Given that the Macoupin River Basin is a high priority for phosphorus reductions, AFT and our local partners decided to tackle the water quality challenges in the upper reaches of the basin, the Upper Macoupin Creek Watershed.

The Upper Macoupin Creek (UMC) watershed is a subwatershed of the Macoupin Creek Basin located in Macoupin County, Illinois. The UMC project area covers 137,694-acres, about half of the Macoupin Creek Basin. AFT leads this initiative with over 15 federal, state, and local government partners, agricultural trade associations, environmental groups, agricultural retailers, and a local university working to reduce phosphorus losses, improve farm productivity, provide education and outreach, and improve water quality in the creek.

The UMC partnership includes a 17-member steering committee comprised of eight farmers, two representatives of M&M Service Company, two representatives from CHS Shipman, two representatives from the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service office in Macoupin County, one representative from the Macoupin County Soil and Water Conservation District, one representative from the Illinois Stewardship Alliance, and one representative from AFT.

To date, the Upper Macoupin Creek Watershed has accomplished:

Upper Macoupin Creek Watershed Project Goals

The Steering Committee has adopted seven specific goals that aim to achieve social, economic, and environmental outcomes by 2022:

1. Improve awareness and understanding of the water quality issues in the UMC, the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy, and the benefits of improved soil health and nutrient management

2. Increase conservation activity in the watershed by 40 percent

3. Improve farmer profitability

4. Reduce ephemeral gully erosion by 50 percent

5. No application of commercial fertilizer or manure on snow-covered or frozen ground

6. All livestock manure will be effectively stored with no potential runoff

7. Achieve a 25 percent reduction in total Phosphorus loads and a 15 percent reduction in Nitrate-N loads

How Can Farmers Get Involved and What Are the Benefits?

Calculate the economic benefits of your proposed soil health practices before they even hit the ground! Email and ask Sarah Blount how you can estimate your changes in net income by implementing practices like reduced tillage, cover crops and nutrient management.

Farmers in the watershed are encouraged to get involved by adopting conservation practices that improve soil health and economic returns. Financial assistance is available for farmers interested in reducing tillage, increasing the efficient use of nutrients, and adopting cover crops. It pays to be proactive! Through individual action, farmers in the watershed can collectively help improve water quality while maintaining or improving farm profitability.

The adoption of a well-managed conservation cropping system leads to improvements in a farmer’s bottom line by contributing to: