Page 6 - Ebook_CoverCrops2022_Final

Chapter 1

Saving the planet by

saving the soil: Can

cover crops fulfill

their promise?

By Noah Wicks

field on Barry and Eli Little’s South Eli, his son, jumped in and added, “We even
Dakota farm is riddled with green one found where we did some of the inter-seeded
A day this fall well after the harvest of their cover crop on the corn and on hilltops, we had
winter wheat crop. The green is the first telltale better corn than we’ve ever seen.”
sign of a complex mixture of plants that are
increasingly seen as the key to addressing some That promise of improved crop yields, coupled
of America’s most pressing environmental chal- with the potential for reduced inputs and the
lenges, from water pollution to climate change. potential for payments from state and federal
governments as well as private companies are
The tops of purple radish bulbs pop out of the fueling increased farmer interest in cover crops
ground, surrounded by the leaves of 14 other in many regions of the country.
plants. Barry Little rattled their names off one Even President Joe Biden, who referred to
by one: cow peas, millet, sun hemp, turnips, flax, incentivizing the practice for its climate benefits
sunflowers, oats, buckwheat, African cabbage, in his first address before Congress, has his eyes
crimson clover, sorghum, sudangrass and soy- on their potential.
beans. Each species has a distinct function,
he says. The $2 trillion Build Back Better bill that he’s
trying to push through Congress includes more
The plant mixture is the Littles’ cover crop for than $27 billion in new conservation funding,
this winter, and the benefits include reduced soil which could add rocket fuel to the cover crop
erosion and compaction, less runoff of sedi- movement. The bill includes a new, five-year
ments into waterways, improved water infiltra- program that would pay farmers $25 an acre for
tion, and fewer weeds, just to name a few. planting up to 1,000 acres of cover crops.

“Under the soil, there’s a lot going on,” Barry Cover crops could also provide farmers with
Little said. new revenue streams. Some farmers already

6 www.Agri-Pulse.com