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A Message from Caroline Wade, STAR Executive Director

At STAR, we are committed to helping producers access a comprehensive package of resources to enable successful and durable conservation implementation. To support all interested producers on their journey toward adopting conservation practices, we partner with organizations and companies to develop STAR Producer Rewards Programs which can include financial benefits.

I’m excited to announce that earlier this month we launched the 2024 Siemer Producer Reward Payment Program with the Siemer Milling Company. Siemer is working with STAR to identify eligible fields and compensate growers in Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky who are implementing conservation practices that result in an improved STAR Rating or an outstanding (5-STAR) Rating. This is only the first of many programs that we look to launch using the STAR framework in collaboration with partnering organizations. Our goal through programs like the Siemer Producer Reward Payment Program is to coordinate and streamline program offerings, facilitate access to stacked and blended financial resources, and fast track producer connections to and enrollment in complementary conservation programs. Learn more specifics about the Siemer program in the story below.

In addition to the Siemer Program, STAR has developed several generic frameworks for Producer Reward Payment Programs based on STAR ratings that can facilitate easy connections for companies and entities wanting to invest in conservation improvement by incentivizing producers directly. STAR works with partners to customize these frameworks and adapt them to state-specific producer, Affiliate, and partner needs. Payments can be based on a field’s STAR score in a given year or on a change in a field’s STAR score over time. The STAR payment framework includes additional options to incorporate enrollment and/or transition rewards.

STAR’s approach to offering reward programs for producers is focused on addressing some of the challenges with other programs and has been designed with these goals in mind:

• STAR recognizes that voluntary conservation programs must be designed to work for producers, accommodate the risks and challenges of changing their operations, encourage incremental improvements and experimentation, and allow them to showcase their commitment to stewardship.
• STAR provides greater access to conservation for ALL producers by providing an on-ramp for beginners, recognition for early adopters, and enhanced guidance for more experienced conservation practitioners, accommodating producers wherever they are on their journey.

The STAR Tool can be used as the basis for a stand-alone reward payment program, but the complementary design also allows it to serve as a an easy on-ramp to new or existing reward programs, or as a parallel guide and evaluation tool for other conservation payment and incentive programs. The STAR field form, scoring system, Conservation Innovation Plan, and outcomes estimation approach is a simple solution that can integrate well with most other programs and partners and provides a standardized scale for advancing and evaluating conservation progress across the US.

We’ll keep communicating about these types of opportunities in our monthly bulletin, on social media, and on our website. If you are interested in developing a producer rewards program with us, let us know. We’d love to work with you.

STAR News and Updates

STAR Launches the new Online STAR WebTool

We know producers and their technical support advisors are busy and juggling many opportunities for participation in programs. To streamline STAR participation and connections to other programs, we developed the STAR WebTool – an online enrollment, field form, scoring, and evaluation platform, that includes generation of customized resources and opportunities in a Conservation Innovation Plan. Instead of relying on paper forms, participants can use the STAR WebTool to guide implementation of conservation on their land in a way that keeps it productive and profitable. The STAR WebTool takes an estimated 10-15 minutes to complete per field and provides producers with a 1 to 5 STAR rating for each field, a button to request a field sign with their STAR rating, a Conservation Innovation Plan with tailored suggestions for additional conservation practices to improve their STAR score, and customized connections to technical, economic, educational, and financial resources to support conservation implementation. Take a look at the new STAR WebTool.

We thank the outstanding STAR WebTool development team which includes Houston Engineering Inc. and Heartland Science and Technology who are building the tool, Wave Interactive who is leading web tool design and user interface and PLANT Group who is coordinating this project. Their collective experience and expertise and their creative and accommodating styles have produced an easy to use and exciting platform for STAR users.

Learn More About the Siemer Producer Program

Siemer Milling Company is committed to connecting growers with opportunities to help preserve their land and legacy. Siemer customers’ corn, soybean and wheat fields are eligible to participate in this program. STAR provides each field a confidential rating of 1 to 5 STARs. Growers can receive a payment for achieving and maintaining a 5-STAR Rating (the highest rating) or demonstrating improvement in their initial STAR rating over a two-year period. Learn more about eligibility and the program through our FAQs and access all required documentation on our website. Sign up before August 31 to participate.

STAR in the News

STAR’s accomplishments in 2023 and growth plans were featured in an article in AgriNews earlier this month entitled, Saving Tomorrow’s Agriculture Resources Expands. The article highlights our 2023 Annual Report, published last month and our plans for expansion into 2024 – including enhancement to the STAR WebTool, state STAR Affiliate launches, and expansion into new states throughout the country.

STAR Team Member Anisa Kline Publishes Article

STAR Research Associate Anisa Kline recently had an article published in the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems and Community. The article, Care, agency, and social reproduction in the H-2A program: A case study from Ohio, uses the qualitative results of a survey of 285 H-2A workers in Ohio to explore questions of care, social reproduction, and agency within agricultural guest work. Access the article here.

Anisa has a PhD in Geography from the Ohio State University and holds dual master’s degrees in Spanish and Latin American studies from the same institution. Her expertise is in applied research with agricultural guestworkers, the growers who employ them, and farmworker advocacy groups. She joined the STAR team in April 2024.

See STAR Soon at…

Soil and Water Conservation Society 2024 Annual Meeting

The annual Soil and Water Conservation Society (SWCS) meeting will be held July 21-24, 2024, in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. This year’s conference theme, “Rising Together: Collaborative Conservation for All,” challenges all conservationists to rise to the great challenges and opportunities ahead of us, together. The agenda will feature the latest ideas, technologies, and practices, and foster a dialogue around their adoption. Cutting-edge research and practice developments in soil health, water quality, and resource management will be shared through various workshops, sessions, symposia, tours, exhibits, and demonstrations. Scientists and practitioners will present their work at the field, farm, and watershed scales.

Two members of the STAR team – Caroline Wade and Amanda Raster – will attend and present a poster on STAR. Read more and register.

Growing Outreach Conference 2024

In keeping with STAR’s goals of prioritizing producer needs and supporting them whenever they are on their conservation journey, Caroline Wade will be attending the Growing Outreach Conference taking place August 22 – 23, 2024 in Madison Wisconsin to spend time connecting with others focused on incorporating social and behavioral science learnings into sustainability efforts. Understanding what drives producer behavior and decision making around conservation is key to building effective conservation programs at scale.