Precision Conservation Management (PCM) has partnered with PepsiCo to increase conservation acres in Illinois through a new initiative that will run through 2030. The partnership will allocate some of the $216 million announced by PepsiCo in late March to Illinois farmers willing to plant cover crops, reduce tillage, or apply nitrogen according to the Maximum Return to Nitrogen rate. PCM will be focusing on three priority conservation practices in this partnership - planting cover crops, reducing tillage, and changing nitrogen application rates and timing.

In 2022, the partnership allowed PCM to support the use of conservation practices on over 150,000 acres throughout PCM regions in Illinois and Nebraska. The initiative aims to help farmers minimize risk when experimenting with new practices to protect the family farm and to help reduce carbon emissions to achieve PepsiCo's promise to decrease greenhouse gas emissions.

PCM's conservation program, which is supported by the Illinois Corn and Illinois Soybean Association, seeks to increase conservation practice adoption in select counties in Illinois, Kentucky, and Nebraska while maximizing farmer profitability. The partnership with PepsiCo is a significant step towards achieving these goals and will help farmers offset the cost of implementing new or continuing existing conservation practices on their farms.