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EDITOR’S LETTER







                      GREETINGS,

                      The promise of improved crop yields, coupled with the potential for reduced crop
                      production inputs and new revenue streams from state and federal governments
                      as well as private companies, is fueling increased farmer interest in cover crops in
                      many regions of the country.

                      To be sure, planting cover crops is not a new practice. But there are several new types
                      of cover crops being developed and new incentives to plant them under consideration.
                      Some members of Congress are pushing for more than $27 billion in new
                      conservation funding, which – if passed – could vastly increase cover crop acreage
                      across the country. The Build Back Better bill includes a new, five-year program that
                      would pay farmers $25 an acre for planting up to 1,000 acres of cover crops.

                      Cover crops could also provide farmers with other types of new revenue sources.
                      Some farmers already are cutting them for hay and allowing them to be grazed.
                      Others are starting to earn credits through fledgling carbon markets. The U.S.
                      airline industry is looking at oilseed cover crops as a potential feedstock for the
                      biofuel needed to reduce the carbon footprint of jets.

                      But cover crops may not work well everywhere, and some farmers are warning
                      about the unintended consequences that could occur if the federal government and
                      private industry go too far in promoting the practice. In water-strapped areas of the
                      central and southern Plains and western regions of the United States, cover crops
                      can pose a much bigger challenge.

                      In this special four-part series, “Cover Crops: The Potential, the Pitfalls, and the Policy
                      Options,” our Agri-Pulse editorial team spoke with producers, researchers, commodity
                      groups, consumer brands, airlines and others. We’ve combined all four parts of the
                      series into a single e-book that we hope gives you a better understanding of the role
                      cover crops could potentially play in modern agricultural systems.



                                 Best regards,






                                 Sara Wyant
                                 Founder and Editor of Agri-Pulse

                                 www.Agri-Pulse.com






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