Farmers

About Jeff Jarboe

Better methods mean better soil

When I was a little kid, everybody moldboard plowed, which is taking the soil and turning it over where it’s black on top. My dad was one of the first to adopt chisel plowing in the 1970s, which is tilling the soil, but leaving some plant material on the surface. Now, many farmers do what I’m doing with my soybeans – leaving entire plant residue, which is left over from harvesting the previous year’s corn crop, on top of the soil and planting straight into it. This no-till method improves overall soil health by adding more organic plant matter and saves me trips across the field with equipment, lowering my emissions and keeping the carbon in the soil.

This 35-year evolution of farming methods is just one example of how farmers strive to continually improve. As we learn and gain experience, we adapt new and better ways to manage our soil and other valuable resources.

Capturing carbon

Today, people are concerned about greenhouse gas emissions negatively impacting our world because of too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.  Farmers have a unique opportunity to capture carbon from the atmosphere and store it in the soil simply by planting our crops.  This carbon capture – or sequestration – happens naturally as plants grow. With every crop I plant, I’m pulling more carbon out of the air than I am emitting into the atmosphere.  And because farmers care for 75% of the land in Illinois, that’s a big opportunity and a big positive for all of us.