Page 28 - Ebook_CoverCrops2022_Final

Some farmers already are generating reve- USDA rules if they are harvested. As a result,
nue, a few by grazing the cover crops or cut- they would also be ineligible for incentive pay-
ting them for hay. Others are participating in ments under existing conservation programs.
the emerging carbon markets and ecosystem Winter wheat is considered a great cover crop
payment programs that pay anywhere from $6 on the High Plains, keeping some protection on
to $30 an acre, but are still very much in the the ground over winter. But if harvested in the
experimental stage. spring, it would not qualify for any government
According to an Agri-Pulse poll conducted this incentives. Cover crops need to be terminated
fall by Aimpoint, large majorities agreed that in time for the following cash crop to properly
cover crops can improve soil health and prevent grow.
soil erosion, but 70% of farmers said cost was According to a 2014 report by USDA’s Eco-
the biggest reason they wouldn’t plant cover nomic Research Service, double cropping
crops. The next most important impediment, occurred on about 2% of U.S. cropland for most
cited by 34%, was the availability of moisture years between 1999 and 2012. The report noted
and for 33% of farmers, the length of the grow- that double cropping can provide many of the
ing season and uncertainty about effectiveness. same benefits as cover crops, such as reducing
“In dryland agriculture, since we’re only 6 the need for fertilizer and protecting soil from
inches of rain and the driest area in the world, wind and water erosion.
growing cover crops is not a practice that really Here is a look at these three ways that farmers
anybody uses,” says Nicole Berg, vice president could cash in on their cover crops.
of the National Association of Wheat Growers,
who farms near Paterson, Wash. “We basically A .biofuel .bonanza? .Soaring .soy . .
let the land sit fallow for a year and so we plant
every other year because of the moisture issues. demand .puts .focus .on .novel .oilseeds
If I were to put in a cover crop, it would take all Soybean oil prices are skyrocketing on the
my moisture. You need to do everything you can rapidly growing market for renewable diesel,
to keep moisture in the ground.”

Success with cover crops depends
on a variety of environmental con-
ditions and economic factors.
“I think it’s important that people
understand that there is an eco-
nomic cost to the farm to do these
things and we can do different
things, but we need to factor in
the economics of it,” said Cannon
Michael, president and CEO of
Bowles Farming Co., a diversified,
11,000-acre farming operation in
California’s Central Valley.

Despite the potential profit from
harvesting cover crops, plants
aren’t considered cover crops under

28 www.Agri-Pulse.com