American Farmland Trust launched the Illinois Cover Crop Initiative in June 2022, a partnership with National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and ADM. ICCI provided a $10 per acre financial incentive to Illinois farmers planting cover crops. Additional incentives were available for ADM customers to implement no-till and / or provide data for emissions scoring.
In the first year of the program, AFT enrolled just over 100,000 acres, reaching farmers across the state. Counties with the greatest acres enrolled include Carroll, Montgomery, and Jo Daviess. The figure to the right summarizes acres enrolled by county.
AFT utilized NLRS data to estimate load reductions achieved through the ICCI. Cover crops planted through the program reduced nitrogen loads by 300,000 pounds, and reduced phosphorus loads by over 24,000 pounds. These values are based on county average baseline loads x cover crop acres planted x reduction coefficient for cover crops.
AFT and partners are expanding the program for 2023. For more information, see farmland.org/icci.
| Load Reductions |
Phosphorus | 24,128 lbs |
Nitrogen | 303,066 lbs |
Table summarizes nutrient reductions achieved by cover crops enrolled in the ICCI program.
