News & Updates

April 21, 2025 Although the bison have been gone for quite some time, many of the O’Fallon area residents still fondly refer to the Brown Family’s property as The Buffalo Farm. According to Stephen Brown, the family’s involvement with the farm dates to around 1860, and his grandfather was born on the farm around 1890. During the 1950’s, there was a drought out west that caused buffalo to start starving. Stephen explained that an appeal went out for people to house some, and h

April 16, 2025 Working in the collar counties of Illinois, Conservation Planners Aidan Woltman and Olivia Winters were like two peas in a pod. Although Aidan was the McHenry County Conservation Planner and Olivia represents Kane County, they were able to split up their workload between Lake, McHenry, Kane, and DuPage counties. When asked about their favorite part of the position, both said, “Working together.” However, after spending two years as a Conservation Planner, Aidan

April 7, 2025 On March 10-11, AIM hosted the Soil Health Summit for Conservation Planners and the Admin Team in Macomb, Illinois. The goal of the Soil Health Summit was to provide the in person lab trainings for those enrolled in Soil Health Courses with WIU’s Dr. Joel Gruver as well as to build team unity amongst the Conservation Planners. “We chose WIU for this summit because of its strong reputation in soil health research and applied conservation practices,” said Whitney

March 26, 2025 When she’s not helping farmers as a Conservation Planner in Rock Island County, Leticia Taliafero spends her time working on her own certified organic operation, Sowing Seed Urban Garden Center, where she specializes in microgreens that are sold at her local farmers market. Growing up in central Virginia, her family always had a vegetable garden. With a laugh, she said that hardly any cucumbers made it into the house unless her mom was pickling, which she did o

March 21, 2025 Al Decrane’s Granddaughter was named Little Miss Ag and posed with the Pollinator plot. Wildlife habitat enhancement is a family affair for Al DeCrane on his farm in Galva, IL , which includes pollinator plots, three large ponds, and over 20 acres of trees, including white pine and a few different varieties of oak (red, white, black, and bur). Describing his family’s involvement on the farm, he said, “Both of my grandkids deer hunt, so we have gotten to hunt de

March 10, 2025 Working alongside his father and uncle on their family farm in Meredosia, Nick Werries gained an appreciation for nature at an early age. He described his fond memories of riding in the tractor and helping his uncle plant apple and peach trees. He said, “I helped quite a bit with getting equipment ready for the next season and generally just helping with whatever needs to be done. Usually during harvest and planting season was when I was out there the most.” In

March 3, 2025 The fourth annual Soil Health Week will be celebrated across Illinois on March 3-9, 2025, and AIM is excited to be hosting a virtual panel featuring our Level 3 Conservation Planners on March 4th f rom 11 am to 12 pm! Adams County Conservation Planner Andrew Parks, Scott County Conservation Planner Courtney Lercher, and Knox County Conservation Planner Tim Blackwell will share their experiences working with SWCD staff and producers in their districts to improve

February 28, 2025 As a Conservation Planner in the Will County field office, Wyatt Dozier has had the opportunity to work on everything f rom raised beds in a vacant lot in Chicago to grazing plans for livestock in Kankakee. Wyatt’s enthusiasm for conservation began at an early age, as he grew up in a home surrounded by several acres of restored native prairie and frequently visited his grandfather ’s farm. He said, “It instilled the importance of taking care of the land and