Author: Steven Varble
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Willis sees NRCS as eager partner in Illinois agroecology initiatives
Tammy Willis, the new USDA State Conservationist for Illinois, came away from the recent 75th annual conference of the Association of Illinois Soil and Water Conservation Districts with a strong sense of optimism. “As we look ahead, I’m excited for the potential of our organizations working together,” she said. “We have a unique opportunity to […]
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Ohio conservation innovator and emissary leaves forward-looking legacy
David Brandt – the man in the meme – looks like somebody sent from Central Casting to a movie director who wanted The Quintessential Farmer on the set. But truth is stranger than fiction, and Brandt was not an actor. He was the real deal. Randall Reeder, The Ohio State University Extension agricultural engineer, co-authored an article […]
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Taking AIM for the Land of Lincoln
Agricultural innovation, like the crops we grow, must come from the bottom up. Some big ideas may come from laboratories and think tanks, but it’s at the ground level – in a farmer’s hands – that things take root. Through a $14 million federal grant, the Natural Resources Division of the Illinois Department of Agriculture […]
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Conservation Planner finds calling before untimely death
Derek Welveart’s occasional childhood work detasseling corn, walking bean fields, and baling hay on the farmland around his hometown of Atkinson, in west central Henry County, was more about money in his pocket than a love of the land or a passion for agriculture. But it nonetheless planted a seed. Welveart died June 17 in […]
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Southern Illinois farmer earns inaugural Illinois Leopold Conservation Award
For the past 50 years, Dennis Frey has been farming patches of the rolling Southern Illinois terrain in Hamilton County that is now entering its fifth generation in the family. When he started, it was a traditional diversified family farm, with hogs, cattle, corn, soybeans, wheat, barley, and other crops. Over time, it evolved to […]
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Educational Resources
AIM needs to inspire, educate, and provide more opportunities for the next generation to enter the agroecology workforce. From elementary school to college, we need to foster interest in natural resources, teach the importance of conservation, and provide young people with the requisite tools and pathways to pursue further education or professional opportunities in related […]