Here in the Prairie State, our rich soils have made us the nation’s third largest producer of agricultural commodities. Today, the Illinois food and fiber industry also employs nearly one million people, and the state exports $8.2 billion worth of soybeans, feed grain and agricultural products to other countries.
But our rich soils are in trouble, as use of the land to produce the food the world needs has impacted soil health and the important organisms that call it home.
Read "Diverse Partners Dig into Soil Health—Together" by Caroline Wade of The Nature Conservancy in Illinois in the April 2018 issue of iBi!
Meet the cast of healthy soil characters... infographic courtesy of The Nature Conservancy:
