- [Narrator] This program is made possible in part by the Backlund Charitable Trust established to educate and create awareness of environmental issues.

- Welcome to our spring edition of EcoWatch on WTVP.

I'm Mark Welp.

This program is dedicated to bringing you the latest environmental stories impacting our area and the state of Illinois.

We're going to introduce you to people finding unique ways to make the land of Lincoln a better place for mankind and animals by protecting plants, water, soil, and crops.

Let's get started.

(cheerful music) (cheerful music continues) On our spring show, we'll show you how Illinois farmers are helping make the skies cleaner by contributing to alternative jet fuel.

Plus, we'll show you how fluddles are key to area wetlands preservation, and we'll get you prepared for the cicada invasion.

But first, Heartland Community College in Normal recently unveiled the future of learning, the new $23 million ag complex.

The nearly 30,000 square foot facility and growing labs will support the next generation of central Illinois ag students and teach them how to farm responsibly.

The future of farming is banking on traditional techniques along with new technology and protecting the environment at Heartland Community College.

- Conservation is a huge aspect of what we're always trying to do over here.

- [Mark] AG program coordinator, Miranda Buss, says from farming basics like plant science, soil analysis, and heavy equipment to more high tech supplements like drone and precision planting technologym the new Ag complex is a place where students can learn it all, and so far they seem impressed.

- Just kind of jaw dropping.

A lot of them came up to me and said, "I was expecting it to be nice.

I wasn't expecting it to be this nice and this oriented to us."

- [Mark] The McLean County Farm Bureau is supporting the project.

Manager Mike Swartz says there are 3,400 farmers in the county, but only half are full-time.

The number of farmers is expected to decrease, making it even more important to get young people in the business and to protect farmland.

- Farmers have always been the initial conservationists.

They've been there because the soil health, its productivity is their livelihood.

So if they don't care for it, it becomes depleted and therefore their crops continue to decrease in the quality and they don't receive the profitability that they hope for.

So it's in their interest in teaching the next generation of agriculturalists and ag professionals more about the soil.

- [Mark] Regenerative agriculture is using sustainability practices to keep soil and water in good shape for future generations.

And it's an important part of Heartland's curriculum.

- You know, maybe they have strips of crops instead of all to be in one field.

And then in that strip, they might put livestock like chickens or sheep or whatever in kind of like a traveling pen.

Then the next year, that's where the crop goes and then where it wasn't was where the animals went.

Okay, well the animals provided fertilizer.

They eat whatever kind of weeds are there to help control things.

They also can help a little bit with actually some of the tillage 'cause they're rooting around doing things.

And so it's like, how can we use all these things to our advantage?

How do we reduce waste?

How do we recoup different types of things to protect the soil?

So it's like, okay, how do we use cover crops?

So this way our soil's not bare in the wintertime, it's not blowing away.

It puts nutrients back in the soil.

It also helps keep some of those nutrients there.

We're learning about buffer strips or when is the right time to apply a herbicide or is there a better way of doing it?

Is the past always the right way?

Maybe not, maybe it's some new technology.

- [Mark] That new technology is what precision agriculture is all about.

- [Miranda] We're learning a lot about sensors and drones.

How can we use drones for scouting fields?

How do we make prescription maps so we can have less fertilizer?

So not only for a cost part, but for environmental reasons, right?

We don't want to have extra nutrients in the water.

That's never a goal.

- [Mark] The new facility brings classrooms, labs, and meeting spaces together under one roof.

There are equipment simulators and also dozens of acres of farmland right outside for hands-on learning.

Student Lauren Monk says her favorite part is the new greenhouse.

- There's three different sections with, and you can climate control each section and keep different crops and plants in each different one depending on what they need.

- Heartland offers degree programs including associate in science, associate in arts, associate in applied science, as well as certifications in agriculture business, agronomy, precision agriculture, regenerative agriculture, and cannabis cultivation.

SAF, those initials stand for sustainable aviation fuel.

The alternative fuel is made from non petroleum feedstocks, the largest being corn.

Think of it as ethanol for airplanes, and that could be good news for Illinois corn growers as they fly into the future.

In 2021, the Biden administration introduced the SAF or SAF Grand Challenge with a goal of putting the aviation sector on a path to full decarbonization and 100% SAF usage by 2050.

