KIMBLE HONORED FOR ENVIRONMENTAL CONTRIBUTIONS

Lindsay Mitchell

Jan 03, 2018  |  Today's News |  ICGA

Bloomington, IL – Kirk Kimble, a corn and soybean farmer near Chillicothe, IL, was honored at the Illinois Corn Growers Association Annual Meeting on November 21, 2017, for his contributions to the environment and for helping other farmers learn about innovative best management practices.

 

Kimble has been using cover crops on his farm for the past seven years and has most recently joined the Soil Health Partnership, a project to make agriculture more productive and sustainable through improved soil health.

 

“ICGA appreciates Kirk Kimble for his dedication to preserving his land for the next generation and in helping neighbor farmers understand how they can best preserve their land,” said ICGA President Justin Durdan.  “Kirk is a trailblazer who is willing to try something new and to take the time to document his progress.  This is a tremendous inspiration to other farmers and helps us all get better.”

 

Among his work, Kimble switched one of his farms from many years of conventional tillage to cover crops and no-till practices.  With the Soil Health Partnership, he is now engaged in a study on this field.  He left one strip out of the cover crops and will now document differences in soil health and crop productivity with and without cover crops.

 

Kimble also hosts other farmers, researchers, and educators at his farm for field days to help others understand the impact of no-till and cover cropping systems on soil health.

 

“Thank you to Kirk for his extraordinary commitment to the environment and to soil health,” said Durdan.