Off-Season 'Cover' Crops Expand as U.S. Growers Eye Low-Carbon Future

January 04, 2022

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by Karl Plume (Reuters) ... The purpose of cover crops is to restore soil, reduce erosion and to pull climate-warming carbon from the atmosphere through photosynthesis. The carbon trapped in roots and other plant matter left in the soil is measured to create carbon credits that companies can use to offset other pollution.

The practice shows how the agriculture industry is adapting as a result of climate change. Farmers no longer make money merely by selling crops for food and livestock feed - they may also be paid for the role crops can play in limiting planet-warming emissions.

More and more U.S. farmers are planting cover crops, from grasses like rye and oats to legumes and radishes. While some are converted into biofuels or fed to cattle, most are not harvested because their value is greater if they break down in the soil.

Cover crops are a pillar of regenerative agriculture, and they are generally seen by environmentalists as an improvement over traditional agriculture. It is an approach to farming that aims to restore soil health and curb emissions through crop rotation, livestock grazing, cutting chemical inputs and other practices.

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Companies including Bayer, Land O'Lakes (LNDLK.UL) and Cargill Inc (CARG.UL) have launched carbon farming programs over the past two years that pay growers for capturing carbon by planting cover crops and reducing soil tillage.

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Federal conservation programs have for years paid farmers to set aside environmentally sensitive lands such as flood plains or wildlife habitat, and the Biden administration plans to expand those programs. President Joe Biden's Build Back Better legislation targeted some $28 billion for conservation programs, including up to $5 billion in payments to farmers and landowners for planting cover crops, though the bill's fate remains unclear.

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Program payments rarely cover the cost of seeds and labor.

"You've got to want to do it," said McCormick, who has increased his cover crop acres more than tenfold over the past six years and received his first payment from Bayer this autumn.

"If somebody wants to hand me a couple of bucks an acre for something I'm doing, I'll take it. But I wouldn't do it just for the incentive. I don't think the incentives are great enough," he said, adding that his main motivation is the role played by cover crops in improving soil and making his farm more drought tolerant.

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Cover crop seed shortages are also likely.

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Environmentalists say cover crop planting is still an improvement on traditional agriculture, which normally leaves fields fallow for half the year and foregoes an enormous amount of plants' carbon-capture potential. READ MORE

Stinkweed to false flax: oilseeds race to reap biofuel bonanza (Reuters)

U.S. seeks to conserve more farmland as crop prices climb (Reuters)

The Movement Starts With “Farming Weird” And Is Accelerated By Our Community (Trust in Food)

What’s on Your Back 40? Experimenting with new regenerative practices is key to creating a resilient farming operation. (Trust in Food; includes VIDEO)

Q&A with Rob Myers of the Center of Regenerative Agriculture (AgWeb)

Do Cover Crops Pay? Evaluate Your ROI in These Two Ways (AgWeb)

No-Till Farming Improves Soil Health and Mitigates Climate Change: Agriculture and Climate Series (Environmental and Energy Study Institute)

Real-World Cover Crop Decisions (AgWeb)

Excerpt from Trust in Food: I’d like to spotlight, thanks in part due to some great threads on social media, the role of community perception on adoption – or reluctance – of regenerative agriculture practices.

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There has been a lot written and studied about ‘early adopters’ and the risks they have taken but the part rarely discussed is the reality of community perception. This is especially true when things go wrong or are perceived by crop appearance to have gone wrong during the daily neighborhood windshield tours. Rightfully so, there has been a significant investment made by the public and private sector that shares a desire to accelerate regenerative ag practice adoption to primarily offer increased financial incentives. However, it is nearly impossible to de-risk a farmer’s social capital and potential downside of being the laughingstock. Perhaps this is a generational attribute (I’m a GenX), but it feels like the conservation agriculture movement has awoken and energized a subset of farmers that not only are willing to take the risk, but they have a unique sense of pride by having their fields look different. This is where the inspiration starts. READ MORE

Excerpt from Trust in Food Back 40: Testing out various cover crop mixes, for instance, can help a grower determine which species grow the best, build up the most nutrients in the soil, and most effectively control erosion.

On one plot, Yoder (Fred Yoder, chairman Yoder Ag Services LLC, in Plain City, Ohio) is testing 18 species of cover crops seeds and found that the most prolific is the sunflower.

“Each cover crop brings something different,” says Yoder. “Thirty years ago it was estimated that over a five-year period we could be losing up to 100 tons of top soil per acre. Whether you have wind erosion or whether you have water erosion, keep the ground covered and all of a sudden, we’re [not losing soil]. In fact, we’re building. Regeneration of soil is something we better pay attention to.”

To learn more about how you can experiment with cover crops or other regenerative practices, please contact your local NRCS Service Center. READ MORE

Excerpt from AgWeb:We’re seeing companies develop goals for achieving carbon neutrality. Everything a company produces has carbon costs to manufacture, so they are looking to offset that. About a dozen major food and beverage, agricultural and clothing companies have some program directed at farmers where they provide per-acre payments for certain practices. Probably the most common practice is cover crops. The second most common is reducing tillage. Some companies are paying for pollinator habitats or improved nutrient management in relation to fertilizer.

How would you describe the current carbon marketplace?

The carbon market is in its infancy, and it’s a little chaotic. It is a challenge for farmers because there are so many programs. Each company is doing it a little bit differently — not just the dollars they pay but what they expect in re-turn.

You work with USDA’s Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program. What should farmers know about the program?

SARE is the only USDA grant program that will directly provide a grant to farmers to try a new practice or idea on their farm. Each year, 150 to 200 farmers get funded by SARE to do projects. Those projects can be something simple such as a farmer trying two different grazing systems or a farmer evaluating a new way to integrate pollinators in their system — any practice that can contribute to sustainability. Grants in the Midwest are up to $15,000 for an individual farmer. READ MORE