PCM merges conservation with environmental, income outcomes

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — Precision Conservation Management, a program of Illinois Corn and the Illinois Soybean Association, recently released its annual “Business Case for Conservation” report.

The PCM program was created by farmers, for farmers, to assist in the evaluation of on-farm conservation decisions.

PCM’s objective is to work one-on-one with farmers to help them understand the costs and benefits of adopting new conservation practices.

By joining PCM, farmers agree to allow PCM to aggregate and anonymize their data in a way that demonstrates how conservation practices affect both environmental outcomes and farm incomes. PCM operates in strategic regions of Illinois, Kentucky and Nebraska.

The new report provides data highlights gleaned from Illinois farmers, but the results are relevant and useful for farmers across much of the Midwest to consider regarding nitrogen application, cover crop utilization and tillage management. It features a cost-benefit analysis for conservation practices.

Over 400 farmers enrolled in the PCM program in 2022. Of those, 193,090 acres had reduced tillage, 195,402 acres underwent nitrogen management, and there were 59,119 acres in cover crops.

The total impact of the efforts resulted in a loss reduction of 861,373 pounds of nitrate-N, a 134,806-pound reduction of phosphorous loss and a 196,723-ton reduction in sediment loss, according to the report.

Here are the report’s findings:

Tillage Data

Last year’s updated results demonstrated that one-pass light and two-pass light tillage are most profitable for both high soil productivity rating corn and soybean fields enrolled in PCM.

Light tillage is defined as tillage that leaves about 80% of the soil surface covered with crop residues and creates very little soil disturbance.

For both corn and soybeans, while the two-plus-pass tillage system produced high average yields, it does not result in corresponding high net return.

The fuel for the additional pass does not produce enough additional bushels of corn or soybeans to pay for itself. There is also increased labor costs and the negative impact on topsoil.

Greenhouse gas emissions numbers are also much higher with increased tillage passes, resulting not only in lower profitability, but also lower sustainability metrics, according to the findings.

Cover Crop Data

PCM farmers who begin using cover crops plant them again — 70% of PCM farmers used cover crops again on cornfields and 75% used them again on soybean fields.

Cover crops remain the best conservation practice to improve soil health and productivity, reduce soil and nutrient loss, and address climate change, the report stated.

Many farmers have also seen agronomic benefits related to weed control, water infiltration and drought tolerance. Still, there are clear risks to cover crop adoption, like management, labor, time and finances.

Cover crops do present a unique challenge. There are many combinations of planting and termination options and dozens of species and mixes to choose from.

The decision fatigue associated with identifying the right combination of the right soil type, region or management is very real, made more difficult by varying costs, the report continued. Yet, PCM farmers who began using cover crops plant them again.

“While our aggregated data has yet to demonstrated the profitability of cover crops, we’re confident that farmers who want to utilize them can do so without a net loss of income under the right circumstance, and PCM is identifying those opportunities,” the report stated.

In general, average corn yield is reduced by 5 to 7 bushels per acre and soybean yield is reduced by 1 to 2 bushels per acre following cover crops.

Reduced yields paired with increased costs inevitably result in reduced net profitability unless other financial incentives are factored in.

Nitrogen Data

The data indicates the most profitable nitrogen application rate range in 2022 was 151 to 175 pounds total N per acre — including nitrogen contained in MAP, DAP, or applied with herbicide.

The results once again demonstrated the value of the University of Illinois’ Maximum Return to Nitrogen tool for calculating nitrogen fertilizer application rates for corn.

Farmers applying over the MRTN rates are less profitable. The most profitable acres in the PCM dataset are utilizing pre-plant and side-dressed nitrogen applications at MRTN rates.

Most Profitable Fields

Half of the most profitable acres are implementing no-till practices ahead of soybeans or a light single tillage pass ahead of corn.

Strip tillage is being used more frequently — and more profitably — for corn production in recent years. In 2022, 33% of the most profitable PCM cornfields in Illinois were managed with strip-till.

The most profitable high SPR cornfields receive less than 1 pound of nitrogen per bushel.

Seventy percent of the most profitable high SPR cornfields receive most of their nitrogen in the spring, either pre-plant or side-dress or some of both.