EFFINGHAM, Ill. – The Effingham Event Center was host to the 2026 Heart of America Grazing Conference, bringing together around 125 cattle owners in southern Illinois from July 15-16. As part of the conference, the Illinois Grazing Lands Coalition (ILGLC) hosted a first-of-its-kind contest in which participants, ages 14 to 22, were given a hypothetical 50-acre plot of land and asked to plan a regenerative grazing system. The plan had to include easy access to water, appropriately sized paddocks for rotational grazing and quality forage production.

The contestants were supported in their efforts by seasoned graziers and industry educators as they sketched fence lines and water access and planned their rotational strategies, according to Judy Bingman, who organized the contest.

“Contestants were given what was basically a piece of paper with a stream running through it and a woodland area representing a total of 50 acres. They had to draw on their knowledge of livestock needs and the principles of regenerative agriculture to sketch out what their farm would look like,” said Bingman, a former University of Illinois Extension marketing and communications manager and past publisher of two breed association cattle publications, Illinois Angus News and Angus Topics. “They were given about an hour and a half to complete the sketch, and at the end they had to answer five questions, including how they planned to finance (the system).”

Financing options suggested by the contestants included USDA conservation grants, bank loans and partnerships with local livestock producers (for non-farming landowners). In addition to indicating financing options, the location and functionality of fence lines, water systems and multiple forage tracts, the young graziers had to consider the impact on both soil and animal health in their strategies.

“They had to have a plan for how long (livestock) would graze in each spot, and how they would get the cattle to the next spot while ensuring adequate shade and access to water, in accordance with regenerative farming tenets,” Bingman said.

Contestants met in Effingham at Heart of America Grazing Conference on July 15 and from there visited the Simmental farm of Curt Rinker, providing inspiration for contest participants preparing to design their own regenerative grazing system.

To offer encouragement and guidance, Trevor Toland, long-time educator and acclaimed rotational grazing cattleman from Macomb, provided a grazing primer for the participants to study ahead of the contest and a brief training to begin the contest. “I was pleased with the level of knowledge the participants came in with and the poise with which they presented their designs,” Toland said.

Two teams tied for first place in the post high school division: “The Green Team” of Cambell Belcher and Lily Shireman, and “The Forage Folks” of Harper Ritchey and Paycen Rogers. The high school team of Rishi Shukla and Sidduh Thuppao, 4-H members from Bloomington, Ill., took home first place in the junior division.

“It wasn’t so much who won or lost, it was about who gained from the experience,” Bingman said. “It was wonderful to see.”

The two-day Heart of America Grazing Conference included information and workshops on cattle coaching, virtual fencing, minerals, toxins, and epigenetics, bale grazing, small ruminant management, tick research, genetics and environment, eliminating fertilizer and more. Attendees included livestock producers, forage producers and landowners interested in grazing technology and best practices.