News & Updates

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