New group to promote resource conservation on the farm
A cooperative effort by the American Farmland Trust and the Illinois Department of Energy and Natural Resources has resulted in the Illinois Sustainable Agriculture Society (ISAS), a new, nonprofit organization that plans to provide information to the state's farmers on resource-conserving agricultural techniques. The ISAS board of directors will include farmers from throughout the state.
The group hopes to sponsor on-farm demonstrations of alternative farming methods and to evaluate the results. Other producers can then apply those results to their own operations. One area to be studied is pesticide and fertilizer use. Studies have shown that farmers frequently use more of these products than are actually needed to maximize crop yields. Besides straining already tight farm budgets, misapplication of fertilizers/pesticides often contaminates rural water supplies.
Information on low-input agricultural systems for Illinois will be available soon through the ISAS Farmers' Information Network. Those interested in the new group should contact Bryan Petrucci at (312) 984-0905 or Deborah Cavanaugh-Grant at the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. (217) 785-8582.
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