Iowa farmer sold on cover crops

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency in 2019 introduced a cover-crop insurance-discount program. Since the program was launched eligible Iowa farmers have been able to earn a $5-per-acre discount on their crop insurance for planting cover crops. The program has continued to generate interest.

Mike Phillips grows corn and soybeans near Montezuma, Iowa. He enrolled 2,300 acres in the cover-crop insurance discount program in 2019.

“The program helped pay for the cover crops,” he said.

He’s planting 900 acres in the latest enrollment. While he had tried cover crops before the program was offered, it was only on a small scale. The discount program motivated him to plant a winter-rye cover crop in September, he said. The rye provides nutrients, particularly nitrogen, which helps improve crop yields. It also helps suppress weeds in soybean fields.

He appreciates how through the insurance-discount program the Iowa agriculture department is showing it’s serious about conservation practices such as cover crops, he said.