I have been writing a series of articles on Cover Crops, farmers and Biden’s contributions. You may check out the articles written so far at the bottom of this article. I had planned on writing an article this week about government help because I had a conversation with my brother who is considering trying cover crops on his land. He made the comment that the government would help pay for his efforts.
CNBC has an article called “These farming techniques can help trap carbon dioxide in the soil and make farmers an extra buck” In the article, they address Biden’s efforts:
“President Joe Biden’s administration has also earmarked $30 billion to help pay farmers to implement sustainable practices and capture carbon in their soil. McKinsey estimates that the market for carbon credits could be worth more than $50 billion in 2030.”
In another article, they enhance their efforts with this: “Biden’s USDA Secretary of Agriculture nominee, Tom Vilsack, who has vowed to help meet Biden’s broader plan to reach a net-zero economy by 2050, said the money could go toward creating new markets that incentivize producers to sequester carbon in the soil.”
In order to provide these services there is from Farm Progress:
“ ...a virtual smorgasbord of government and state programs.
The alphabet of programs – EQIP, CSP, SARE, MRBI, GLRI and more – offer qualifying growers $20-50 or more/acre in assistance. They are available through the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and some state entities and are especially a hit on no-till and strip-till operations. (Program descriptions and application instructions are available at the NRCS website: www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs.)”
But there are private industry efforts also occurring. For example From CNBC: “Indigo Ag, a start-up that advocates for regenerative farming practices, said corporations like Barclays, JPMorgan Chase and Shopify have committed to purchasing agricultural carbon credits that help growers with transition costs.
Chris Harbourt, global head of carbon at Indigo Ag, said the company is working with growers to address financial barriers during the transition and provide education on implementing regenerative agriculture practices, like planting off-season cover crops or switching to no-till farming.“
So far, farmers have been slow to convert to cover cropping, but as I have recounted in an earlier article, when farmers converted to using artificial fertilizers, the change was slow, and the same was true with the introduction of GMO crops and no-til farming. As they see the economic advantages, I am sure we will soon see an uptick of farmers converting to cover crops and regenerative farming methods..Watch as we bring even more articles on the advantages of cover crops.