DES MOINES – Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig last week reminded farmers about the Jan. 15 deadline to sign up for an innovative new program providing a $5 per acre premium reduction on their crop insurance in 2019 for farmers who planted cover crops this past fall.
“We continue to see interest in cover crops growing across the state. This program can be an important tool to help farmers as they increase cover crop acres beyond what might be eligible for other state and federal programs,” Naig said. “We have created a new online application process to make it as easy as possible for farmers to sign up and participate in the program.”
Farmers and landowners can sign up online to certify eligible land for the program at www.cleanwateriowa.org/covercropdemo. Cover crop acres currently enrolled in state and/or federal programs are not eligible for this program.
The new premium reduction will be available for fall-planted cover crops with a spring-planted cash crop. Some policies may be excluded, such as Whole-Farm Revenue Protection or those covered through written agreements. Participating farmers must follow all existing good farming practices required by their policy and work with their insurance agent to maintain eligibility.
The Department worked with the USDA Risk Management Agency (RMA), which oversees the federal crop insurance program, to establish the 3 year demonstration project aimed at expanding the usage of cover crops in Iowa. This is the second year of the demonstration project. More than 700 farmers participated in the inaugural year of the program, using cover crops on nearly 170,000 acres.
