Through the efforts of the Rock Island County Board and farmer Mike Breiby, the land known as the County Farm has been awarded a 5 STAR by the county’s Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD). That’s the highest rating on the STAR scale.
“We are very pleased with the forethought and efforts of the county board in implementing conservation practices that will maintain and preserve the rich soil on this farm for generations,” Rich Stewart, resource conservationist for county SWCD, said in a news release announcing the rating.
The farmland is located in Rural Township near Coal Valley. It includes land on which the former Oak Glen Home once sat. The county rents the land under contract to farmer Mr. Breiby, Mr. Stewart told the QCBJ.
The county-leased farm earned the SWCD’s high rating based on implementing several conservation practices. They included grassed waterways, water and sediment control basin, grass filter strips, pollinator habitat for Monarch butterflies and upland wildlife habitat buffers for Bobwhite Quail.
Other factors that go into the rating are crop rotation, use of cover crops, no-till or low disturbance farming and applying fertilizers based on GPS soil testing and crop needs.
Thanks to these practices, soil erosion is reduced to at or below the tolerable soil loss limit as determined by the USDA-NRCS office. Water quality is improved because of fertilizer application rates based on crop needs.
Wildlife benefits
Wildlife habitat benefits from the short grass-forb mix prairie. It serves as a buffer between cropland and the woodland on the farm property. Monarch butterflies and other pollinator benefit from prairie grass and forb planting. That includes milkweed and other nectar plants.
Mr. Breiby also said he uses cover crops because they are great for weed control and preventing erosion.
“We appreciate being a part of these efforts and encourage all farmers in Rock Island County and beyond to explore opportunities to join in utilizing these conservation practices,” Rock Island County Board Chairman Richard “Quijas” Brunk said.
A sign signifying the 5 STAR rating has been placed on the County Farm. STAR is an acronym that stands for Saving Tomorrow’s Agriculture Resources. STAR is a free statewide tool to assist farmers and landowners in evaluating their nutrient and soil loss management practices on individual fields. It is designed to help farmers meet the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy goals.
The STAR evaluation program assigns points in several areas. They include cropping, tillage, nutrient application and soil conservation activity on individual fields. The star rating system for a field can be anywhere from one to five stars.
