Summer Meeting: Illinois Grazing Collaboration
On August 6, 2025, ILGLC hosted a quarterly “Illinois Grazing Collaboration” meeting with other industry organizations invested in furthering regenerative grazing in Illionis. This summer meeting brought together 16 attendees including staff from the Illinois Grazing Lands Coalition (ILGLC), Food Works of Southern Illinois, NRCS, University of Illinois Extension, and Illinois FarmLink. These meetings are designed to provide space for updates, strategic discussions, and cross-promotion among groups working to support livestock graziers across the state.
ILGLC President Cliff Schuette opened the meeting with a welcome and brief overview, followed by program updates from ILGLC staff:
Jacob Hamilton shared highlights from recent and upcoming Pasture Walks, which continue to serve as valuable free peer-to-peer learning opportunities on grazing infrastructure and livestock management.
Judy Bingman gave an update on The Grazing and Forage Hub, including an upcoming how-to video series and the new Grow & Graze webinar series, which launched in June and will continue quarterly with producer panels and practical grazing strategies.
Logan Karcher previewed ILGLC’s 2025 Grazing Schools, scheduled for September in both northern and southern Illinois, and shared a save-the-date for the 2026 Heart of America Grazing Conference.
Christian Lovell, ILGLC Executive Director, shared exciting updates for 2026 projects including:
A new NRCS training and mentoring program
A Youth Grazing Field Day and plans for more intentional knowledge transfer to young and beginning graziers
Plans for Advanced Grazier Workshops to support graziers who are ready to level up their systems
The meeting closed with an open discussion around upcoming events, challenges, and opportunities for collaboration among partners. Attendees shared resources, brainstormed ways to amplify grazing-related education efforts, and discussed next steps for collective impact.
If your organizations would like to be included in future Illinois Grazing Collaboration calls, please reach out to rosalie@ilgrazinglands.org. The next meeting is tentatively scheduled for November 5th, 2025.