By Caroline Wade, Executive Director, Saving Tomorrow’s Agriculture Resources (STAR)

Saving Tomorrow’s Agriculture Resources (STAR) is a national scale framework for conservation evaluation, implementation, and coordination that supports technical assistance providers and streamlines conservation progress for producers. It is available for cropland in Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Washington, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah and for grazing lands in Washington, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, and Missouri.

The NACD Technical Assistance (TA) Grants program, funded by NRCS, has played a role in building and expanding STAR across Illinois and Missouri as a tool to amplify and streamline existing conservation efforts and to initiate new programs for farmers. These grants have enabled local conservation districts to provide hands-on technical assistance, strengthen state partner collaboration, and deliver innovative tools that help farmers adopt conservation practices at scale.

Illinois STAR: Proven Impact Through TA Support

Illinois STAR began with its first NACD TA grant in 2019, which funded a Resource Conservationist (RC) position at the Champaign County Soil and Water Conservation District (CCSWCD). This RC provided education, hosted field days showcasing conservation practices, and worked one-on-one with farmers using the STAR Tool to start them on their conservation journey and to promote enrollment in NRCS programs like the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP). These efforts demonstrated STAR’s ability to streamline conservation planning and reduce workload pressures for conservation professionals.

Building on that foundation, subsequent NACD TA grants helped CCSWCD retain experienced staff, expand statewide leadership, and increase producer engagement and enrollment in conservation programs. The Assistant STAR Coordinator continued to support day-to-day operations, distribute STAR signs to participants, and mentor STAR Navigators across Illinois. STAR field signs have become a visible symbol of conservation success, increasing program recognition in farming communities. Illinois STAR also works with scientific researchers and data analysts to ensure the program is evidence-based and scientifically sound. This work produced program reports, strengthened STAR’s credibility, and informed improvements to the STAR Tool, including transitioning verification from spreadsheets to an integrated online system. This led to the establishment of an ongoing STAR Producer Reward Payment Program that provides per acre incentives to producers who increase their STAR scores or maintain a 5 STAR rating.

As a result of these investments, Illinois STAR has grown from 30 participating counties in 2019 to all 97 Soil and Water Conservation Districts in the state now serving as STAR Navigators. Currently, 512 producers have active accounts in Illinois on STARtool.ag with 1,500 fields totaling 74,538 acres and an average STAR rating of 3.58. The program is recognized as a trusted framework for conservation planning and farmer engagement and is being used by the Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA) to meet legislative conservation goals. In 2025, IDOA designated the STAR Tool as the required soil health assessment for all state-funded conservation practices. The STAR Tool now plays a central role in supporting key conservation programs across the state, including the Partners for Conservation (PFC) cost-share program, the Illinois Healthy Soils Initiative, and the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy. Recently IDOA announced that the PFC program, which requires use of the STAR Tool, will be used to administer $22.3 million dollars of cost share intended to promote the implementation of no-till and strip-till practices. This equates to about 600,000 acres of new cost-share money.

Missouri STAR: Building a Strong Foundation

In Missouri, the first NACD TA grant to support STAR was received last year by the Missouri Association of Soil & Water Conservation Districts (MASWCD). Grant funding enabled the hiring of a STAR Coordinator who has been critical in building local leadership and statewide coordination by sharing the value of the STAR tool for districts and producers. The grant supported development of the Missouri STAR field forms available on STARtool.ag where producers can complete a simple conservation evaluation and get a 1-5 STAR rating on their field. They are then guided to a local technical advisor and relevant financial and technical resources through a Conservation Innovation Plan (CIP) for the following crop year. The CIP provides a valuable launching point for conservation district staff to engage with producers on conservation efforts and interests, and to jump start the conversation about program enrollment, such as NRCS cost share or market incentives.

NACD TA grants have delivered measurable results, helping Illinois STAR grow into a statewide program that supports all districts and engages producers at scale and setting Missouri STAR on a path toward similar successes. These investments demonstrate the power of technical assistance to drive conservation innovation and impact. Learn more about becoming a STAR Navigator here.

Explore the possibilities of STAR in your state by hearing directly from Illinois and Washington STAR during their breakout session at the NACD 2026 Annual Meeting titled “State Agency Perspectives on Moving Soil Health Programs Forward With STAR”. This session takes place on Wednesday, February 18, 2026 at 2:45 p.m. CT.