WEBINAR: Farm Incomes and Environmental Outcomes: Understanding the Impact of Conservation Practices

During this ILSoyAdvisor Webinar, Laura Gentry, Ph.D., reviewed how using Precision Conservation Management (PCM) benefits farmers both financially and environmentally, including results using cover crops, tillage and conservation outcomes. The most recent aggregated data from 2015 to 2021 shares results from farmers who have used these practices. She also provided an objective analysis of how conservation practices impact farmers in the program and how farmers can make better conservation practices on the farm.

Presenter: Laura Gentry, Ph.D., PCM Co-Founder and Director of Water Quality Science at the Illinois Corn Growers Association

Download Gentry’s PowerPoint Presentation.

• Position farmers to benefit from conservation outcomes
  • In Illinois alone, PCM has around 400 farmers on about 400 acres
  • PCM operates in 10 counties in Kentucky and three counties in Nebraska
• Why PCM was created and what farmers receive from PCM
  • Help understand how conservation practices impact farm net returns
  • Farmers accept more risks and understand the tradeoffs
  • Address water quality concerns; prevent agricultural regulations
  • Position farmers to benefit from positive conservation outcomes
    • With recent carbon and ecosystem carbon markets, there is room for farmers to benefit from these new practices
    • PCM can help farmers to share the data with the markets they chose to participate in, which reduces data sharing time
    • PCM is trying to make sure farmers are the primary benefactors of ecosystem practices
  • Individual benefits for farmers
    • 1-on-1 technical support
    • Data collection platform
    • Individualized yearly RAAP report
      • Economic cost tables
      • Environmental assessments
      • Local practice comparisons
  • There is a $750 participant payment
  • Exclusive program offers
    • Cost share for cover crops, reduce tillage and other practice assistance
  • Networking and education opportunities
    • Quarterly events hosted by specialists
• Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy
  • Goal: 45% reduction in Total N and Total P Losses by 2035
  • Interim: 15% reduction in NO3-N and 25% Reduction in Total P by 2025
• PCM Grower Engagement
  • 9 regions and 8 specialists
  • Tremendous team with Illinois Corn Growers and Illinois Soybean Association with agronomic and program expertise
• PCM Partners
  • Over 30 partners that contribute and promote the program to provide information back to our farmers
• Practice Standards
  • PCM farmers use in-field management practices, such as:
    • Cover crops
    • Nitrogen management (for corn)
    • Tillage
• Cover crops overview
  • Demonstrates all the fields in the PCM program from 2015-2021
  • 85% do not have cover crops
  • 13% of fields are in an overwintering cover crop species
  • 62% of cover crops are grown ahead of soybeans
  • 38% growing cover crops ahead of corn
  • For cover crop fields
    • 91% are reduced till
      • No-till, strip-till, or one-pass light tillage benchmarks
    • 79% of the cover crop corn fields receive an in-season nitrogen application
  • For all corn fields with a cover crop, 70% of the fields have a cover crop the next year the fields are planted with corn
  • For all soybean fields with a cover crop, 75% have a cover crop the next year is planted with soybeans
• Cover Crops Before Soybeans
  • Total non-land costs for farmers who are growing no cover crops, overwintering, and winter terminal
    • No cover crop: $266
    • Over wintering: $290
    • Winter terminal: $276
  • Cover crop and seed planting
  • Overhead costs
  • Other power costs
  • Other direct costs
    • Fertilizers, pesticides, seed, drying, storage and transportation
  • If farmers want to be profitable, they need to get some cost-share assistance equivalent to value of lost share per acre
  • Soybean farmers are making less money per acre that are growing cover crops
  • Most of the farmers are new to cover crops and their fields are new to cover crops
    • Experience is an important piece of being successful with cover crops
    • The fourth growing season is more profitable than the first season
  • The most profitable farmers are making $25 more
• Tillage practices
  • Corn
    • Most frequently used tillage class is one-pass light
  • Soybean
    • Over half of soybean fields are produced with no tillage
  • The total direct costs are similar among classes
  • Critical to keep costs down but have a profitable field
  • All tillage classes are able to maximize profitability, but no-till is the most profitable
• Environmental Factors
  • Soil loss (tons/acre) by tillage class
    • Corn
      • No-till and strip-till combined account for half of the soil erosion in both classes
      • Two-plus passes have the most soil erosion
      • Use the integrated erosion tool
    • Soybean
      • No-till and strip-till are the most effective strategies
      • Those using two-plus pass till are losing $40-$45 per acre per year
  • GHG emissions (metric tons CO2e/acre) by tillage class
    • No-till is a strong net carbon sink
    • Reduced tillage strategy is close to neutral for greenhouse gas emissions
    • Two-plus pass is net carbon emitters
  • Soil loss (tons/acres) by cover crop class
    • Overwintering and winter terminal are most effective compared to not using cover crops
• PCM Impact, 2021
  • Conservation acres
    • 118,418 reduced tillage
    • 125,081 of in-season N fertilizer applied corn
  • Environmental outcomes
    • 578,550 lb NO3-N reductions
    • 84,040 P loss reductions
    • 124,875 tons sediment loss reductions