Field Notes

Celebrating Agriculture at the State Fair

Ag Day at the Illinois State Fair is an annual event bringing together the best and brightest in the Illinois farm and food sectors. This year’s celebration took place on August 16, kicking off with breakfast and awards program in the Orr Building on the Springfield fairgrounds. The Agriculture Breakfast celebrates agriculture as Illinois’ #1 industry and recognizes ag professionals...

ISAP Provides Technical Expertise at Soil Health Field Day

In August, ISAP members joined American Farmland Trust and Cargill, Inc. to host a Soil Health Field Day at Illinois Central College (ICC). The day-long event brought together over 75 farmers, retailers, local resource professionals, and conservation experts and featured the importance of soil health to a successful farming operation. A recent blog post by American Farmland Trust highlighted the...

Connecting Ag Tile Drainage to Conservation

Over the span of a week in late August, three ISAP partners – the Illinois Land Improvement Contractors Association (IL LICA), The Wetlands Initiative (TWI), and Pheasants Forever Quail Forever Illinois (PFQF) - collaborated with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) to build two wetlands in northern Livingston County. Jill Kostel, The Wetlands Initiative (second...

Partner Spotlight: AISWCD

The Association of Illinois Soil and Water Conservation Districts (AISWCD) is a grass roots non-profit organization formed in 1948, made up of and serving Illinois’ 97 member Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs). Conservation Districts work to protect Illinois’ greatest assets – the rich, fertile soils and water resources of the state through strategic conservation efforts. For several decades, SWCDs...