The challenges of healing land in a sea of corn and soybeans can be daunting. PRN, our partners in ReGenerate Illinois, and the IDEA Farm Network have worked tirelessly to make the state a safer place for the biodiversity Illinois calls home.
While the accomplishments we achieved this year to protect water were clear cut, healing land was far more nuanced and not without significant challenges.
While PRN and partners were ultimately unsuccessful in stopping legislation to build a gas pipeline in the historically black farming community of Pembroke, hundreds of you answered our calls to action. Thank you for writing to your state legislators and the Governor in this effort! We raised awareness of the plight of these regenerative farmers and their efforts to revitalize their community through local organic food and green energy.
Millions in Funding for Conservation
This year, we renewed our efforts to pass the Partners for Conservation bill and increase the funding for the Fall Covers for Spring Savings program to promote cover crops. We worked with partner organizations to establish messaging and outreach, and we showed legislators the power of our membership through action alerts and your contacts with legislators. When we refocused efforts on the budgetary process, the Partners for Conservation fund won increased funding to the tune of $6 million, a huge victory!
This is the first time Illinois’ Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy will have dedicated state funding. It will ensure we are able to continue monitoring the nitrate and phosphorus levels in our rivers and stay accountable to our goal of reducing nutrient pollution in our rivers by 45%.
Supporting Our Farmers and Land
PRN is a co-founder and longstanding partner of the ReGenerate Illinois Network. Over the past year, we have helped lead the launch and expansion of a re-envisioned ReGenerate Illinois Network which aims to be more inclusive, engaging, and representative of the wide range of interests working on food system reform. The network offers a wide range of learning and information sharing opportunities to build a food system for Illinois that is fair, just, equitable for farmers and those who rely on the food they grow, and that also protects our soil, water, air, and biodiversity.
As a lead partner in the IDEA Farm Network (IFN), a farmer-led learning community where farmers, researchers, consumers, and NGOs come together to learn better, smarter, more ecologically sound ways to farm, we are glad to have supported multiple learning opportunities for the network. We have seen continued growth and interest in the IFN despite the challenges of the pandemic.
PRN has led the charge in Illinois in protecting our farms and natural and landscaped areas from pesticide drift. We have continued our Tree and Plant Health Monitoring program which documents symptoms of off-target herbicide drift on farms, in conservation lands, and state and private properties, and expanded our tree leaf/herbicide residue monitoring program. We will release the findings of our 2020 and 2021 monitoring and sampling this winter.
We trained state agency personnel and advocates on how to identify, document, and report symptoms of herbicide drift on the lands they manage. We highlighted the threats posed to crops and native trees and plants through videos, blogs, and virtual and in-person trainings. We also partnered with the Xerces Society of Invertebrate Conservation and the National Wildlife Federation in a webinar highlighting the threats posed by the widespread use of volatile herbicides such as 2, 4-D and dicamba to wildlife, pollinators, and the lands they inhabit.
To heal land in Illinois calls for strong, diverse relationships with folks from a wide range of experience and landscapes. Together, we are taking giant strides towards a better, healthier environment.
