NUTRIENT LOSS THREAT: Experts say changing attitudes key to reducing
soil runoff
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[January 27, 2022]
By TAYLOR VIDMAR
For Capitol News Illinois
news@capitolnewsillinois.com
Editor’s Note: Taylor Vidmar is a student in the Public Affairs
Reporting program at University of Illinois Springfield. She is a
reporting intern at the Capitol for Lee Enterprises.
Illinois has, for decades, laid out a
nutrient reduction strategy aimed at reducing the amount of nitrogen,
phosphorous and other nutrients that run off into its waterways.
The nutrient loss reduction effort is outlined in the regular Illinois
Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy Implementation Biennial Report, which
showed this year that Illinois is far from living up to its goals,
especially when it comes to runoff from agricultural fields.
As a short-term goal, the state aimed to reduce nitrates and nitrogen by
15 percent and phosphorus by 25 percent by 2025, but the latest update
showed that nutrient loss increased by 13 percent and phosphorus losses
increased by 35 percent, compared with a baseline period from 1980 to
1996.
Experts say a mixture of state policy shortfalls and the challenging
nature of adopting new farming practices are contributing factors to
Illinois’ inability to meet nutrient reduction goals.
Some of the key agricultural practices to combat nutrient loss and help
reach a longer-term goal of a 45 percent reduction in nitrogen and
phosphorus pollution are conservation tillage, testing the soil before
applying phosphorus fertilizer, using the maximum return on nitrogen
rate for nitrogen fertilizer, putting grass buffers on waterways, and
using cover crops.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Jan/27/images/ads/current/farmersbank_lda_LUAL_2021.png)
Through cover planting in the fall, farmers can plant certain crops,
like cereal rye, clover, and radishes, to protect from erosion, improve
soil quality and reduce fertilizer runoff. These plants hold soil and
scavenge surplus fertilizer during the early rainy months before cash
crops emerge.
Illinois farmers planted 1.4 million acres of cover crops in 2019,
according to the report. This marked a 135 percent increase from 2011.
But the report also showed that number should be 21 million acres in
order to meet the EPA’s nutrient loss reduction goals.
Cover crops cost about $30 to $50 an acre to plant. Some require special
equipment to plant and require planning and testing to be successful.
A state program, called “Fall Cover Crops for Spring Savings,” offers a
$5-per-acre discount on crop insurance, but demand for the program is
far outpacing the availability even as its funding was doubled this
year.
But besides the costs, it will take a major cultural shift for more
farmers to adopt cover planting, said Cliff Schuette, district sales
manager in southern Illinois for Stine Seed Company.
Some farmers fear that the soil alone won’t provide enough nutrients to
sustain cash crops like corn and soybeans, Schuette said. It can also be
daunting to embrace new strategies when it seems like the old ones are
working.
In reality, he said, increased fertilizer use can facilitate soil loss.
Most farmers lose anywhere from two to five tons of soil per acre each
year, which is about the thickness of a dime.
According to Schuette, this change might not be noticeable at first but
can have lasting impacts on soil quality over time.
Schuette works one-on-one with his customers to help them select the
best cover crops.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Jan/27/images/ads/current/charrons_bch_2022.png)
“Basically, what I'm trying to do is mimic the prairie before we got
here,” he said.
But fertilizer use is still necessary for many farmers, said Jeff Kirwan,
who farms about 2,500 acres south of the Quad City area.
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![](../images/012722pics/news_a53.jpg)
The west branch of the DuPage River is shown here in
this photo courtesy of Michael Firman that is included in the
Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy Biennial Report 2021
materials.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Jan/27/images/ads/current/werth_lda_LUAL_2021.png)
Planting cover crops can also help fertilizers work more efficiently.
“I look at it as kind of a symbiotic relationship,” Kirwan said. “The
cover crops provide us cover on the ground all the time. We're
sequestering nutrients. We're holding nutrients so that when we do apply
things, they don't immediately leave the farm.”
Other farmers like Kirwan are looking to maximize the effects of
fertilizer application while still preventing nutrient loss and
fertilizer runoff.
Josh Sullivan, a farmer from Morrisonville, said 2021 was the first year
he used a banding approach to fertilizer application instead of the more
common broadcast method.
Banding fertilizer is a more time-consuming method of spreading
fertilizer all around the crops, so it’s actually in the soil as opposed
to just on top of it. Broadcasting, the other more widespread method of
distributing fertilizer, can lead to soil erosion and runoff, he said.
In addition to preventing soil loss, there can be multiple other
benefits for farmers planting more cover crops. Less fertilizer use
means less pollution in the environment, and it also means money saved
for farmers using costly fertilizers.
Some farmers still might not see enough incentive to rethink their
planting strategies.
Inclement weather—like this year’s rains, which caused many farmers to
push back their harvests—can make it difficult for farmers to
successfully grow cover crops, Kirwan said.
Another obstacle farmers face is the amount of planning cover planting
requires. Schuette recommends planning over a year in advance based on
what cash crops will be planted in the future.
Increasing government-funded incentives tied to crop insurance, Schuette
said, could help encourage more farmers to increase their cover crop
acreage despite these challenges.
That’s something that lawmakers are trying to accomplish this year
through Senate Bill 3471, the latest measure aimed at increasing
resources for nutrient reduction efforts and extending the state
programs that make up the bulk of the nutrient reduction effort.
That includes increasing funding from $14 million to more than $25
million for conservation efforts by 2027.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Jan/27/images/ads/current/ldn_sda_062409.png)
“Though this isn’t an issue that hits the front page, it is an important
one and one that we should make sure we make a priority,” Sen. Ram
Villivalam, a Chicago Democrat who sponsors the measure, said of the
program.
Still, for many, the biggest challenge to overcome is their own
mindsets.
“This has to change, and change is hard,” Schuette said. “But change is
going to have to happen, otherwise, I feel that mandates will be coming
down the road.”
Catie Gregg, Agricultural Program Specialist for Prairie Rivers Network,
agreed that participation in voluntary incentive programs, like the
cover crop program, may not be enough to meet the goals in the NLRS.
“If we continue to not see improvements, or things are getting worse, as
seen in the 2021 NLRS report, we will need to look at a broader range of
strategies that may include both voluntary programs and
requiring certain best management practices,” Gregg said.
Capitol News Illinois reporter Beth Hundsdorfer contributed to this
report.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service
covering state government and distributed to more than 400
newspapers statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press
Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation. |