ILLINOIS MAKES THE HONOR ROLL
            We made the honor roll according to newly released statewide data for the National Resources Inventory (NRI). “I’m proud to report that the rate of soil erosion on Illinois cropland has steadily declined over the last 24 years, “ says NRCS State Conservationist Bill Gradle.
            This is the good news. Conservation practices on private land are voluntary. “The data confirms that Illinois’ private landowners work hard to protect our land and resources,” Gradle obsereves. The NRI is a statistical survey of natural resource conditions and trends on non-Federal land in the United States – of which Illinois has more than 33 million acres.
            Conservation practices and treatments, such as no-till planting, terraces, conservation tillage, strip-cropping, contour farming, and conservation cover planted on highly-erodible ground [Stephenson County has 214,000 highly-erodible acres out of 364,000] are all part of the reasons behind this positive trend. “We can thank Illinois’ conservation farmers and all our conservation partners for these productive and ‘green” trends,” adds Gradle.
            In 1982, before provisions of conservation compliance were required for producers working with USDA, Illinois’ rate of water erosion on cultivated cropland was over 6.2 tons per acre annually [one ton over an acre is about the thickness of a dime]. The 2007 data sets a new low – 3.9 tons per acre. Cropland includes 66.3 percent of the 2007 Land Cover/Use in Illinois. Illinois ranks fifth for the amount of cropland; third for the acres of prime farmland; and FIRST in prime cropland.
            Data from the NRI for the state shows that pasture covers 6.2 percent of the land. Average water erosion rates on pastureland have declined by 38 percent since 1982. At an average rate of less than 1.0 ton per acre per year, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) can say that soil erosion poses little threat to healthy pastureland productivity statewide. Two percent of Illinois cover is water. Eleven percent is forestland.   
            Now for the not-so-good news. Bill Gradle states that the NRI data “shows us a few areas where we need to focus our attention and target both state and local efforts.” Between 1982-2007, about 495,000 acres of prime farmland soils were lost to non-agricultural uses. During these years, land developed or built-up increased 760,800 acres so that non-agricultural uses now total over 11 percent of Illinois land cover. Nearly a million acres of pastureland were lost, about 38,000 acres per year.
            When you get the opportunity, thank a producer/landowner for his or her continuing conservation efforts. Your tax dollars spent through the provisions of the Farm Bills from 1985 to the present to encourage conservation practices are paying off.
Information comes from an Illinois NRCS Press Release dated May 25, 2010. You can learn more NRI data for Illinois and the nation by visiting www.il.nrcs.usda.gove/technical/nri/index.html.

Della Moen, Earth Team Volunteer, NRCS/Stephenson Soil and Water Conservation District, an equal opportunity provider and employer, 06/09/10 (for publication on 06/12/10 in the Journal-Standard, Freeport, Illinois) Della can be reached at info@stephensonswcd.org