Illuminating the pathway to sustained conservation

Empowering farmers and ranchers to choose conservation as the standard on all agricultural lands to ensure a legacy of clean, abundant water and healthy soils for future generations

STAR Co-Founder Steve Stierwalt Talks STAR and Conservation with USDA Deputy Secretary

Last week, STAR co-founder and Board Chair Steve Stierwalt hosted USDA Deputy Secretary Xochitl Torres Small and Illinois Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski at his farm in Illinois. He highlighted the opportunities STAR provides farmers to engage [...]

STAR Publishes October 2024 Bulletin

Subscribe for Bulletins delivered right to your inbox. STAR for Grazing Lands STAR is excited to announce that we have begun a process to develop field forms and scoring for grazing lands. STAR believes [...]

STAR Joins Illinois Sustainable Ag Partnership

We are pleased to announce that STAR is a new member of the Illinois Sustainable Ag Partnership. Through ISAP, our Illinois STAR Affiliate joins a network of organizations working to serve Illinois farmers in [...]

STAR Publishes Summer 2024 Bulletin

Subscribe for Bulletins delivered right to your inbox. Happy Birthday National STAR In this issue, National STAR is celebrating the progress and success of state efforts, the release of new tools and resources for [...]

STAR Publishes May Bulletin

Subscribe to the Bulletin for updates delivered right to your inbox. A Message from Caroline Wade, STAR Executive Director I’m pleased to share our 2023 Annual Report which highlights the progress we’ve made in [...]

WHAT WE DO

STAR is a national, non-profit organization established to develop and expand the STAR framework for conservation practice evaluation, implementation, and valuation.

The STAR framework inspires, guides, and standardizes conservation practice adoption and implementation across a variety of agricultural production systems at scale through state level STAR Affiliates.

Designed and led by producers, the STAR tool utilizes science and experience to target local solutions for local natural resource concerns, and to support farmers and ranchers on their conservation journey – wherever they are.

By creating a standardized approach for evaluating conservation progress across regions and production systems, STAR bridges the gap between producers’ perceptions of sustainability and outcomes-based supply chain sustainability programs.

OUR GOAL

The goal of STAR is to facilitate successful and sustained conservation practice adoption and implementation by farmers and ranchers at scale by providing STAR Affiliates with a comprehensive toolkit and tailored guidance to empower producer success and to connect them to incentive programs.

Find a STAR program near you

How do I get a STAR Affiliate started?

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