This story was produced in partnership with the Food & Environment Reporting Network
Climate change is not a big concern for Lin Warfel. Sure, he鈥檚 noticed the increasing rainfall over the 60 odd years he鈥檚 been farming corn and soybeans in central Illinois 鈥� especially when ponds form in his soybean fields. But he鈥檚 pretty sure there鈥檚 nothing he can do about it.
And yet, over the past few years, Warfel has gradually started incorporating climate-change fighting techniques on his farm. He plants cover crops on some of his land in the winter time, which sequester carbon from the atmosphere. He鈥檚 stopped tilling, or plowing, his soil as much, which helps keep carbon in the ground.
To implement this new style of farming, Warfel had help from a program called 鈥� Saving Tomorrow鈥檚 Agriculture Resources. STAR encourages farmers to implement sustainable practices on their farms, and in the process, is making farms across the Midwest more climate-friendly. And yet, the words 鈥渃limate change鈥� are nowhere to be found in the program鈥檚 objectives.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 use the words climate change,鈥� said Steve Stierwalt, an Illinois-based farmer and co-founder of STAR. 鈥淚n the agricultural community that becomes a political term.鈥�
Rather, the program draws on another environmental issue that is much more front of mind for farmers: soil erosion.
Unlike climate change, soil erosion is a huge concern for Illinois farmer Lin Warfel. He鈥檚 the fourth generation to farm the land his great-grandparents bought in the mid-1800s. And throughout his lifetime, he鈥檚 watched a lot of soil disappear.
鈥淎ll of a sudden, a whole bunch of the soil would be gone. There would be a ravine there 鈥� where I used to have soil,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat was a big problem.鈥�
Maintaining a healthy bed of topsoil 鈥� the top foot or so of soil 鈥� is essential for farmers to grow their crops. And yet, Midwestern farmers have lost about of their topsoil since Europeans first settled in the region.
That鈥檚 largely due to an overall decline in soil health caused by conventional farming methods. Heavy tilling, which involves stirring up the soil in order to prepare it for planting, also loosens it up, priming it for erosion. Soil is also often left bare in between harvest and planting seasons, which leaves it vulnerable to erosion. Erosion is also exacerbated by intensifying wind and rain storms caused by climate change.
It鈥檚 an urgent issue for farmers, and some 鈥� like the founders of STAR 鈥� are mobilizing to fight it.
鈥淪oil is a finite resource, you know, and we've already lost half our organic matter here in east central Illinois,鈥� said Joe Rothermel, farmer and co-founder of STAR.
Rothermel and Stierwalt are on the board of their local Soil and Water Conservation District. Around 2017, STAR was born out of conversations between the two on how to better conserve soil in their district. They decided to start a program in which farmers submit their conservation practices and get rated 鈥� between 1-5 stars 鈥� for how well they鈥檙e doing at preserving soil.
鈥淪o many people understand rating things by stars,鈥� said Stierwalt. 鈥淵ou may have been to a restaurant and checked to see what the star rankings of it are before you go.鈥�
The climate connection
The agriculture industry accounts for 10% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. In order to reduce those emissions, conventional agriculture will have to transform.
STAR is making that happen. The program encourages a less conventional style of farming, which is necessary to fight soil erosion. And, serendipitously, almost every soil health practice the STAR program encourages also helps to fight climate change.
Farmer Lin Warfel鈥檚 winter cover crop, for example, sequesters carbon and stabilizes his soil with its root system. His lack of tillage keeps carbon in the ground and makes his soil hardier and less likely to runoff in a rain or wind storm.
He doesn鈥檛 use STAR practices in all of his fields. But the ones that do incorporate STAR practices have a five-star rating.
It鈥檚 something more farmers will need to implement in order to meet President Biden鈥檚 lofty goal of establishing a net-zero agriculture industry in the U.S.
鈥淲e've been hoping for something like this for a long time,鈥� said Paige Buck with the U.S. Department of Agriculture鈥檚 Natural Resources Conservation Service in Illinois.
Buck says the USDA has been glad to see the STAR program spread throughout Illinois and into three other states, including Iowa, Indiana and Colorado. She says what鈥檚 made it so popular is that it's farmer-led and farmer-trusted.
鈥淪ometimes getting advice from the government or from getting it online, sometimes that's not what a farmer needs,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hat they need to do is they need to hear from another farmer.鈥�
If we hope to stave off the worst effects of climate change, she said more programs like this are needed.
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This story comes from the new podcast from the Food & Environment Reporting Network.
This story was produced in partnership with Harvest Public Media, a collaboration of public media newsrooms in the Midwest. It reports on food systems, agriculture and rural issues. Follow Harvest on Twitter:
