Illinois Agricultural and Conservation Technical Specialist

Job purpose

The Illinois Agricultural and Conservation Technical Specialist position offers an exciting opportunity to support the strategic agenda of a growing, forward-looking conservation organization. S/he will have the opportunity to work across teams within AFT’s Midwest Region, as well as with external partners including farmers, landowners, and agricultural professionals. 

This is a permanent position that will support and build on AFT producer-led programs in the Midwest, especially in Southeast Illinois. The Illinois Agricultural and Conservation Technical Specialist will work with farmers, farmland owners, state and federal agencies, agricultural service providers, and conservation leaders to coordinate across diverse partners and programs. Several of the programs will directly support the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s (NRCS) Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). This is a remote work position based in Southeast Illinois and will report directly to the Midwest Senior Program Manager overseeing water quality initiatives.

 Position summary

The Illinois Agricultural and Conservation Technical Specialist will play an active role in supporting the development and execution of regional, farmer-led soil health and water quality programming in Southeast Illinois (within 100 miles of Effingham County). 

Duties and responsibilities

Technical Assistance

• Provide technical assistance in the form of conservation and agronomy expertise to farmers, landowners, farm advisors and partners in the adoption, implementation and management of conservation cropping systems practices, including necessary technical design standards for practice application. 
• Develop conservation practice recommendations and verify implementation according to NRCS standards and specifications.  
• Create technical documents for farmer-led watershed programs, including delivering presentations and summarizing research and data for reports, fact sheets, and other materials.
• Engage farmers and agricultural service providers to identify challenges, needs, and opportunities related to conservation practices to improve soil health and water quality.
• Gather field-based data, including soil health assessments, soil sampling, and forage or biomass sampling, as well as the organized management of field data.

Farmer Network Coordination

• Develop and launch farmer-led watershed programs in priority watersheds in Illinois by engaging with farmer leaders and program partners and sharing information with a diverse group of stakeholders across multiple formats, such as webinars, networking events, educational workshops, and field days.
• Support establishment of farmer-led watershed groups and ongoing efforts related to administrative needs, event planning, scheduling meetings, etc. 
• Work with local partners to ensure success of farmer-led watershed groups in increasing adoption of conservation practices that improve soil health and water quality. 

Internal and External Partner Engagement

• Plan, host, and represent AFT at public meetings, field days, and educational events in the region. 
• Participate in regular staff meetings and events, maintaining strong team culture among AFT staff.
• Help build positive relations with the team and external partners.

Fundraising and budget management 
This position does not have fundraising or budget management responsibilities.

Staff Supervision / Management 
This position does not have supervisory or management responsibilities but will occasionally oversee project tasks completed by other team members.

This is not necessarily an all-inclusive list of job-related responsibilities. Management reserves the right to revise the job or to require other or different duties be performed as assigned