ABOUT US
WHO WE ARE
STAR was an idea conceived by two farmers in Illinois and further developed through by the Champaign County SWCD and other local partners in 2017 to help farmers meet the conservation practice implementation goals in the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy. Designed as a simple, straightforward, and easy to use tool, the STAR concept grew to include an implementation framework and was soon adapted and expanded into other Midwestern and Western states to meet their local needs. STAR’s simplified approach prioritizes support for producers by channeling more of the available market funding into financial incentives and technical support necessary for practice change adoption while providing producers, investors and supply chain partners a clear roadmap for increasing conservation outcomes and evaluating progress.
As a national organization STAR establishes a consistent and standardized scale across all regions and production systems, provides state level Affiliates with a comprehensive toolkit and tailored guidance to empower producer success, and facilitates producer connections to technical and financial resources.
Star Believes
Producers need a clear pathway for conservation system adoption
Investors and supply chain partners need a clear roadmap for increasing conservation adoption
The path to conservation should be based on local resource concerns and opportunities and should be producer led
Conservation investments should prioritize funding of practice implementation and technical support for producers
Field evaluations and guidance for next steps should be simple
Program solutions should be driven by producer needs and designed to maximize the potential for positive environmental impacts at a local and global scale
Producers need technical support and financial resources to enable conservation implementation
The collective goal should be optimizing locally relevant practices on as many acres as possible
Producers should be recognized for progress and incentivized to continue
Progress needs to be measured using a consistent scale across regions and systems
Star Believes
Producers need a clear pathway for conservation system adoption
The path to conservation should be based on local resource concerns and opportunities and should be producer led
Field evaluations and guidance for next steps should be simple
Producers need technical support and financial resources to enable conservation implementation
Producers should be recognized for progress and incentivized to continue
Investors and supply chain partners need a clear roadmap for increasing conservation adoption
Conservation investments should prioritize funding of practice implementation and technical support for producers
Program solutions should be driven by producer needs and designed to maximize the potential for positive environmental impacts at a local and global scale
The collective goal should be optimizing locally relevant practices on as many acres as possible
Progress needs to be measured using a consistent scale across regions and systems
WHY STAR
STAR was specifically designed to meet the needs of farmers and ranchers and the demands for conservation improvements coming from partners and stakeholders in a clear and cost-effective way. 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 creates a clear roadmap for conservation adoption that bridges the gap between producers’ perceptions of sustainability and outcomes-based supply chain sustainability opportunities.
EXPANSION
STAR is growing and has the potential to reach a majority of production acres in the US. STAR is appealing to Affiliates for its flexibility and adaptability. STAR has expanded from one soil and water conservation district into eight states and has received funding to provide STAR as an opportunity in additional states in the West and Midwest across a variety of production systems.
