Stauffer Stewardship Award presented to Whalen Farms

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — The Illinois Corn Growers Association and Precision Conservation Management presented the 2026 Randy Stauffer Stewardship Award to Whalen Farms.

This award honors PCM farmers who exemplify the spirit of land stewardship and conservation leadership modeled by the late Randy Stauffer.

Jay Whalen farms alongside his sister, Melissa Whalen Smith, in Livingston and La Salle counties. Their operation utilizes no-till, strip-till and diverse cover crops across nearly every acre, demonstrating a long-standing commitment to soil health and sustainability.

“Jay and Melissa are doing all the right things,” said Aidan Walton, PCM specialist for north-central Illinois, who nominated the Whalen family for the honor.

“They have transformed the health of their soils over the years to now needing little to no phosphorus and potassium fertilizer. Their nitrogen rates are at or below Maximum Return to Nitrogen recommendations, and their nitrogen use efficiencies are among the best of all my cooperators — all while maintaining profitability.”

The Whalen family has been working with PCM since 2023, using their annual data analysis to measure both environmental and financial outcomes.

They take their stewardship a step further by sharing these reports with landlords, providing transparency about the economic and environmental performance of each field.

Beyond the farm, Jay is well-known throughout his community and can often be found at local events sharing his experiences with cover crops, soil health testing and nutrient management strategies to help other farmers learn from his success.

The Randy Stauffer Stewardship Award was presented to Whalen Farms at ICGA’s annual meeting on Nov. 25. Randy’s work and expertise were foundational to the development of PCM, demonstrating his commitment to supporting farmers as they consider new conservation practices.

Stauffer was a constant supporter of PCM and ICGA and was often the voice of Midwest farmers at national and international events explaining why we must all work with farmers if we want to make lasting changes that improve water quality and soil health. He was a calm and steady presence wherever he went, leading with humility, humor and kindness.

The Whalens’ leadership and willingness to share information with others embodies the same passion for conservation and farmer collaboration that Stauffer championed.

“When the PCM program came about, it was part of what we were already doing. It was a natural,” Melissa said of their decision to be PCM participants.

PCM Benefits

“One of the benefits with PCM is we get all of our data back, and we get compared to our territory and region and then to the whole state,” Jay noted.

“I take the information that they have and I use it along with my soil tests and everything to make all of my decisions on the farm. I use their data all the time for seed selection, what cover crops to use, fertilizers and all of that. I really use it for making every decision on our farm anymore.”

“We’re 50-50 with our landowners, so it’s also important to be able to show them the data. That’s another benefit for our landowners and sharing that data with them so that they are onboard with what we are trying to do, too,” Melissa said.

Also attending the awards presentation were Jay and Melissa’s father, John Whalen; Jay’s wife, Amber; and Melissa’s daughter, Eliza.

“It’s a family farm, so everybody’s involved,” Melissa said.

The family plants their cash crops in standing green cover crops each spring. One of the benefits of cover crops includes their ability to hold water in the soil profile.

They were asked if they saw those benefits during the extended dry spell this past summer.

“Yes, the moisture-holding capabilities of the soil when you start changing the soil texture and building that soil tilth, it just makes that soil more like a sponge. We were able to hold the moisture a whole lot longer through the year,” Jay said.

“We were real close to record yields this year across our corn and soybeans just because of using the cover crops and having that soil tilth and that soil structure there.”

“And the cover crop roots go down farther and break up the soil compaction and everything else. So, we have that root depth,” Melissa added.