A new study from the Illinois Department of Agriculture indicates the state's farmers increasingly are using tillage practices that protect the environment.

According to the 2009 Illinois Soil Erosion and Crop Tillage Transect Survey, nearly half (49.9 percent) of the state's cropland was farmed with a conservation tillage system this year, the highest percentage since the department began tracking use of crop tillage systems in 1994.

"Conservation tillage is good for the environment because it prevents soil erosion and improves water quality," Agriculture Director Tom Jennings said. "It also is good for farmers because it preserves fertile farmland and ensures our agricultural production is sustainable for generations to come."

In the 16 years since the first survey, the utilization of conservation tillage practices, or production methods that leave at least 30 percent of the prior year's crop residue on the ground after planting, has increased from 32 percent to 49 percent of farm fields.

During the same span, there has been a corresponding decrease in the use of conventional tillage methods that leave little residue on the soil surface. In addition, 85 percent of farmland was below "T," which is the amount of soil that can be replaced naturally by the decomposition of crop residue.

No-till farming still is the conservation practice of choice among Illinois farmers, but the survey found a significant increase this year in the use of mulch-till systems.

"The number of no-till acres actually declined, probably because this spring was so wet," land and water resources specialist Alan Gulso said. "In an attempt to dry out their saturated fields and get a crop planted, conservation-minded farmers decided they had to till some of their land and opted to switch to mulch-till."

Pork sales

The National Pork Producers Council hailed plans by China to lift its ban on U.S. pork imports.

The Asian nation implemented the ban on U.S. pork in late April in the wake of an outbreak in humans of novel H1N1 influenza.

"This is good news for U.S. pork producers, who have been suffering through an economic crisis for the past two years," NPPC President Don Butler said. "China is, by far, the largest potential money-making opportunity for the U.S. pork industry."

The U.S. pork industry shipped nearly 400,000 metric tons of pork worth nearly $690 million to China in 2008, making it the No. 3 destination for U.S. pork. This year, due mostly to the H1N1-related ban, U.S. pork exports to China through August were down by 50 percent over the same period last year.

"A Chinese market reasonably open to U.S. pork would single-handedly put a huge dent in the U.S.-China trade imbalance," Butler said.

Compiled by Herald-Whig Staff Writer Deborah Gertz Husar.