Behind the Scenes of PCM: Insights from a Northwest Region Specialist
January 22, 2025
Tara Desmond
Discover how Precision Conservation Management (PCM) is transforming farming through relationships, data, and support. In this video, Lou Liva, a Northwest Region Specialist, explains why PCM provides significant value to farmers. PCM has specialists across Illinois who visit farms to collect data, which is later anonymously benchmarked against other farms.
Learn how benchmarking reports can help you to make better decisions for your operations—not sure if you want to do it or not? First year is free and in fact, we give farmers a payment their first year for participating. Afraid of making changes on the farm? You are not required to make changes with this program - just collect and look at the data.

By Lindsay Croke
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June 30, 2025
When we think of Independence Day traditions, sweet corn on the cob is as iconic as fireworks and often even more central to the celebration. According to Instacart, purchases of sweet corn surge by 380% over the annual average heading into July 4th, outranking other grilling staples like baby back ribs and burgers. But corn's role in your Fourth of July celebration goes far beyond your plate. In Illinois alone, 8,300 acres of sweet corn are harvested annually, averaging 155 cwt per acre. That’s more than 128 million pounds of locally grown sweetness fueling summer cookouts across the state. And while sweet corn makes a big impression on the grill, most of Illinois’ corn crop isn’t sweet corn - it’s field corn. Less than 1% of the state’s crop is sweet corn, while the rest is used in products that are often invisible to consumers but vital to everyday life: fuel, packaging, fireworks, and even spirits.