CONSERVATION PLANNER SPOTLIGHT- DAVONNE LONG
Although she started as the Wayne County Conservation Planner in October 2023, Davonne Long’s work in conservation dates to the late 1990s when she completed a high school internship with Wabash County SWCD. While she worked on similar projects back then, including CRP and terraces, the work was quite different, as the SWCD was not yet using computers for designs, and all projects needed to be drawn by hand. Along with this experience, Davonne regularly utilizes her degree in Plant and Soil Science from SIU Carbondale.
Prior to becoming a Conservation Planner, Davonne worked in a factory for Champion Laboratories assembling different filters (air, oil, fuel, etc.) for everything from lawn mowers to airplanes. She spent over 11.5 years working second shift and frequently worked 12-hour days, from 3 pm to 3 am. Describing why she has been enjoying this job more, she said, “I find this job interesting, and there’s always change. There’s always something new to do. At the factory, it’s just the same thing over and over every night… It’s just so much repetition, and it can get kind of old.”
Davonne believes the producers in her district are on the more innovative side. She said, “A lot of them are really on the front lines of some of this new technology, the new ideas, and the new science that is coming out.” She said one specific producer will frequently apply a new practice to a 20 or 40-acre field and compare the outcomes to his other fields nearby
Edwards County Resource Conservationist Michelle Piller said that Davonne has been helpful due to her education and background in plant and soil science. She said, “She knows more about soils and things like that than I do. So, in that respect, she’s very beneficial to me. I always like to ask the question ‘why?’ If we’re doing something, why are we doing it? And she’s very good about answering that…. When I’m struggling with something, she jumps right in and shows me or tells me how to do it.”
Wayne and Edwards Counties are also unique in their ability to secure cost-share funding for producers, with both counties receiving a significant amount of money in EQIP contracts through Act Now. Michelle said, “We went out. We advertised. We let farmers know that this plan is here, and they came in. I mean, we worked up until the absolute last minute.”
Davonne is currently working on verification for these contracts, which include cover crops, crop rotation, no-till, reduced till, and nutrient management. She has completed Wayne County and is now focusing on Edwards County, with over 200 tracts to be reviewed between both counties. With nutrient management, producers just bring paperwork to be verified into the office, but the rest of the practices require site visits, including multiple per year for some. Describing this work, Davonne said, “Later in the fall, after the cover crop gets planted, then you go out and verify that the cover crop has been put on. And then once you verify that it has been put on, they bring in their seed tags, and you verify their rates are to NRCS specs.
When asked about the biggest lessons that she has learned in this position, Davonne said, “If you don’t know something, tell the producer you don’t know, but will try to find out. Don’t try to fabricate an answer that you don’t know.” Michelle also highlighted Davonne’s ability to locate information for producers, saying, “She’s a good resource as far as finding anything. If she doesn’t know, she will look it up, and she will find it.”
Davonne hopes to eventually apply her skills to a career with NRCS or IDNR. Michelle seemed confident that Davonne will succeed in any job moving forward, saying, “She’s a hard worker, and she gets her work done, that’s for sure.”
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