The International Air Transport Association representing 320 airlines is on board, but right now there isn't enough SAF production and it's more expensive than jet fuel.

However, SAF is the direction biomass producers and the aviation industry are headed towards.

- One of those big trends that is going on is this idea of reducing carbon intensity in our fuels.

And in so doing, you can create new fuels, new opportunities, one being sustainable aviation fuel or other types of fuels that can access certain markets like a low carbon fuel standard or other places around the world.

- [Mark] Brad Stotler with the Illinois Corn Growers Association says farmers growing biomass crops for SAF production can help themselves and the environment.

- There are a lot of exciting things in this space, trying to reduce carbon intensity out of our transportation fuels, trying to promote on-farm practices that are reducing the carbon intensity of the way they grow their products as well, whether it's cover cropping, nutrient management, strip-till, there's a lot of new things that are happening in that space that are positive for the environment and positive for growers as well.

- [Mark] In 2023, Governor Pritzker signed a bill creating a $1.50 per gallon SAF tax credit to support the supply and use of SAF in Illinois.

Recently, the governor spoke at the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Conference.

He says the state is ready and able to embrace SAF production.

- We have everything that people are looking for as you're building this industry.

Illinois is home to a skilled biofuels workforce with 69,000 people employed in advanced biofuel manufacturing occupations.

And that's only set to increase from here.

From production and refining to retail, everything you need is here.

We are the nation's number one producer of soybeans.

Number two producer of corn.

We're responsible for 90% of the US oil seed production, which leaves us with a wealth of feedstock supply.

- With the government's push for electric cars, the need for ethanol could diminish, but some biomass producers believe the growing demand for SAF could offset that.

With other corn producing states jumping on the SAF initiative, Illinois farmers will have competition for the next big corn product.

You may be asking yourself, how is the demand for crops to make biofuels going to affect our food supply?

Well, besides growing and using a lot more cash crops like corn and soybeans, there's an alternative crop that can benefit the environment and contribute to biofuels.

The National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research in Peoria, better known as the USDA Ag Lab, is famous for helping in the mass production of penicillin.

But there's been a lot more research happening here since the 1940s.

This is pennycress, a weed from the mustard family.

It doesn't taste great or look special, but it has many benefits including oil-rich seeds that can be used for sustainable aviation fuel.

Dr. Roque Evangelista is a research chemist for the Agricultural Research Service, the USDA's in-house research agency.

He says biofuels made from pennycress and other crops work with existing engines and fuel systems, so no conversions need to be made.

- It behaves just like your petroleum fuels and that would be more acceptable for like adjacent purposes, like jet fuel.

And you can also make green diesel, which different from biodiesel with also a drop in fuel.

- [Mark] Researchers say planting pennycress as a cover crop outside of the growing season can also benefit farmland.

That's because cover crops can prevent erosion during the winter and prevent nutrients from running off into the water.

- [Roque] The carbon capture that you get out of it, you are putting the carbon back in the soil or capturing the carbon from the air, and that helps our climate, our issue with climate change.

But for that to happen, we need a lot of it.

It's not just a a few acres herea few acres there.

It has to happen like in a big scale.

- [Mark] Locally, the USDA, Western Illinois University, and Illinois State University are working to optimize off season pennycress oil seed production.

There are other plants that could be used for cover crop slash biofuel, but for the Midwest, pennycress has a high tolerance for cold weather and has a short lifecycle.

While researchers and farmers learn the best ways to grow and utilize pennycress, there are engines in all types of machines and vehicles ready for the biomass fuel.

- [Roque] Anything that you can use that's not petroleum based is actually good.

I mean, we don't have a finite supply of crude oil.

Eventually, we'll run out of it.

So there should be another way of getting our fuels if we don't have these petroleum based oils anymore.

- You can learn a lot more about pennycress production and tour the plots at Western Illinois University.

Pennycress Field Day is Thursday, May 23rd from 10 to noon at the University Farm Alt Crops building in Macomb.

It's free and no registration is required.

Researchers and industry representatives will be there to answer your questions.

You can learn how to become a conservationist without leaving your house.

The University of Illinois extension horticulture team has a website that can teach you how to be a pollinator professional.

Illinoispollinators.org is raising awareness about the importance of pollinators and equipping users with the knowledge and tools to make a difference in pollinator population support.

