CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Some Illinois farmers say they want to help protect natural resources, but incentives are crucial to making that happen. A coalition tied to these efforts says lawmakers can't allow a key funding source to fall through the cracks.

As the General Assembly tries to meet its Monday budget deadline, agriculture and conservation groups are asking for more robust funding for a program that offers grants for improving soil health. It's due to expire this summer if lawmakers don't act.

Champaign-area farmer Steve Steirwalt, who uses methods such as cover crops, said not having an extra incentive for these practices could turn some producers off to the movement.

"It's difficult to get us farmers to adopt different practices that we don't know very well," he said. "it's going to take us some years to really learn because that introduces risk, and that's one of the few things that we can control is our practices."

Supporters are calling for an increase of $4 million for the program. While there's no clear opposition, the pandemic recovery and redistricting are commanding more attention as state budget talks wind down.

Liz Rupel, policy organizer for the Illinois Stewardship Alliance, said more money for the Partners for Conservation Fund could help the state more aggressively meet the goals outlined for a strategy to reduce harmful runoff from farms.

"As far as the wastewater side of things, we're doing OK," she said, "but the agriculture side, we do need some more work."

The goals, established in 2015, call for a 45% reduction in nitrogen and phosphorus going into Illinois waterways by 2025. The ten groups that make up the coalition are asking lawmakers to include the proposal in any final spending plan. And while Illinois' revenues have rebounded, the state still faces a deficit of $1.3 billion.

Minnesota will soon hold public hearings on proposed water permit changes as it seeks to get control of nitrate pollution from industrial farms.

This week, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency released its plan to overhaul standards for a pair of water permits issued to the largest animal feedlots in the state. The main focus is livestock operations in areas vulnerable to groundwater pollution. The farms would have to adopt certain practices related to manure application in the fields.

Joy Anderson, supervising attorney at the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, calls the plan a commonsense approach to a pervasive problem. She hopes the public takes notice of what is happening.

"People who care about Minnesota's drinking water, people who care about the swimability and fishability of our water," Anderson explained.

Organizations like hers urged residents to speak up during public hearings scheduled for July. Comments can also be submitted to the agency until Aug. 9. The proposed changes are expected to face strong pushback from those representing so-called factory farms. Despite the hope from plan supporters, the changes would only apply to about 5% of livestock feedlots in Minnesota.

Past efforts to enact modest permit changes resulted in outcry from industrial ag interests. Anderson admitted the proposed changes cover a limited number of farms but added they send a signal regulators realize the scope of the contaminated water crisis linked to nitrate pollution.

"This is sort of a first step," Anderson asserted. "It tells us the MPCA is at least a little serious about making some changes."

Her group hopes what is unfolding now leads to rule changes covering all the state's 17,000 feedlots, also known as concentrated animal feeding operations. This week's move follows a recent order from the federal Environmental Protection Agency for Minnesota to clean up contaminated drinking water in the southeastern part of the state, caused by farm runoff.


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The U.S. House of Representatives will likely vote this summer on a version of the Farm Bill, which passed through the committee process last month.

Some farmers and ranchers are concerned about cuts to climate-smart programs, including the Environmental Quality Incentive Program, which distributed more than $31 million to South Dakotans last year. The program and three others have been funded by Inflation Reduction Act dollars since 2022, when President Joe Biden approved nearly $12 billion for the national programs over four years.

It could change under the House version of the Farm Bill, which instead proposes increased subsidies for large-scale operations.

Tanya Svec, a member of Dakota Rural Action who helps run her in-laws' small cattle farm in Deuel County, which received a grant this year, said it is appropriate the program provides opportunities for small-scale farms to get grants, rather than just the large-scale operations policy tends to favor.

"That's really helpful for those small economies and keeping things local and building some resiliency into the farming communities," Svec explained.

Svec pointed out the business is currently finalizing a grant to fund a water system to help the operation with rotational grazing, a practice benefiting landscapes by letting some pastures rest while others are in use. It allows native plants to grow and protects watersheds. Demand for the program exceeded supply in 2023. Of the nearly 1,500 South Dakota applicants, only 27% were accepted, according to a report from the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.

Svec observed more people sought out her farm's beef during and since the pandemic, which exposed supply-chain issues. She sidesteps big industrial distribution by marketing directly to customers.

"We like to raise cattle in a particular way," Svec stressed. "It's hard to be rewarded for going the extra mile for not using antibiotics, for grass-fed grass-finished beef if you remain in the standard agricultural system."


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When Minnesota farmers watch their crops grow this summer, some will monitor land that has better soil health. It's because of a fairly popular conservation tool, and supporters are calling for more "real-time" data to measure progress.

Cover crops are plants grown between commodity crops to prevent soil erosion and nitrates from flowing into nearby waterways, harming water quality and natural resources. In recent years, Minnesota has emerged as one of the better-performing states for participation.

Jon Stevens has adopted the practice for his farm operation north of the Twin Cities.

"There's been years that we've just phenomenal corn yields while you're standing in 10 to 12 inches of beautiful oat grass," he said, "and we did it with reduced fertilizer inputs."

Stevens said that's good news for local creeks that connect with the St. Croix River.

The latest Census of Agriculture, released this year, showed a 17% increase in cover-crop acreage compared with 2017. The growth rate has slowed, however, and the report only comes out every five years. The National Wildlife Federation and other groups want to see a more consistent national effort to track participation, making it easier to guide assistance.

Federal programs administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture help cover expenses for farmers who agree to plant cover crops. Stevens said they have become more flexible, but he suggested certain types of messaging to convince those still on the fence.

"Sign up a five- or ten-acre parcel [of land] and get your cover crops perfected on that five or 10 acres," he said, "and then you can just step into full-scale."

Stevens indicated that approach might help avoid turning off farmers who run into obstacles after making big cover-crop investments. There's also research indicating this practice doesn't always translate to higher yields, but Stevens said that way of thinking needs some fine-tuning.

"We've been taught decades of 'maximize your yield,'" he said, "and it's like, 'Nope, that system doesn't work that way.' You're going to reduce tillage costs."