Willard Mott

I am an agriculture professor at Illinois Valley Community College located in Oglesby, IL. I teach a variety of agricultural courses including Field Crop Science, Soil Science, Agricultural Economics, and Agricultural Business Management. Along with my teaching assignment I am also responsible for curriculum development. We have recently developed new curriculum in Agricultural Business Management and Agronomy. Before teaching at Illinois Valley Community College I was a high school agriculture teacher at Bureau Valley High School in Manlius, IL.

I am interested in continuing to develop sustainable agricultural practices which promote a healthy environment. Reducing agriculture’s impact on soil erosion, nutrient loss, and water pollution is an interest of mine. My wife and I own a highly erodible land (HEL) farm in northwestern Illinois. We wanted to be able to farm the land while keeping the soil and nutrients in place. We feel that native prairie strips are one way we can accomplish our goals.

As a part of my Master's degree at Iowa State University, I created an on-line training module on Using Native Prairie Strips to Improve Soil and Water Quality.