By providing user-friendly tools and evidence-based information, the new website empowers people to become active participants in pollinator conservation.

You can learn why bees, wasps, butterflies, and other insects are so important for life as we know it.

The habitat design page and plant selection tool helps you create pollinator friendly habitats in your own backyard.

Again, that website is Illinoispollinators.org.

Flooding is something most people dread, but for certain wildlife in our area, flooding is a good thing.

This is a story about how the government, farmers, and other landowners are working together to preserve fluddles.

There could soon be a new word in your dictionary.

Unless you're a bird watcher, farmer or conservationist, the term fluddle may befuddle you.

- It's kind of the hot buzzword going around the state right now.

A fluddle is essentially a shallow seasonal wetland, which are great for ducks and geese and a lot of other wildlife that needs shallow water.

- [Mark] Fluddles are the topic of a 2023 film by Illinois journalist and documentary maker Bob Dolgan.

He travels throughout the state, including central Illinois, talking with conservationists, landowners and bird lovers.

He says fluddles showcases the movement underway to construct more wetlands, which provide critical habitat, reduce flooding and erosion, and help to ensure healthier waterways.

Jason Bleich from the US Fish and Wildlife Service is featured in the film.

He talks with landowners in Illinois about the importance of fluddles.

- Fluddles, you know, also known as wetlands.

A lot of people refer to them as earth's kidneys.

So basically like when you get the rainfall and before it gets into the creeks and rivers, it sits in these fluddle areas and basically the water is able to get filtered out and cleaned before it enters all the rivers and the creeks, which end up going towards drinking water.

And then on top of that, these fluddles also slow down flooding because of the water storage involved.

So, you know, every year you hear about all the floods that are happening along the Illinois River and the Mississippi River.

The more these floods that we can restore on the landscape, the more that we're gonna help prevent some of the flooding in the future.

- [Mark] Fluddles can range in size from a quarter of an acre to 50 acres.

The prairie potholes are usually dry in the summer, but are full the other three seasons.

That's when they're used by migrating waterfowl like ducks and geese.

- [Jason] Shorebirds are another big one, especially this time of year.

You'll see these flocks, so little birds kind of buzzing around the landscape on their way back up to Canada and the Arctic Circle, and they'll be bouncing around using these fluddle areas.

Sandhill cranes are another one.

We've even had whooping cranes on a few of the projects.

So it pretty much any sort of wildlife and especially, you know, waterbirds that need water, they'll use these areas.

- [Mark] From pre-settlement to present day, Illinois has lost 90% of its wetlands.

That's why the state and organizations like The Nature Conservancy, The Wetlands Initiative, Ducks Unlimited and more are working to preserve fluddles and many farmers and landowners are buying in.

- Either we can still continue to dump all of our seed and fertilizer costs into these wet holes that essentially don't produce anything and are just costing you money.

So what we're doing is actually taking that marginal ground and repurposing it for one, wildlife, but two, ultimately our fresh water.

- They hammered a lot into my brain at the U of I from the Ag Economics Department, and I looked at the bottom line to start with.

If that looked good, then I could say, boy, that's gonna work well and look at the habitat I'm gonna have.

- If you want to find out more about the film "Fluddles," you can go to turnstoneimpact.com/floods.

(soft music) We want to keep you updated on what our state politicians are doing to help protect the environment.

I recently talked with state Senator Dave Koehler about two bills that he would like to see become law.

Senator, tell us a little bit about your bill that would require certain businesses to develop a recycling program.

- Well, we've got a bill, which is gonna require businesses to recycle batteries.

We're talking about batteries that you use in your toys or your flashlight or whatever.

So household batteries really have valuable materials in them, so we shouldn't be throwing 'em just away.

Plus they can also catch on fire and if they're not stored right, they can be a hazard.

So this bill really requires the manufacturer of the batteries to be able to put together a program and to pay for it that would really promote recycling.

And so there's some timelines and I think the first one is July of 26th, where it's gonna be illegal for anybody to knowingly throw a battery in the garbage.

You know, we'll try to set it up so that retailers can have recycling places.

There'll be so many recycling places throughout the state, which we'll help to coordinate that through the counties.

But everybody should have a place where they can easily dispose of their household batteries.

That's the goal of this.

- And I guess it's a big matter of too, getting people to get into that mindset that, oh yeah, we can't just toss 'em in the garbage.

