The Illinois Nutrient Research and Education Council provides funds to Illinois universities to perform soil nutrient management and research for agriculture.
During the SIU Ag Field Day last week, the Illinois Nutrient Research and Education Council saw the results of the soil and water quality research they funded at SIU Carbondale.
N-REC has funded over one million dollars in research projects at SIU in the last year.
One of those projects that’s on-going is on gypsum, a fertilizer that supplies calcium and sulfur to crops and improves soil to reduce water runoff.
Illinois N-REC Association Chairman Jeff Kirwan says the research they finance helps farmers and the environment.
“Three years ago, there was a lot of thought that gypsum was a product that needed to be looked at in Southern Illinois specifically and so we funded a project here I think 3 to 4 years ago in looking at gypsum and how to use that properly and that was something that actually was asked from the Southern Illinois farmers and it was something we were able to look at.”
N-REC receives seventy-five cents from every ton of fertilizer sold in the state to fund research.
