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Illinois governor moves to slash cover crop funds despite rising demand

by Jennifer Bamberg
Investigate Midwest
 

When Steve Stierwalt studied agriculture at the University of Illinois in the 1970s, soil health wasn’t commonly taught or discussed. Faculty often told their young farming students to put all their faith in commercial fertilizers. 

But over his 40 years as a corn and soybean farmer in Champaign County, Stierwalt said soil erosion, which can cause fertilizer and manure runoff to end up in nearby rivers and streams, has become an increasingly serious problem.

“When we plowed, we plowed pretty much everything,” except for a row near the fence line, Stierwalt said. “The grass near the fence row kept getting taller, it seemed to me. I came to understand that it wasn’t the fence row getting taller, it was the soil in the fields that was getting shorter.”

In the early 2010s, Stierwalt started experimenting with cover crops, which can help hold soil in place and reduce runoff pollution.

“This valuable resource that we take for granted, we were letting it get away,” Stierwalt said. “We have some of the best soil in the world here, and we have to protect it.” 

Six years ago, Illinois became the second state in the nation to offer subsidies to farmers for planting cover crops in the fall, an effort to reverse its status as one of the worst states for agriculture runoff. Demand for the Fall Cover for Spring Savings program — which offers a $5 per acre discount on the following year’s crop insurance premiums — has outpaced state funding every year since. 

However, despite the program’s popularity and calls from environmentalists and farmers for its funding to increase, Gov. JB Pritzker has proposed a 31% funding cut.

Pritzker, a Democrat, recently proposed an overall $2 billion increase to next year’s state budget. But he also recommended cuts to several programs, including reducing the cover crop insurance credit budget from $960,000 to $660,000. 

Pritzker’s office did not respond to a request for comment but the governor referenced program cuts in a recent address.


Photo: Jennifer Bamberg/Investigate Midwest

Kristopher Reynolds, Midwest Director for American Farmland Trust and a fifth generation farmer in Nokomis, is pictured at the Illinois State Capitol on March 12, 2025. He works with farmers and landowners on conservation cropping practices to meet the goals of Illinois’ Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy.

 

“I have made difficult decisions — including to programs I have championed, which is hard for me,” Pritzker said during his State of the State and budget address in February.  

Two state lawmakers introduced bills this legislative session to increase the program’s annual funding to $6.1 million. They say it's crucial to support the practice, which will benefit communities in Illinois and beyond.


It's an investment because you know you're doing right by the environment. You know you're doing right by your land, and long term, you're going to build your soil health, and that will impact your bottom line.

Ed Dubrick
small pasture poultry farmer
Cissna Park Illinois


 

The bills did not clear a recent committee deadline. However, lawmakers can still negotiate funding for the program as they continue to work to pass a budget by the end of May. 

Illinois is one of the leading states for farm fertilizer runoff and one of the top contributors to the Gulf of Mexico’s dead zone, a barren area of around 4,500 square miles of coastal waters deadly to fish, shrimp and other marine life. It costs the region’s fishing and tourism industry millions annually. 

Runoff from Illinois farms has only worsened, according to a 2023 state study. Between 2017 and 2021, average nitrate-nitrogen loads increased by 4.8%, and total phosphorus loads increased by 35%, compared to the 1980-1996 baseline. 

Nutrient levels were highest between 2016 and 2020 before declining slightly. The improvement was attributed to regulatory permits on wastewater treatment plants, which also pollute waterways. 

However, nitrate levels remain well above the state’s reduction goals.

Less than 6% of Illinois farmland uses cover crops

The soil in Illinois is famously fertile and much of the land is flat. The soil isn’t highly erodible like soil on a slope or a hill might be. But when fields are left bare after harvest, the soil can easily blow away in the wind or wash away in storms, depositing fertilizers and chemicals into waterways. 

Cover crops, which include winter wheat, crimson clover, cereal rye, oats or radish, are planted after harvest and before winter. The crops can reduce soil erosion, break up compacted soil, provide a habitat for beneficial insects and wildlife, and prevent latent fertilizer from leaching into rivers and streams. 

Since the Fall Cover for Spring Savings program began in 2019, the Illinois Department of Agriculture has received more applications than the program can fund. 

This year, the program sold out in two hours. 

