Although Jake Stricklin lived on his family farm for much of his life, he has only actively managed the farm since 2016. At that time, he moved to his current location and now farms 450 acres of corn and soybeans in Illinois. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the LaSalle County Soil and Water Conservation District. Over the past few years, Jake has steadily implemented conservation practices on all his farm acres and is now helping other farmers throughout the county plant cover crops, highlighting opportunities for reduced tillage, and advising farmers based on his experiences.

Can you tell us a little more about your farming operation?

I’ve been working on farms my whole life – doing odd jobs and eventually running tractors and grain carts. I went to the University of Wisconsin for geoscience and worked as a staff geologist for five years. I guess you could say I’ve always been interested in sustainable agriculture and soil science.

In 2016, my grandfather asked if I was interested in getting involved in the family farm. I agreed and started working with him and learning from him. When he passed away in 2019, I stepped up and started running the farm. My father works with me to manage the farm and is our combine operator and runs a water wagon. We have 450 acres planted in corn and soy, so we’re a small farm for this area. With this size, we’ve always looked for opportunities to increase our profit margins with the desire to improve the land and preserve its value for generations to come.

“I’m making fewer herbicide passes with the cover crops, and I’ve seen improved water infiltration and reduced nutrient loss from those covers combined with reduced tillage. We’re hoping to continue to see reduced erosion. Based on what we’ve seen after only a few years, we are committed to continuing, and expanding, this work…SWOF and STAR have been a big help – not only for the financial incentives but for the information they provide us.” – Jake Stricklin

Photo caption: Jake and his wife, Jonni, beside their field of strip-till corn

How have SWOF & STAR helped you and those you work with increase conservation practices?

I’d always been interested in cover crops and other conservation practices but was not able to figure out how to make them work financially on our farm. I’ve got a couple fields that have some pretty good rolling hills to them, and I thought those could really benefit from the erosion standpoint. I looked into the equipment needed for cover crops, but with the number of farmers getting into cover crops, it was pricy. I spoke with some local farmers who already had implemented cover crops and they suggested using vertical tillage tools that are also air seeders – and this seemed like a more affordable solution. Some of these farmers have been doing cover crops for a long time so they provided me great advice on equipment and practices.

A few years ago, I heard about SWOF from some friends who spoke very highly of the program. Then last year I got an email from IL STAR talking about the opportunities to earn incentives from conservation practices through SWOF and IL STAR. I like that both programs work with the local conservation districts and that the programs were well integrated. They are each simple to understand and the acreage incentives for cover crops and reduced tillage made them interesting.

So, I signed up and began implementing strip-till. My first year had me planting into bean stubble after a strip tillage. I wasn’t 100% sure how it was going to go, but with the GPS system, it really went well, and we were able to stay right in the middle of the strip. And the corn all came up great. The incentives from SWOF helped me lease equipment and hire support for strip tillage and cover crop planting in the future.

After one year testing these practices, I moved all my corn acres to strip-till and cover crops. Yield-wise, I’ve not seen an increase yet, but am only two years in. In other ways, these practices have been successful. I’m making fewer herbicide passes with the cover crops, and I’ve seen improved water infiltration and reduced nutrient loss from those covers combined with reduced tillage. We’re hoping to continue to see reduced erosion. Based on what we’ve seen after only a few years, we are committed to continuing, and expanding, this work.

Your family’s farm and legacy are very important to you. How do you think conservation programs like SWOF and STAR help?

All of us in the world of farming and conservation want to be able to help preserve the land for the next generations to come. With that in mind, soil health, water quality, creating habitat, increasing soil biology, and overall conservation are all areas where we align. We are all helpers, and these programs want to help farmers to build their operations with conservation in mind while still helping them make a profit.

After only a few years, I’ve earned some of my equipment investment back. Additionally, I’ve had a lot of farmers interested in what I’m doing on my farm, so they’ve hired me to apply cover crops to their fields and manage those crops. I’ve been speaking publicly on the value of cover crops and my experience.

SWOF and STAR have been a big help – not only for the financial incentives but for the information they provide us. We use the STAR Field Forms to better understand what we’ve done and what more we can do for conservation measures. I’m using SWOF and STAR now in my role with the conservation district and every farmer that works on a conservation cost-share project with us here at the district fills out a STAR Field Form. We use this information to help the producer implement and improve their conservation measures at their own pace over time. Seeing those points and stars increase is always a rewarding experience.

Soybeans thrive in this reduced tillage field enrolled with SWOF in northern Illinois.

What advice do you have for other farmers considering implementing conservation practices for the first time?

If you are not sure, talk with your neighbors who are well versed in implementing practices. Hearing their experiences really eased my mind. Working with programs like SWOF and STAR, as well as our conservation district, was key. I had a lot of support and knowledge that I could build on. I also recommend taking baby steps first if you aren’t sure. This let us see how the practices could work on our farm. We started small to try it out but have been expanding year on year.

Some of the farmers I’ve spoken with are on the fence about trying new practices but are very interested in trying them once they hear about my experience, and other farmers’ experiences. It takes time, patience and a willingness to try something new.

Connecting with STAR and SWOF

Do you want to know how your field is doing on conservation and are interested in exploring what practices you could implement? Farmers and ranchers can sign up using the simple, free, voluntary, and confidential STAR Tool and receive:

• A 1 to 5 STAR rating for each field
• A field sign with their STAR rating
• A Conservation Innovation Plan with customized suggestions for additional conservation practices to improve their STAR score
• Connections to technical, economic, educational, and financial resources to support conservation implementation

The STAR online enrollment, field form, scoring, and tracking platform, including generation of the Conservation Innovation Plan, is called the STAR Tool and is available at https://STARtool.ag.

If you’ve been thinking about trying or expanding a conservation practice, such as reduced tillage, implementing a cover crop, or adding a crop rotation, enrollment in the Soil and Water Outcomes Fund is open for 2024. By enrolling your acres with SWOF, you’ll receive agronomic support and earn financial incentives for the positive environmental outcomes generated by your on-farm conservation efforts. SWOF paid over $10.5 million, an average of $33 per acre, to farmers in 2023. Get started today by signing up for a free estimate!