CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Founded in 2017 by the Champaign County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD), the STAR (Saving Tomorrow’s Agriculture Resources) initiative began with a few dozen local farmers committed to meeting the agricultural goals of Illinois’ Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy. By the 2020 crop year, 385 participants in around 70 Illinois SWCDs were participating in the program, utilizing the farmer-developed STAR tool on 155,605 acres over 2,276 fields. 

The STAR program’s second annual report, issued in September, summarizes the benefits of in-field practices implemented by program participants. The findings included:

• The use of no-till and strip-till by IL STAR farmers accounted for 4,075 truckloads of sediment kept out of Illinois waterways, 17,028 pounds of phosphorus kept in the field, and provided climate benefits equal to removing the greenhouse gas emissions from 9,767 passenger cars from the road for one year. 

• The use of cover crops by STAR farmers accounted for 2,548 truckloads of sediment kept out of Illinois waterways, 143,888 pounds of nitrate-nitrogen and 10,781 pounds of phosphorus kept in the field and provided climate benefits equal to removing the greenhouse gas emissions from 3,525 passenger cars from the road for one year. 

“We led and participated in a lot of different partnerships and programming throughout (2020) even with COVID going on, and we are strengthening and continuing partnerships with other organizations around the state, new and old. So, a lot of our numbers have to do with the successes we’ve had in communicating and building those relationships,” said Erin Grundy, resource conservationist for the Champaign County SWCD.  

Grundy found the data revealed within the report “encouraging” in helping to document farmers’ increasing commitment to conservation practices on their farms while fending off potentially strict government regulations. “Getting more farmers involved is way more impactful than data coming from just one group of folks in one area,” she said of the seventy-fold expansion of Illinois farmers participating in the STAR program.

The recent expansion of STAR includes the participation of farmers and landowners operating within select SWCDs in Indiana, Iowa and Colorado (with most of the acreage in Indiana). Counting those states’ data, around 169,000 total acres were managed by 406 participants on almost 2,500 fields under the STAR banner in 2020.

“It’s really encouraging when you talk to other groups in the food supply chain, and they see the difference that STAR is making. They are excited about the potential of incorporating STAR into some of their group projects and toolboxes,” Grundy said. 

STAR’s science committee is chaired by Dr. Emily Bruner of American Farmland Trust. STAR’s 2020 report includes an outcome determination methodology explaining how the data within the report is gathered, analyzed and determined by Bruner and the committee. 

“Our data is determined county by county, and different counties have different coefficients for carbon sequestration, greenhouse gas emissions and (more). The data is then compiled into a state overview,” said Gundy. 

STAR’s state overview apparently looks good to Illinois Agriculture Director Jerry Costello II, who commended the program for a year of growth. “STAR is a prime example of how a tool developed by Illinois farmers can encourage improvements in on-farm soil health and downstream water quality. We look forward to working with the STAR initiative to further cultivate conservation on Illinois farms,” Costello stated. 

Steve Stierwalt, STAR steering committee chair and full-time farmer, noted in their 2020 annual report that in a year where most everything was out of his hands, his participation in STAR meant controlling his own outcomes.  “Management practices, how a farmer raises their crops, are one of the few things a farmer can control,” he said. “As farmers and ranchers seek to balance production goals with each of our state’s resource concerns. STAR provides a clear roadmap for suggested practice changes. As I work to increase the STAR Ratings on my farm, I am confident we’re on the right track.”

For more information on STAR, www.starfreetool.com or call (217) 352-3536 ext. 3.