Under current funding levels, only 200,000 acres are available, which advocates say is too small.

map visualization 

“At the rate conservation is being invested in right now for agriculture, it would take 200 years to hit the goals under the Nutrient Reduction Strategy. And that’s assuming … there would be new adopters,” said Eliot Clay, executive director of the statewide Association of Soil and Water Conservation District. 

The Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy (NLRS) is a statewide, multi-agency effort to reduce the amount of nutrients in Illinois waterways and the Gulf of Mexico. The policy working group’s latest report, produced in 2023, found that to meet just half of its goals of reducing runoff, nearly all of Illinois’ corn and soybean farmers would need to adopt cover crops. 

“It doesn’t mean the state won’t meet the goal,” a spokesperson for the NLRS team at University of Illinois Extension said in an emailed statement to Investigate Midwest. “There is quite a bit of variability of riverine nutrient loads at watershed scales for nitrogen and phosphorus.” 

However, the spokesperson added that more research, data acquisition, and planning are needed at watershed scales. 

Out of the state’s 26.3 million acres of farmland, an estimated 3% to 6% grew cover crops in 2022, according to USDA data. 

Kristopher Reynolds, Midwest director for American Farmland Trust and a fifth-generation farmer in Nokomis, said Illinois needs to see cover crop adoption of at least 15% and more state and federal incentives are needed. 

The Gulf Hypoxia Task Force, a federally funded program through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, has provided additional funding to supplement the cover crop program. However, the Trump administration’s freeze of some federal grants might put those funds at risk. 

Earlier this year, the Illinois Department of Agriculture was awarded a $25 million grant from the EPA to support conservation practices for the next three years. 

“We don't know the status (of the grant),” said Jerry Costello II, director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture, while speaking to the House Appropriations Committee on March 12. “Last that we've heard, things looked good. But that's been a while." 

“We've got two and a half months left in this process in Illinois, right?” added Costello, citing the time the state has to finalize its 2026 budget, which begins in July 2025. “Two and a half months plus or minus. So surely we'll have some guidance … we certainly hope so.” 

Because of the sheer scale of the agriculture industry, government regulations requiring conservation practices can be difficult to carry out, said Clay, the executive director of the Soil and Water Conservation District. 

Farmland covers 75% of the entire state of Illinois, and even if all farmers employed precision sensors to track runoff points, it would cost billions, Clay said.  

There would also need to be an army of workers to track and enforce regulations. 

However, “industry self-regulating usually doesn't work, and it hasn't worked in ag, because that's basically what they've been doing for the most part,” Clay said. What’s needed, he added, is more public-private partnerships. 

Stierwalt, the farmer in Champaign County, helped develop STAR, or Saving Tomorrow’s Agricultural Resources, which gives farmers a five-star score based on their conservation practices. 

The state adopted the framework in 2023 to support the state's nutrient loss reduction goals. 

Stierwalt said the ultimate goal is to get companies to purchase agricultural commodities based on the rating system. 

If the public and industries that rely on agricultural goods for ethanol or food products want sustainably raised crops, then the farmers will grow them, he said.

Cover crop barriers include both cost and culture

Cover crops have long-term benefits but can be expensive and require extra work. Crop yields may even decrease during the first few years.  

Cover crops cost roughly $35 to $40 an acre, and farmers don’t make a direct profit from it. The crops are planted in the fall and aren’t harvested. Instead, as the plants die and decompose, they provide nutrients back into the soil for the new commodity crop. Some farmers terminate the crops with chemical herbicides. 

But the $5 an acre from the Fall Cover for Spring Savings program acts as an incentive for doing the right thing, which will pay off later, said Ed Dubrick, a small pasture poultry farmer in Cissna Park who also farms vegetables with his wife. 

“It's an investment because you know you're doing right by the environment,” Dubrick said. “You know you're doing right by your land, and long term, you're going to build your soil health, and that will impact your bottom line.” 

There are also cultural barriers to planting cover crops. Row crop farmers often pride themselves on tidy, neat rows, and cover cropping and no-till can leave fields looking messy. 

Walter Lynn, a retired certified public accountant and farmer in Springfield, said farmers sometimes only cover crop fields that are out of sight from their neighbors or the road because they’re afraid they’ll be judged. 

