We are recognizing a significant year for our team: several PCM staff members are marking career milestones in 2026, collectively representing decades of dedicated service to farmers!

Clay Bess is celebrating 10 years with PCM — a tenure that nearly spans PCM’s entire history. When Bess joined in 2015, he was the program’s first and only Conservation Specialist, serving Illinois farmers and delivering the first round of Resource Analysis and Assessment Plans (RAAP Reports), showcasing the value of PCM’s proprietary financial and economic data analysis.

Today, Bess serves as PCM’s Operations Manager and oversees a team of 16 PCM Conservation Specialists working across four states. Five of those specialists are marking five more more years of service this year: Alexa Skirmont (Northern Illinois), Andrea Kuehner (Southwest Illinois), Aidan Walton (North Central Illinois), Lou Liva (Northwest Illinois), and Chris Stewart (Western Kentucky). PCM Administrative Manager Debbie Malloch is also celebrating more than five years of supporting these specialists as they have worked to improve farmers’ bottom lines.

“Trust is a non-negotiable foundation when you’re working with farmers,” said Greg Goodwin, Director of Precision Conservation Management. “Farmers are careful about who they let into their operation and whose advice they act on. The relationships our staff have built over years doesn’t just make for a stronger team, it makes us more effective at helping farmers make decisions that benefit their bottom line. That kind of trust takes time, and I’m proud of the effort our staff has put into making it a priority.”

For the hundreds of farmers in PCM, staff tenure translates directly into better service. A specialist who has worked the same region for five years knows the local soil conditions, understands what’s realistic for operations in their counties, and has sat across the table enough to know what questions farmers are really asking — and which ones they haven’t raised yet. That depth of regional knowledge doesn’t appear in a brochure. It accumulates over time, one farm visit at a time.

PCM was founded in 2015 by IL Corn on the principle that conservation only works long-term when it is profitable for farmers. We provide enrolled farmers with free, one-on-one technical assistance from a regional specialist, an annual field-by-field financial and environmental analysis, and access to exclusive cost-share programs. Farm data is immediately anonymized and never shared without a farmer’s permission, and there is no requirement to change farming practices.

Interested in working with us? Learn more and enroll at https://precisionconservation.org/farmers/