Usda - Articles

What the USDA's Ag Census Says About Cover Crops

February 14, 2024

The response rate for the 2022 Census of Agriculture was 61%; more than 40% of responses were submitted online.

Former Iowa Ag Secretary, USDA Leader Bill Northey Dies

By Spencer Chase posted on February 6, 2024

Source: Agri-Pulse

Former Iowa Ag Secretary and Trump administration USDA leader Bill Northey has died, leaving behind numerous family and friends, and a legacy of farm policy leadership. He was 64.

Technology Helps Cover Cropper Implement Conservation Practices

January 15, 2024 | Posted in Seeding Practices, Product Innovations & Introductions

Source: Iowa Farmer Today

Mark Kingland, who farms nearly 1,800 acres throughout Winnebago County, Iowa, with his brother, Tom, seeded several hundred cover crop acres for the first time in fall 2023 and used his new drone to broadcast the seed.

Wisconsin Growers See Benefits of Cover Crops Year After Year

By Gloria Hafemeister posted on January 4, 2024 | Posted in Soil Health

Source: Wisconsin State Farmer

While cover crops and no-till have been buzzwords in agriculture the last few years, these practices have been common on some farms for decades and these farmers are seeing the obvious benefits now.

[Podcast] 4 Alternative Cover Crops to Try on Your Farm with Rob Myers

In this episode of the Cover Crop Strategies podcast, brought to you by SOURCE® from Sound Agriculture, listen to Rob Myers, director of the Center for Regenerative Agriculture at the University of Missouri, as he discusses 4 alternative cover crops.

October 27, 2023 | Posted in Seeding Practices

In this episode of the Cover Crop Strategies podcast, brought to you by SOURCE® from Sound Agriculture, listen to Gary Zimmer giving a presentation at his farm in Spring Green, Wis.

Giving IRA Conservation Funds to Farm Subsidies Threatens Millions of Cover Crop Acres

October 9, 2023 | Posted in Economics

Source: Environmental Working Group

Millions of potential cover crop acres that may help reduce farming’s greenhouse gas emissions could be lost under a plan to shift $19.5 billion in Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA, funding from conservation programs to increasing price guarantees for farm subsidy programs.

Survey Shows Cover Crop Usage Doubled Following Incentive Programs

By Krishna Ramanujan posted on September 25, 2023 | Posted in Soil Health, Economics

Source: Cornell Chronicle

A survey of farmers in four Northeast states, including New York, found that incentive payments encouraged participants to plant twice as many acres of cover crops as they did prior to receiving funds – a change that can both improve their farms and mitigate climate change.

Cover Crop Survey Extended: Farmers Encouraged to Share Views on Cover Crops by End of Weekend

March 29, 2023 | Posted in Soil Health, Investing in Regenerative Ag

A national survey is being extended through the weekend to gather insight from farmers who plant cover crops, as well as farmers who don't.

Third-Party Programs Lead the Way for Regenerative Ag Certification in US

It’s been more than 20 years since the USDA launched the National Organic Program that changed the American food system. Now, farmers and forward-thinking brands are embracing regenerative agriculture as the next step in healthy food and fighting the climate crisis.

March 17, 2023 | Posted in Investing in Regenerative Ag

Source: Green Queen

Like organic farming, regenerative agriculture eschews synthetic chemical pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers. It also brings the focus to topsoil regeneration, increasing biodiversity, and conservation of natural resources. But unlike organic farming, there are currently no federal standards for regenerative agriculture, which some say threatens the integrity of the claim and makes it prone to greenwashing.

This Week

Cover Crop Strategies' Best of the Web: March 17, 2023

March 17, 2023

Cover Crop Strategies editors encounter a variety of articles, social media posts, podcasts and videos that offer a unique look at various aspects of our great agricultural industry. Here is our favorite content from the past week. The Best of the Web This Week series is brought to you by Salford Group.