This project was previously called Crop Insurance Reward Program for Cover Crops. Cover crops are increasingly used as a conservation and crop production practice to reduce nutrient leaching, soil loss, and runoff, while also improving soil health. The strategy shows that cover cropping can be one of the most effective in-field strategies for reducing both nitrate-nitrogen and total phosphorus loss from corn and soybean fields.
Crop insurance is an integral part of the farm safety net that provides protection for farmers when ad-verse weather affects crop yields. Cover crops can improve the resiliency of Illinois farm operations by improving the soil’s ability to absorb and hold water. Cover crops help prevent erosion and can reduce leaching of nitrate-nitrogen through tile water. Because more resilient soil results in less yield variation from year to year, another benefit may be fewer insurance claims over time.
American Farmland Trust is leading a coalition of Illinois partners to offer a crop insurance reward program to farmers who plant cover crops and do not receive funding from other sources. The $5-per-acre reward will be deducted from the farmer’s crop insurance bill through the USDA Risk Management Agency. Applications will be prioritized based on Illinois NLRS priority watersheds. To meet water quality and soil health goals, cover crop acres must continue to increase.
This pilot program is testing whether a small crop insurance reward applied to fields planted in cover crops will incentivize more use of the practice across Illinois.