At a recent soil health conference in Omaha, Lynn said he met a farmer who believes he can’t openly discuss his practices with his equipment dealer, saying, “There's a vulnerability that ag doesn't deal well with.” But at the conference, Lynn said the farmer found a welcoming atmosphere: “It's so good to come to this space at this meeting … I feel like I'm a member of the cover crop witness protection.” 


This article first appeared on Investigate Midwest and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Unity Jr. High 3nd Quarter High Honor Roll announced


Unity Junior High School announced the names of students who achieved high honor roll status during the third quarter of the 2024-25 academic year. Congratulations to all the students who earned the requisite grade point to qualify for recognition during this period.


6th Grade High Honor Roll


William Terrance Bieser
Jace Boyett
Rachel Elaine Sharples Brooks
Mila Marie Lynn Brown
Connor John Chesnut
Brielle Mun-Yee Chin
Madisen Diane Coy
Wyatt Michael Deakin
Finley Douglas
Reid William Edwards
Ashlyn Elizabeth Estes
Hunter Byron Estes
Shirley Arianna Garcier
Liam Thomas Grussing
Aneela Joy Hagerman
Aubrey Lou Hartman
Ezekiel Makai Hastings
Asher Jett
Pyper Rayne Jones
Zaylee Elaine Kohlenberg
Elijiah Cole Lambert
Avalee Susan Little
Landon Robert Little
Lucas James Michels
Brielle Raine Molina
Peyton Elizabeth Neighbors
Charlotte Rose Ocasio
Autumn Polaczek
Olivia Ann Ruggieri
Zachary David Ruhter
Mallory Mya Schmid
Jayceon Simmons
Brody Lee Skibbe
Blake Robert Stierwalt
Giselle Ann Thomas
Jase William Kenneth Wierman
Conor William Zumbahlen


7th Grade High Honor Roll


Maylie Rose Bates
Brailey Marie Cain
Viola Ayame Carman
Lydia Grace Crowe
Kylee Paulette Cunningham
Elizabeth Irene Davidson
Bronson Edwin Davis
Savannah Jo Drewes
Quentin Xavier Dykeman
Collin Daniel Eckstein
Beau Richard Eisenmenger
Cooper Alexander Fairbanks
Nadia Grace Fairbanks
Hayden Marie Gabbard
Libbey Marlene Ethel Griffin
Dylan Paul Holladay
Mason James Holladay
Aaron Joseph Hood
Gabriel Heinrich Jahnel
Allie Rose Kamradt
Molly Kathryn Lydia Kleiss
John Isaac "Isaac" Leaman
Adelyn Jolene Maxwell
Graham Charles Moore
Ashley Ann Mumm
Nicole Nava Palomares
Caylynn Josie Parker
Raelyn Marie Prosser
Jordan William Pruitt
Avery Elizabeth Remole
Matias Alberto Rios Toro
Camdon Levi Schmid
Layla Marie Scott
Drake Alan Siuts
Kataryna Sperry
Colby Aaron Weaver
William Ross Wetherell
Kadence Ryleigh Wiese
Alexis LeAnn Wolken
Alivia RaeLyn Wolken
Brendan Kurtis Zerrusen


8th Grade High Honor Roll


Adcock, Kelsey Marie
Adcock, Kenny Wayne
Bailes, Lilly Annabelle
Bates, Brooklyn Blair
Benedict, Ty Craig
Bent, Ethan Earl
Berkey, Elizabeth Joanne
Berkey, Katherine Elaine
Bletscher, Konnor Lewis
Cowan, Kale Boden
Coy, Trevor Daniel
Daly, Alec Joseph
Deakin, McKenzie Lynn
Denney, Emma Nicole
DiBello, Giulietta
Gambill, Steven
Glad, Jaxson Edward
Good, Amelia Marie
Grussing, Hayden Bradley
Gumm, Aubrie Paige
Hamilton, Jordan Elizabeth
Hoel, Kynedy Ashlynn
Krall, Alivia
Leonard, Cora Dee
Lisanby, Jauniyah Rosemarie
Logsdon, Liam Hayes
Marinelli, Adeline Marie
Meharry, Lilly Madelyn
Meharry, Tatum Faith
Millsap-Moore, Baeden Edward
ONeill, Holden William
Parks, Marley Rae
Popovics, Carolina Maria Pagaduan
Popovics, Luc Sandor Marcelo
Pugh, Makaylin
Rawdin, Maya Alexis
Robbins, Bella Rose
Roth-Robertson, Madelyn Olivia
Savona, Skylar Grace
Schuckman, Sophia Isabella
Shunk, Vivian Rosalie
Smith, Hayden Dale
Spomer, Abigail Elise
Stierwalt, Dylan Robert
Styan, Olivia Jane
Terven, Jack Christopher
Thomas, Nicholas James
Thompson, Hayley Olivia
Thweatt, Cassandra Pearl
Watson, Charles Reider
Webber, Quentin Stephen
Weber Patterson, Hallee Ann
Williams, Bryson Matthew
Wishall, Ethan Matthew
Wolf, Ashton Jace
Wolken, Adam Scott



