Brought to you through collaboration with the
Champaign County Soil & Water Conservation District, Illinois Department of Agriculture and Bureau of Land and Water Resources
STAR 2023
Saving Tomorrow’s Agricultural Resources
A FREE SERVICE TO ILLINOIS FARMERS
The purpose of Illinois STAR is to recognize, inspire, guide and reward agricultural producers as they transition production systems to include more conservation practices that will ultimately meet the goals of the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy.
Recieve a 1-5 STAR rating on your fields: The STAR evaluation system assigns points for management activities on an annual basis. Participants answer a series of simple questions about their crop rotation, tillage, nutrient applications, and use of conservation practices to generate their overall field score.
Join Illinois STAR via PCM
It’s Fast. Free. And Trusted.
The Illinois STAR collaboration with PCM allows farmers to easily gather data and save it in the PCM system. Together, we hope to grow and support our respective programs and expand to meet future needs of farmers and farm businesses in our communities.
COMMUNITY PRIDE IN CONSERVATION
All farmers who participate in Illinois STAR are offered a FREE field sign for each participating field. Your conservation practices become an opportunity to raise awareness and inspire your neighbors!
Illinois STAR Field Forms
3 Minutes To Complete One Field Form (on average) – 17 Questions
Submit the digital form through the PCM Farmer Portal (FREE) and easily access your information/data later on
Complete one form for each field you want to evaluate – get a STAR rating and physical sign for each field
Endorsed by the
Illinois Department of Agriculture
The following was included in a letter from John Sullivan, Director, Illinois Department of agriculture, dated Novermber 5, 2019:
“The IDOA has reviewed the goals and purposes of the “Saving Tomorrow’s Agriculture Resources” or Illinois STAR program. We have found the program’s goals to be very consistent with that of the Department. Specifically, the Department is supportive of programs and projects that further the appropriate stewardship of agricultureal resources includeing crop production inputs like nutrients. The Illinois STAR program is well suited to help accomplish this mission. We believe this program can provide a solid foundation for the future of Illinois agriculture. Illinois STAR is not only an easy to use and economical tool for participants to evaluate their practices, it is a model that can be replicated in many geographic locations both inside an doutside of Illinois. As a result, this letter shall serve as a formal endorsement of the Illinois STAR program by the Illinois Department of Agriculture.”
Supported Nation-Wide by
The National Association of Conservation Districts
The NACD passed the following resolution at their annual meeting in February 2020:
“NACD supports STAR by helping make the initiative available to conservation districts nation-wide through education and promotion.”
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QUESTIONS? CONCERNS?
Contact the Illinois STAR staff at info@starfreetool.com