this
(27:35):
time of year. So I've enjoyedseeing the mistletoe.
Amy Lefringhouse (27:38):
Oh, that's very cool. That's very cool. I
have to keep my eye out. Ihaven't paid attention to that.
So that's neat. What about you,Rachel? What about you? What do
you have for your everydayobservation?
Rachel Curry (27:48):
I guess, like, Erin, it's seasonally relevant
here in the middle of Decemberwhen we're recording, but we've
had a couple of snowstorms.There hasn't been a ton of snow,
but I am not a fan of snow andcold. But my two and a half year
old woke up the other day andwas just over the moon that we
had snow. He was just soexcited, and he was like, snow.
(28:10):
So I am I am working very hardto see the snow through his eyes
and see the magic and the beautythat it is. And it it is
beautiful, but being an adult,it's lost some of its
magicalness. I'm working toseeing that as well.
Amy Lefringhouse (28:26):
Mhmm. Great. Yes. Yes. That's awesome. I have
an everyday observation. Birdrelated, I was traveling across
Central Illinois, this week andspotted some trumpeter swans
that were flying over. And it'sneat to see those because
they're so big, and theirwingspan is huge. And then, you
(28:48):
know, they have kind of like aslow wing, beat. So, you know,
they're very distinctive, Iguess, from, you know, like a
snow goose or, you know, other,migratory birds, I guess, that
we're seeing that are white.Right? So that was kinda neat to
see those. I always thinkthey're just neat and graceful.
And, yeah, I pointed it out tomy daughter that was like, mom,
you're such a bird nerd. But itwas super it was super cool for
(29:11):
me, for sure. So that is my thatis my everyday observation.
Erin Garrett (29:16):
I love the trumpeter swans. When I lived in
Minnesota where I went toschool, there was like a whole
bunch of lakes in around anarboretum, and we would always
look for the trumpeter swans.And they were there a lot of the
time, and it was really cool tosee them because they are
they're huge and just, like, somajestic. So that's really cool.
Rachel Curry (29:32):
Absolutely. We were outside last night for five
minutes because it was verycold. But my son was like, we
need to be outside. Like, well,you're nuts, but okay. Five
minutes. And while we were outthere and he was pretending to
mow the grass, through the snow.There was a block of geese that
flew over our house and the theperfect v shape. And they were
honking. And I was like, hey,look at this. And he was like,
(29:53):
oh, okay. Now I'm gonna go backto mowing the snow.
Erin Garrett (29:56):
We'll get there. Right? We'll get there.
Amy Lefringhouse (29:58):
Yeah. I feel like later in life, they'll be
like, remember that one time momwhen we saw that swan? You know?
It'll it'll stick. Surely, it'llstick. Well, thank you again,
Rachel, for being with us today.We appreciate it.
Rachel Curry (30:10):
Thank you for having me.
Amy Lefringhouse (30:12):
Well, this has been another episode on the
Everyday Environment podcast.Check us out next week where we
talk with Layne Knoche. He isgoing to talk to us about rain
gardens.
Rachel Curry (30:26):
This podcast is a University of Illinois Extension
production, hosted and edited byAbigail Garofalo, Erin Garrett,
and Amy Lefringhouse.
Matt Wiley (30:37):
University of Illinois Extension.
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