A step toward enhancing infrastructure in the Pacific Northwest is officially underway thanks to a soy checkoff investment from the half-million U.S. soybean farmers.

The Soil and Water Outcomes Fund and John Deere announced a new collaboration, bringing an integrated digital experience to farmers participating in SWOF’s leading agricultural ecosystem services program.

The Soil and Water Outcomes Fund announced the addition of 34 Illinois counties to its area of eligible cropland for 2023, making all Illinois farmers now eligible for enrollment in the program.

This is a pivotal moment for farmers, said Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack at the Commodity Classic in Orlando.

The Illinois Soybean Association has moved to its new headquarters at 1108 Trinity Lane, Bloomington. The construction project, which began in December 2021, was part of an effort to reposition the organization “to get back to our roots,” said John Lumpe, ISA CEO.

Just as a bushel is used as the volume of soybeans traded, a carbon credit of one metric ton equivalent unit is a measurable verifiable emission reduction.

Midwestern farmers can soon earn compensation for conservation practices thanks to a new partnership between the Illinois Soybean Association, the Soil and Water Outcomes Fund and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Ron and Jay Kindred were setting the population on their four-row planter to prepare for replanting some corn upon arrival late Wednesday morning, May 26. “We’ll be replanting some corn when the ponds dry up after this next rain goes through. All of the corn is up enough that we can see where we need to plant-in,” Ron said.