What is the problem this research is tackling?
Despite the potential environmental benefits of various conservation practices, practice adoption rates remain low. The reasons for the low adoption rates remain unclear although contributing factors could be a lack of information or evidence about success rates for these practices.
Why this research is important
Precision Conservation Management (PCM), a conservation program of the Illinois Corn Growers Association (IL Corn) is a farmer-driven effort addressing natural resource concerns on a field-by-field basis. PCM identifies conservation practices that effectively address environmental issues in a financially-viable way. By joining PCM, farmers agree to allow IL Corn to collect and anonymize data in a way that demonstrates how conservation practices affect both farm income and local resource concerns.