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Unity Jr. High 3rd Quarter Honor Roll


Unity Junior High School announced the names of students who achieved honor roll status during the third quarter. Congratulations to all the students who earned the requisite grade point to qualify for recognition during this period.


6th Grade Honor Roll


Molly Margrethe Bailes
Madelyn JoAnn Bear
Lylla Lorene Bennett
Journie Elizabeth Castle
Liberty Cenzano
Gersey Marie Cler
Avery Brooks Curry
Dominic Dees
Hayven Corrine Douglas
Kennedy Phoenix Dykeman
Jackson Carter Elam
Odin Jeffrey Evans
Megan Elizabeth Gumbel-Paeth
Emilia Hibbs
Luke Raymond Hottman
Christian Timothy Vincent Johnson
Khloe Nikita Kellogg
Jerzey Lawler
Bentley Michael Mcduffie
Hunter Reed McIntosh
Logan Alexander Nasser
Tucker Lee Pruiett
Brantley Hunter Pugh
Josephine Jane Pulleyblank
Emory Grace Renfroe
Jace Alek Revell
Felix Richard Runyan
Nolan Dwight Seidlitz
Paige Elizabeth Siuts
Lila Rose Souza
Elizabeth Ann Stewart
Haven Marie Thomas
Jaylynn Whiteside
Jordan Lily Zoch


7th Grade Honor Roll


Ashlyn Nicole Alt
Rya Jolee Bialeschki
Kaylee Jo Black
Nora Kristina Blanchard
Liam Aeron Blom
Bradley Roger Bruhn
Gorian Martin Cler
Raeann Loucille Cozad
Raymond Curtsinger
Greyson Zachary DeHart
Tinsley Layne Elliott
Alarik Byrum Ellison
Kenzlee Rae Evans
Natalie May Gumbel-Paeth
Jessica Marie Hamilton
Harper Quinn Harris
Addilynn Mae Hatfield
Benjamin Isaac Hoewing
Finnegan Samuel Bowie Isberg
Matthew Stephen Kroes
Azaria Christianne Lisanby
Adeliah June Little
Jack Thomas Ludwinski
Maxwell Tyler Pound
Riker Alan Rogers
Kyle Sean Roosevelt
Smilemarino Mulanga Sardo
Jonah Ryan Schriefer
Ezra Alan Schultze
Cashtyn Ryder Sutherland
Jaycob David Tatman
Dylan Dean Thompson
Owen Robert Vasey
Lucy Jeane Weaver
Levi Nelson White
Phoebe Ashlynn Witheft


8th Grade Honor Roll


Sawyer Michael Abrahamson
Grace Bailey
Ella Addyson Bromley
Sylvia Lola Cahill
Ryker Cenzano
Hadley Marie Cler
Hayden Curtsinger
Katelyn Dhom
Evan Matthew Donaldson
Jase Charles Eisenmenger
Skippy Followell
Samuel Bentley Hollett
Owen Dean Hottman
Holly Marie Howey
Russell Patrick McCabe
Scarlet Rosemary McCann
Lane Lucas Meharry
Ellery Merkle
Emma Grace Mohr
Lillian Calen Mohr
Jacklynn Kay Alexandra Moore
Logan Harvey Reimer Couch
Connor Allen Schwartz-Rouse
Jaylan Serczyk
Austin David Shafer
Trevor James Shallenberger
Jasper Lee Souza
Tucker Douglas Stierwalt
Cade Robert Styan
Jayden Michael Terven
Deklyn James Thomas
Lucas Neal Williams
Olivia Lynn Wilson



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