Similarly modeled from the Edge of Field Partnership, the Saturated Buffer Partnership brings key partners together to install and research saturated buffers on the landscape, as well as to provide public education and outreach on the newer conservation practice. This five year Partnership, comprised of Illinois Farm Bureau, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Southern Illinois University - College of Agricultural Sciences, and Illinois LICA, held its first field day on March 20, 2019. Over 65 attendees came out to learn more about saturated buffers during the field day event on Clint Robinson’s farm located in Sullivan, IL. One behalf of the Association the day before, ILICA member Greg Yoder and crew, Yoder Farm Drainage, installed two saturated buffer systems on roughly 30 acres of an existing subsurface drainage system. One saturated buffer practice was based upon the NRCS’s standard saturated buffer design, treating about one-third of the field. The second system, designed by researcher Jon Schoonover, SIU, to treat two-thirds of the field, was a custom saturated buffer system with three “stacked” lateral lines complete with backflow prevention and a lateral shutoff. This unique water quality project provides side by side saturated buffer design comparison and research within one field before the systems outlet very near Lake Shelbyville. Research is partially funded by the Nutrient Research & Education Council (NREC), and Associate members Fratco and Agri Drain also supported the installation with donated and discounted materials.

THANK YOU to all the following involved with this great project:

Thank you also to Clint Robinson and ILICA volunteers: Greg Yoder, Yoder Farm Drainage Crew, & Tom Beyers