We need to take them to a certain spot.

- You'd think we'd know by now because my kids, now my grandkids are all saying grandpa, you gotta recycle.

Well, I know I have to recycle.

And so we need to make it so that it's on the mind of everybody, that it's easy.

You know, a story, a personal story.

A couple of years ago, I took, I would save my battery's just in a plastic bag and I'd take them to a local store where I bought the batteries and deposit them.

Well, all of a sudden I went back and they didn't have this anymore.

And I said, "What's going on?"

They said, "Well, we recycle bigger batteries," or whatever for their garden equipment and that.

Well, that's kind of an inconvenience.

So what do I do with it?

I throw 'em away.

You know, we can't do that anymore.

These kind of materials that are used in batteries are valuable.

We can recycle those, we can reuse those.

Everything we have that we can recycle, we should recycle.

- Okay, another big bill, this one you might have a little tougher time getting through to your fellow colleagues.

This is a bill to reduce carbon emissions in Illinois.

Tell us about that.

- Right.

Yeah, really, that's the goal right there, is we have to reduce carbon emissions in our atmosphere.

It's called the low carbon fuel standard.

We call it the Clean Transportation Standard.

And basically it sets up a mechanism by which we can reward people that do the right kind of things.

So if you're involved in some sustainable activity, say you're a farmer and you're producing feedstock that goes into sustainable aviation fuel or renewable diesel, and you do something that is basically good for the environment and helps to lower the carbon score, the key there is carbon intensity.

Your CI score is everything.

It means that you're lowering your carbon releases into the atmosphere and you'll get a credit for that.

Now, the folks that have to pay for the credits is the fossil fuel industry and those that are polluting.

But we're trying to set this system up in a way that is an economic framework that, that rewards people for the right kind of behavior.

I think this will be a big boost for agriculture.

We've tried to gear this around agriculture, but it doesn't, it's not just in terms of SAF, which is sustainable aviation fuel, or renewable diesel.

It's also electrification.

Rivian is very much behind this bill.

So anything that we can do as a society to help lower our carbon intensity in the atmosphere, the better it's gonna be.

And all you have to do is watch the weather report to see what has happened because of too much carbon in the atmosphere.

We've created, you know, climate change.

And we've got to begin to reverse that.

- Who, besides the oil and gas industry folks, do you think would be against this?

What are their arguments?

- Well, there's an argument, and we went to committee with this.

There's an argument from the trucking industry that says we're gonna raise the price of gasoline because the fossil fuel industry has to pay for it.

The studies we have seen out of California and out of the states that do this, there's a lot of reasons why gas prices may go up.

This is the least of 'em, so it's really not true.

I mean, it's kind of a scare tactic to try to get people off track.

This has got to be something we do for the environment and it's something we do for our economy.

What we're saying in the bill too is that this has to be a US based feedstock.

So if we're using soybeans or corn or whatever to make sustainable fuels, you know, renewable plant-based fuels, then we shouldn't be importing that from Brazil or from other places.

We should do that right here.

Illinois leads the nation in terms of corn and soybeans, and a lot of that's for food production.

We understand that.

But the big change is gonna be sustainable aviation fuel because the airline industry knows that they have a certain amount of time where they have to begin to convert air travel in the United States to be in compliance with our carbon goals in the atmosphere.

People say, well, airplanes may go electric.

They may go electric.

Probably not in my lifetime, but we need to make steps.

You know, we're in a transition period right now, and so let's do everything we can to help reduce the carbon impact of our atmosphere.

- Earlier in the show, we had a story on sustainable aviation fuel and how that could technically be a big boon for Illinois farmers.

And that's the way the industry's going.

I know Southwest Airlines has already purchased a plant to work on these issues.

- Yes.

- Talking a little bit about the states that have implemented a bill like this, California, Oregon, Washington, have you seen any kind of results from them that make you think it work right here?

- Yeah, it does work.

Yeah, it does work.

I'll tell you a story that really, I thought was pretty significant because plant-based fuels are a lot less polluting in terms of what they produce.

There's a commuter airline or commuter railroad in Los Angeles that has converted completely to renewable diesel.

And in the communities where they travel, and a lot of 'em are environmental justice communities, they're poor communities that people that live in these communities have had asthma, they've had all kinds of problems, health problems.

