Thanks to Illinois State Sen. Doris Turner, Chair of Senate Agriculture Committee, for being a part of 2024 Soil Health Week and Lobby Day on Wednesday March 6. The Association of Illinois Soil & Water Conservation Districts thanks Sen. Turner for her support in the implementation of SB1701, and for supporting the work of our 97 Soil & Water Conservation Districts, primed to work with producers and landowners to implement the needed conservation practices to ensure that our water runs clean and our soil remains healthy.
State Sen. Doris Turner (Chair, Senate Agriculture Committee, center) with Reed Best, Erin Hoover, David Nguyen, Heather VanTillburg, Davonne Long (all Conservation Planners with the IDOA/NRCS Capacity Building Initiative), Hannah Tomlin, Soil Health Coordinator with Agroecology + Innovation Matters, and Dr. Michael Woods, Executive Director of the Association of Illinois Soil & Water Conservation Districts, during Soil Health Week Lobby Day Wednesday March 6, 2024 at the Illinois State Capitol.
State Sen. Doris Turner speaks during Soil Health Week – Lobby Day.
Soil is an essential natural resource and Illinois farmers and professionals play a critical, critical role in managing our state’s water and soil resources.
Illinois State Senator Doris Turner’s presentation at Soil Health Week Lobby Day (watch on YouTube)
Happy Soil Week! I’m State Senator Doris Turner, and I represent the 48th district, which is where you all are now. So, welcome to the 48th.
I’m excited to be here. I was here with you last year, and I’m excited to be back again this year. As Rep. Meier said, soil is an essential natural resource and Illinois farmers and professionals play a critical, critical role in managing our state’s water and soil resources.
As Chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, I wan to make sure that our farmers are heard and they are true partners in our agriculture agenda for the State of Illinois.
And you know – I don’t wanna be someone that just comes and talks to you every now and then. I want you to know that you always have an open door with me. And I wanna hear from you. I wanna hear about the good things that we’re doing. I wanna hear about the bad things that we’re doing. I wanna hear about how we can do things differently because that’s the way that we can all make our agriculture community the best that it can possibly be by continuing to work in partnership with each other.
State Sen. Doris Turner shakes hands with Tom Beyers, chairman of the board of the Association of Illinois Soil & Water Conservation Districts, as she meets with Steve Myers of Illinois Realtors and Dick Lyons, farmer from Montgomery County and one of the originators of Soil Health Week, during Soil Health Week Lobby Day.
State Sen. Doris Turner meets Leticia Taliafero, Conservation Planner with the Capacity Building Initiative in Rock Island County, during Soil Health Week Lobby Day.
State Sen. Doris Turner shakes hands with Erin Hoover and Heather VanTillburg, Conservation Planners with the Capacity Building Initiative in Macon and Boone counties, during Soil Health Week Lobby Day.
State Sen. Doris Turner laughs as she shakes hands with Davonne Long, Conservation Planner with the Capacity Building Initiative in Wayne County, and Dr. Michael Woods, Executive Director of the Association of Illinois Soil & Water Conservation Districts, during Soil Health Week Lobby Day.
So, last year, I led a measure that incentivizes community gardens, and it is really making a difference. When Rep. Meier talked about the cottage industry and how those produce are coming and how it’s really making our communities a lot better.
The legislation is really helping to do that each and every day. When we talk about farmers markets and community gardens, those are real economic engines for our state. They do.
You know, when I was talking about my bill, I had one legislator say “Well, is this really a big deal? You know, people are just having gardens out in their backyard.” But it really is a big deal because not only is it the economics piece of it, but think about all of the mental health issues that we’re taking care of when you have people outside, talking to each other, out in the dirt, out with nature, and, you know, socializing, when people have an opportunity to get out and spend time with their neighbors, all of that is really, really very, very important.
And in order to do this, we need healthy soil. When we have nutrient-rich soil, we give our bodies the nutrients that it needs to survive and thrive. So, Soil Health Week is exciting to me because … before I thought about coming to the General Assembly, I represented on the Sangamon County board, and I … represented a hybrid district part in the city, part in the county. And I had an opportunity to build a very close working relationship with the Sangamon County Farm Bureau and that relationship has continued. So, this is not something that’s new to me. Something that I’m just jumping in on because it seems like it’s the right thing to do. This is something that I feel very, very strongly about, and have really spent a lot of time and energy trying to get as involved and as immersed in it as I possibly can.
So, although we’re downtown Springfield now, I think we all know that Illinois has some of the richest, most vibrant soil and farmland anywhere in the world. And we want to definitely do everything that we need to do in order to protect it, and in order to have it so that it is spectacular for generations to come.
When you heard Rep. Meier talking about how he’s on his farm his great grandparents started, I want … an Illinois where his great-grandchildren can say that they’re on the farm that their great-grandpa started and continued. And working together in partnership, we can all make that happen. So again, welcome to Soil (Health) Week, and enjoy.
