SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Eliot Clay, first-year executive director of the Association of Illinois Soil & Water Conservation Districts (AISWCD), was given the prestigious Woody Woodruff Award on Agriculture Day, August 8, at the Illinois State Fair (ISF). The award is named in memory of Robert “Woody” Woodruff, a beloved conservation leader, Macoupin County farmer, and Illinois Stewardship Alliance staff member. It recognizes a farmer who exemplifies Woody’s passion for soil, water, and community.

“Eliot Clay, this year’s Woody Woodruff Conservation Award recipient, is a true champion for conservation in Illinois,” according to Kris Reynolds, Midwest director for American Farmland Trust. “His dedication to agricultural stewardship and practical, commonsense policy embodies the very essence of this honor. Through his leadership, he has united partner organizations, farmers, and advocates in working toward a brighter future for Illinois farmers and the land they steward.”

Clay came to the AISWCD from the Illinois Environmental Council (IEC), where he led their policy agenda on agriculture, conservation and on how natural and working lands are utilized in Illinois. He led the IEC’s Land Use Programs and also served as director of the council’s State Programs and Agriculture & Water Programs. Clay also co-leads the Illinois Livestock Reform Coalition, and was appointed in 2024 to the state’s Good Food Purchasing Task Force by Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton.

Clay took over as AISWCD leader in January and inherits a reduced state budget for assisting farmers and landowners in a time of increased dust storms and other soil-related environmental challenges. The fiscal year 2026 budget signed by Gov. JB Pritzker in June allotted $7.5 million to the state’s SWCDs, a $1 million overall cut from the previous year’s funding, which had already been cut by $4 million. Of that $7.5 million, just $3 million will go to cost-share grants to farmers for the costs of implementing both state and federal conservation policies, such as cover crops. The remaining $4.5 million will go to administrative costs, Capitol News Illinois reported.

During the 2025 Ag Breakfast, Clay spoke to Farm World about how the AISWCD is adjusting to another year of budget reductions that place the annual funding for Illinois AISWCDs at 1990s levels. 

“SWCD funding has been fluctuating for years under multiple administrations,” said Clay, a Chatham, Ill., native who now resides in Auburn. “You can chalk it up to politics or whatever, but during the (former GOP Gov. Bruce) Rauner administration, they completely zeroed out SWCD funding in Illinois. Things have been dire before, but we were hoping we were going to get this number back up.”

Clay feels the decision by the Illinois General Assembly to reduce FY 2026 funding for SWCDs is a result of a lack of education and knowledge about the important role they play for not only farmers and rural landowners, but the general public. “The center of power in the (state) legislature right now is really in Chicago, and there are (lawmakers) there that don’t get exposed very often to the work that SWCDs are doing all over the state, including in Cook County,” he said. “Part of what I endeavor to do and make part of our game plan is to make sure the work our SWCDs do is tangible to people, and that they know what their existence (is for). If you ask the average legislator from the Chicago region, they’re probably not going to be able to give you an answer as to what a SWCD actually does. It is our responsibility to take this message to the general assembly and improve our message to communicate and show our worth.”

In addition to better educating upstate lawmakers, SWCDs must do a better job of informing the public as to why their tax dollars are well spent, according to Clay. “For instance, there was the big dust storm that hit central Illinois (in May) and it was purely because of favorable weather conditions and poor soil conditions; ground cover wasn’t there. SWCDs can help play a role in keeping that from happening again,” he said. 

Clay also pointed to a June drinking water alert for residents near Kankakee in southern Will County that was a result of an N spike in water sources due to farm field runoff. “We know for a fact that it was because of farm fertilizers, and we are starting to see the real consequences of not having these (soil conservation) measures in place,” he said. “Another example would be the recent (July) algae bloom that’s happening at Lake Mattoon; that lake for a number of days was restricted from entry and the algae got into their water supply. 

“City officials were warned years ago that they needed to get ahead of all of the nutrients going into their water supply, because eventually something like this was going to happen. The way to stem problems like these at the source is through conservation practices.”

Clay said he was “humbled” to accept the Woodruff Award, and mentioned a close family connection to the late conservationist. “Growing up with my dad teaching me to hurt morels and to turkey hunt, it was all on Woody’s property. Woody was somebody who was a part of my family growing up, and he taught me a lot. He practiced everything under the sun on his farm in terms of conservation and he was very inspiring; those years of my life were very formative to me and to get this award is a very big deal to me,” Clay explained.