Soil health practices, especially cover crops, are the focus of new climate-smart initiatives from The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).
A Farmers for Soil Health partnership aims to double corn and soybean cover crop usage by 2030, while a $38 million Cover Crop Initiative will help farmers in 11 states mitigate the effects of climate change.
“We are pleased to see NRCS announce this new incentive program for cover crops,” said John Johnson, coordinator of Farmers for Soil Health. “Cover crops have great potential to improve soil health, improve water quality, sequester carbon, and make our farms more resilient to severe climate events. We look forward to our partnership with NRCS, working to expand adoption of cover crop practices to help our farmers meet our sustainability goals.”
These climate-smart agriculture initiatives were among several announced by Secretary Vilsack in a speech to the American Farm Bureau Federation in January 2022.