Some states are doing better than others when it comes to cover crop adoption. Indiana farmers have set a new record for living cover crops planted, at 1.5 million acres, according to a recent conservation survey by the Indiana Conservation Partnership.

Cover crops are becoming more mainstream as more growers are taking advantage of the benefits the practice has to offer. As a result, the editors of Cover Crop Strategies are pleased to present the Spring 2022 National Cover Crop Summit on March 15-16.

Should crop insurance be encouraging growers to utilize cover crops? A white paper by the AGree Economic & Environmental Risk Coalition, a group that advocates for federal policies to drive the adoption of conservation practices, found that cover crops can reduce yield risk, and as a result, file fewer crop insurance claims.

The biggest flour miller in the U.S. is looking to shift 250,000 acres of wheat fields to using regenerative agriculture practices, including cover crops by the end of this year. Ardent Mills, the largest North American miller of wheat for flour, is based in Denver, Colo., and wants to improve soil health, water quality, and crop yields while simultaneously trying to keep climate change at bay.

A new report lays out a way for Canada to offset 11% of its carbon emissions annually through natural climate solutions, such as utilizing cover crops. The report was authored by more than 3 dozen scientists and found that Canada has the potential to offset 78 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions (ghg) by 2030.

In 2015, the state of Illinois developed a strategy to reduce nutrient runoff that went into the state’s waters — the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy (NLRS). This plan sought to reduce nitrate-nitrogen (N) loads by 15% and phosphorus (P) loads by 25% by 2025.

Farmers are becoming more open to acknowledging that carbon emissions and climate change are becoming a problem, according to Iowa State University researcher J. Arbuckle. And it’s a good thing they’re willing to talk about it, as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states that without cutting carbon emissions, growers will face increasing weather challenges, including severe storms, droughts, floods and pest migrations — problems that could be a major hit to the bottom line.