Farmer-led program fits local priorities

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A program designed to encourage farmer-to-farmer networks to improve soil health and protect water quality within Illinois’ priority watersheds enters its second year.

The Farmer-Led Advances in Soil Health, or FLASH, program is a collaborative effort that focuses on providing farmer-led groups with financial resources to fund on-farm implementation of conservation practices.

This unique model allows farmers to determine the needs of their local community, backed by financial incentives to promote the use of conservation practices.

Formed by local farmers experienced with conservation practices, these groups create opportunities for peer-to-peer learning to expand the use of practical, locally tested solutions.

While some groups share watershed boundaries, each one is locally led and focused on connecting with farmers in their surrounding community.

The five Illinois FLASH groups in their respective watersheds are the Jo Daviess Soil and Water Health Coalition, Vermilion Headwaters Watershed Partnership, Black Slough Watershed/Champaign County, Lake Paradise-Lake Mattoon Watershed/Coles County, and Hillsboro Lakes Watershed/Montgomery County.

Priority watersheds within the FLASH groups’ work are the Apple-Plum, Vermilion, Embarras, Little Wabash and Shoal.

FLASH groups are supported by American Farmland Trust in partnership with Sand County Foundation, the Mosaic Company Foundation, Walton Family Foundation, National Fish and Wildlife, Lumpkin Family Foundation and local partners such as Soil and Water Conservation Districts.

Startup

For those interested in starting a FLASH group, requirements are at least five interested farmers, a collaborating organization like AFT or the local SWCD and a designated area to work in or be part of a specialty group.

Participation details are available on the AFT website at https://farmland.org/flash.

Free Cover Crops

The FLASH “Batch and Grow” Cover Crop Program — an Illinois farmer-led cover crop initiative that offers free cover crop seed and free custom application — began in 2025. The program is hosted by the five local FLASH groups.

Using a “Batch and Grow” model, each FLASH group has selected two to five proven cover crop mixes tailored to their local area that participating farmers can choose from.

This makes it easier to get started, with trusted support from experienced cover crop users and conservation partners in their community.

Cover crops will be drone-seeded or custom applied to participating fields in mid-August through December, depending on the cover crop chosen, at no charge.

AFT works directly with local contractors and covered the seed and application costs to reduce the administrative and financial burden on farmers.

Cover crop seeding rates are determined based on Natural Resources Conservation Service standards as well as using the Midwest Cover Crop Council guidance. The program’s agronomists are available for any termination assistance.

“This fall, 62 farmers across Illinois enrolled over 8,000 acres across five different groups. We hope to expand the number of FLASH groups and the acres covered through the ‘Batch and Grow’ program in 2026,” said Morgan Cauble, AFT Midwest watershed specialist.

“Nearly half of the participants had less than three years of experience using cover crops, and I’m excited that so many were encouraged to try something new through the program. Others have only used cover crops ahead of soybeans before; 45% of total acres in the program were seeded ahead of corn. Farmers with more than three years of cover crop experience were still able to try something new, whether that be a different mix or drone seeding.”

Participants can also receive technical assistance from other farmers in their FLASH group, or AFT has a soil health specialist and an agronomist on staff that they’re also able to ask any questions.

Cauble gave details of the program in a recent Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction podcast, hosted by Todd Gleason, University of Illinois Extension communications specialist, and produced by U of I Extension educators Rachel Curry, Nicole Haverback and Luke Zwilling.

“Our goal with ‘Batch and Grow’ is to create a simple cover crop program that can be suited for experienced conservationists or beginners and to remove as many of the common barriers as possible,” Cauble said.

“In looking at that, we’ve found that especially within the first three to five years of conservation practice adoption, this added support is critical for continued use.”

The costs for seed and planting cover crops are covered through the program.

“We just pay for the cover crops outright through seed and application, and then the only thing the farmer would be financially responsible for is termination if they chose a winter-hardy mix,” Cauble said.

“For our costs this past year, we averaged about $35 to $40 an acre, so that could be a good measure of financial benefit to the farmer. We didn’t pay that directly to them. That’s the financial benefit they received if they were going to plant cover crops.”

Looking Ahead

All five groups this past year chose to focus only on offering cover crops through this program, but organizers hope to expand on that.

“We’re looking into the possibility of funding other practices in 2026. So, nutrient management, no-till, habitat buffers, those are just some of the things that we’re looking at offering for next year, but open to the specific needs of each farmer group,” Cauble said.

“I think the reason AFT focused on cover crops through the ‘Batch and Grow’ program specifically this year was it’s just a simple practice to offer in this format of ‘Batch and Grow.’

“The seed mixes were predetermined, selected by the farmer leaders in each group to just suggest to others of what has worked well for them. That really cuts down the barriers there if a farmer is interested in using cover crops, but doesn’t know exactly what mix to use or what works best in their area.

“We gave them just a specific set of options to choose from, and they were also predetermined based on their upcoming crop. For example, if they were going to plant soybeans next year, it would automatically recommend cereal rye through our application online. So, really cutting down the decision-making and the guesswork out of it.

“Also, cover crops are pretty simple to do in this format where AFT is handling the contracting with the seed dealers and applicators, or we’re working with local fiscal agents to do that, such as a Soil and Water Conservation District, for example.

“It’s fairly easy for the farmers to be hands off in this format. They don’t have to change anything necessarily about their management practices other than adjusting for termination in the spring if they chose to do a winter-hardy mix.

“We had some groups that the farmer leaders preferred to offer the winter-kill mixes to make the termination process even simpler in that way. And also in focusing with our watershed work, cover crops have a very high impact on nutrient loss reduction, especially with nitrogen and phosphorus in these specific areas. We’re focused on that and helping to improve water quality with those cover crops, as well.”