2018 Farm Outlook

2018 Logan County Farm Outlook Magazine LINCOLN DAILY NEWS Oct. 25, 2018 Page 43 Lincoln College has an innovative conservation program with students participating in environmental studies and public education. The students presented a number of preventative solutions farmers could use on their croplands. Creekside is surrounded by fields and along the creek nearby are steep bank drop-offs. Year’s when there has been heavy spring flooding after planting time, it is common to see corn stalks falling over those edges. Soil, nutrients and pesticides slowly ebb down the creek. Sugar Creek meanders into Salt Creek. The conjoined creeks join the Sangamon River, which then combines with Illinois River and eventually enters the Mississippi River and then empties into the gulf, where silting and contaminants have created significant problems. There are effective ways to conserve soil by reducing erosion from wind and water. The benefits are multifold: to ensure the soil’s fertility, keep soil where it is needed in the field, prevent soil and contaminants from entering waterways, which are damaging to the environment and costly to commerce. EcoLynx Secretary Alyssa Summers said one of the ways to control soil eroding into Sugar Creek is for farmers to cut back on how close they plant to the creek bank. Reducing by just two rows would help prevent erosion damage. A buffer zone of prairie grass also helps to manage erosion as roots help hold soil in place and upper vegetation protects from wind and water movement. Some field nutrient run-off is also absorbed. “Lincoln College needs to collaborate with farmers to make sure everyone is on the same page,” Summers said. The zoology class at Lincoln College presented posters that emphasized the effects that soil erosion has on wildlife such as flooded banks that wash out otter’s homes. Erosion also causes shallow, slow water and depletes oxygen to fish, reduces food to turtles and the native species as well. CONTINUED