Nutrient Stewardship Grant program grant funds awarded
<p class="p1">Twenty-nine Illinois county Farm Bureaus have been awarded grants under the first Nutrient Stewardship Grant program. </p><p class="p1">Illinois Farm Bureau, IFB, has awarded the grants, totaling more than $100,000, to help promote local nutrient stewardship, soil health and water quality projects.</p><p class="p1">Grant recipients include the Farm Bureaus in Massac, Union and Pulaski-Alexander counties.</p><p class="p1">Their partners include local soil and water conservation districts, Farm Supply, University of Illinois Extension and cover crop specialists.</p><p class="p1">The local projects which received grant support include Nutrient Management: Getting Your Farms Covered, Nutrient Management 101: Digging Deeper and a Union County cover crop workshop. The projects will focus on the sharing of nutrient management and cover crop information at farm meetings. </p><p class="p2">“We’re beyond talking about nutrient management and moving to actually help our members adopt and implement strategies and practices,” IFB director of environmental and natural resources Lauren Lurkins said in a news</p><p class="p3">(continued on page 2)</p><p class="p4"> </p><p class="p1"> release which announced the grants. “We’re trying to move the needle, and these grants will help us do just that.” </p><p class="p1">Projects tackle nutrient issues relevant to local needs, soils and farming practices, with the ultimate goal of achieving nutrient loss reduction goals under the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy, NLRS.</p><p class="p1">Announced by the Illinois Department of Agriculture and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency in July 2015, the NLRS calls for a creation of an Agricultural Water Quality Partnership Forum to “steer outreach and education efforts to help farmers address nutrient loss.”</p><p class="p1">The plan tasks wastewater treatment plants, urban areas and agricultural areas with reducing the state’s phosphorous load by 25 percent and its nitrate-nitrogen load by 15 percent by 2025. </p><p class="p1">These actions are designed to assist in addressing water quality problems in Illinois rivers, lakes and streams. The eventual target is a 45 percent reduction in the loss of these nutrients to the Mississippi River.</p><p class="p1">“Our county Farm Bureau leaders and staff are excited and empowered,” Lurkins said. “It’s wonderful to be a part of this critical effort.”</p>