It has substantially reduced the air quality, I mean, the air pollutants and increased the air quality, so that asthma is not as big a problem in those areas.

That's what we have to remember is that by shifting our focus and beginning to do things in the right way, we can lessen that and still provide a healthier environment.

- Well, Senator Koehler, we appreciate you updating us on what you're trying to do to help the environment.

And we will keep folks informed as these bills progress.

Thank you very much.

- Thank you, Mark.

- Have you seen them?

If not, you will.

I'm talking about trillions of cicadas, those noisy big-eyed winged insects that emerge from underground.

Patty Wetli from our Chicago PBS station explains why 2024 is a special year for the invading insects.

(upbeat music) - [Patty] It's time to stack up on earplugs, folks, because things are about to get loud.

In case you hadn't heard, the cicadas are coming.

We said the cicadas are coming!

Now, maybe you're wondering what's the big deal?

We get cicadas every year.

It's true that annual cicadas, also known as dog day cicadas turn up every July or August just to remind us that summer's almost over.

But there's another kind of cicada called periodical cicadas.

They're more like reclusive rock stars.

They disappear underground for years, living off of tree roots, and then emerge topside to loads of media hype.

They even have the bloodshot eyes to complete the look.

These periodical cicadas are grouped into 15 different broods scattered across the eastern US.

Each brood has a different alarm clock of sorts set on either a 13 year or 17 year cycle.

When the alarm goes off, the entire brood busts out of hiding so they can hurry up and mate and die.

So what's the buzz in 2024?

This spring, two different brood in Illinois are getting their wake up call at the same time.

A 13 year brood in southern Illinois and a 17 year brood in northern Illinois will make their first joint appearance in more than 200 years.

The last time this happened, Illinois wasn't even a state.

Before you picture skies darkened with trillions of insects, don't worry, the broods don't really overlap geographically.

In places where the ground has been disturbed a lot over the years like Chicago will miss out on most of the fun.

And by fun, we mean lawns and trees blanketed with cicadas screaming at the tops of their lungs.

Actually, all that noise comes from male cicadas doing a serious core workout.

They have a special body part that they vibrate by contracting tiny muscles hundreds of times a second.

Then they use their abdomen like an amp, cranking up the sound to lawnmower levels on the decibel chart.

Believe it or not, this ear splitting racket is the fella's mating song, and lady cicadas dig it.

One thing leads to another and the next thing you know, a new generation of baby cicadas hatches, burrows underground, and the whole cycle starts all over again.

See you in 2041.

(upbeat music) - We recently spoke to a professor of anthropology at Illinois State University.

Now, she's not an entomologist, but she does eat insects and studies people who do the same.

She says there are more than 2,000 different species that are edible and some two billion people around the world that regularly consume insects.

Here's what she has to say about those cicadas.

(cicadas hissing) When you see cicadas, your first thought may be to run or get the pesticide, but when you get past their looks, cicadas are pretty harmless and actually very nutritious.

They're packed with protein, plus they're low fat, low carb and gluten-free.

- Don't kill the cicadas, enjoy them, and try to appreciate this great, you know, wonderful mystery that's gonna unfold right before our eyes.

And yeah, and if you have a friend who wants to try some, you know, I would suggest getting the young ones or maybe taking off the wings and the legs and then treat it like you would any other raw meat, you know, keep it refrigerated.

Cook it well and try it.

(spoon clanging) (person chewing) - [Mark] Gina Hunter says right now, eating insects in America is a novelty, but the demand for insect protein is growing around the world.

The insect protein market is expected to reach $3.3 billion by 2027.

If more people replace beef with insects, that could have an effect on the planet.

- A lot of people have made the argument that eating insects is not only nutritious, but also very sustainable and an important part of eating sustainably.

And that because insects require far less land, water, feed, you know, so that we can raise many more of them then and with less ecological footprint than say, especially beef, but even pork and other things that this is maybe a food of the future and a sustainable way to eat.

(cicadas hissing) - Now, if you're allergic to shrimp or lobster, you should not eat cicadas because they are related to the same family.

Thanks for joining us for this episode of EcoWatch.

If you'd like to watch again or share with a friend, just look for us at wtvp.org.

I'm Mark Welp, see you again soon.

(cheerful music) (cheerful music continues) - [Narrator] This program is made possible in part by the Backlund Charitable Trust established to educate and create awareness of environmental issues.