Illinois corn farmers should now have a copy of The Business Case for Conservation, Cost-Benefit Analysis of Conservation Practices, which spell out the results of four years of on-farm research from Precision Conservation Management (PCM).

The results offered important management practice changes for farmers to consider and integrated profitability impacts into the suggestions.

As an example, the PCM nitrogen fertilizer management analysis shows that corn fields receiving more than 40% of the total nitrogen application in the fall produced lower corn yields, higher nitrogen fertilizer application rates, and higher total non-land than most in-season nitrogen fertilizer application systems, resulting in reduced operator net financial return.

Certainly each individual farm in different regions and of different soil types will vary.  In fact, the booklet mentions, "Farmers operate within the confines of the market system and while there are opportunities to reduce our impact on the environment, each farmer must carefully weigh how those decisions impacts them and their family’s financial future."

You won't want to miss reviewing these research outcomes and considering them for your farm.  

SEE THE PCM RESEARCH SUMMARY HERE

The Illinois Corn Growers Association launched a farmer service program, Precision Conservation Management, in 2016 in response to the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy.  The objective of PCM is to work one-on-one with farmers to help them understand the costs and benefits of adopting new conservation practices.  In joining PCM, farmers agree to allow the IL Corn Growers to aggregate and anonymize their data in a way that demonstrates how conservation practices affect both society and farm income.