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Read The 2021 Annual Report

ABOUT STAR

  

Saving Tomorrow’s Agriculture Resources (STAR) is a FREE nationwide tool to assist farm operators and land owners in evaluating their nutrient and soil loss management practices on individual fields. STAR encourages farmers and landowners to use management practices and make decisions that will reduce the nutrient and soil losses on their fields, and in return, they are provided recognition with a field sign recognizing their level of commitment to conservation. Ultimately, this program will help reduce the nutrient and soil losses from farmland over larger areas, and specifically the various water sheds, while engaging key stakeholders from all corners of the agriculture sector - retail, commodity, agency, and farmers. In addition, the practices encouraged by STAR will also result in improved soil health.


STAR was created by the Champaign County Soil and Water Conservation District, a not-for-profit government agency located in central Illinois. The program was developed in 2017 as a means to contribute to the important goals outlined in the state's Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy (NLRS), a plan developed jointly by the Illinois Department of Agriculture and Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. Since its creation, STAR has been adopted in many counties in Illinois by a multitude of organizations, including many soil and water conservation districts. Other states have also adopted STAR, including Iowa, Missouri, and Colorado to administer STAR in their area.


The initiative utilizes a simple field form that requests information from a farmer or non-operator landowner concerning individual fields for a given crop year. The STAR evaluation program assigns points for each cropping, tillage, nutrient application, and soil conservation activity on individual fields in addition to other “best management practices” as established by the United States Department of Agriculture's Natural Resource Conservation Service (USDA NRCS). STAR relies on the expertise of a science committee, made up of university researchers and other experts, to model ranking systems and ensure the field form is reflective of the specific and varying resource factors in the state. Once the field form is completed by a participant, the information is entered into a spreadsheet that assigns various points for the different practices used on that field. The summary of those points is then compared to a scale of points to give that field a “STAR Rating” of one to five STARs.  


The potential benefits to participating landowners and farm operators are numerous, and include; 


  • Decreased nutrient loss
  • Promote a positive image of farmers and agriculture in your community
  • Support the work of soil and water conservation districts across the nation
  • Inspire other farmers and landowners to take action in helping to meet nutrient and sediment loss reduction goals 
  • Promote producers for new farmland leases
  • Assist producers in securing local conservation cost share
  • Assist producers in obtaining future market incentives for crops grown using conservation cropping practices.
  • Assist producers in obtaining documentation in support of water quality issues

Download and share STAR's Flyer

STAR SELL SHEET (pdf)

Download

STAR LEADERSHIP

STAR Steering Committee


  • Sharon Bard, Principal | Terra Economics, LLC 
  • Megan Baskerville, Illinois Agriculture Program Director | The Nature Conservancy 
  • Ivan Dozier, State Soil Conservationist | USDA NRCS Illinois
  • Megan Dwyer, CCA, Director of Conservation and Nutrient Stewardship | Illinois Corn Growers Association
  • Erin Gundy, Resource Conservationist | Champaign County Soil and Water Conservation District
  • Grant Hammer, Executive Director | Association of Illinois Soil and Water Conservation Districts
  • Bruce Henrikson, STAR Coordinator | Champaign County Soil and Water Conservation District
  • Elliot Lagacy, Regional Representative | Bureau of Land and Water Resources, Illinois Department of Agriculture 
  • Kris Reynolds, Midwest Deputy Director | American Farmland Trust
  • Joe Rothermel, Vice Chair and Farmer | Champaign County Soil and Water Conservation District
  • Chris Schroeder, Retired | Centrec Consulting Group
  • Steve Stierwalt, Chair and Farmer | Champaign County Soil and Water Conservation District
  • Helen VanBeck, Midwest Program Assistant | American Farmland Trust
  • Mike Wilson, CCA | Illinois Certified Crop Advisor Program, Wabash Valley FS


STAR Science Advisory Committee


  • Lowell Gentry, Principal Research Specialist in Agriculture | University of Illinois Natural Resources and Sciences
  • Doug Gucker, Extension Educator, Local Food Systems and Small Farms | University of Illinois Extension
  • Erin Gundy, Resource Conservationist | Champaign County Soil and Water Conservation District
  • Eric Miller, Board Member and Farmer | Piatt County Soil and Water Conservation District
  • Dr. Emerson Nafziger, Professor Emeritus | College of ACES, University of Illinois
  • Brett Roberts, State Conservation Agronomist | Illinois Natural Resources Conservation Service 
  • Joe Rothermel, Chair and Farmer | Champaign County Soil and Water Conservation District
  • Stacy Zuber, State Soil Health Specialist | USDA NRCS Illinois

STAR Annual Reports

Crop Year 2021 Annual Report (pdf)Download
Crop Year 2020 STAR Report (pdf)Download
Crop Year 2019 STAR Report (pdf)Download

STAR Report Cards

STAR Report Card 2019 (jpg)Download
STAR Report Card 2018 (pdf)Download

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