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Farmers for Soil Health enrollment open

The executive director of Farmers for Soil Health says the program is helping farmers make a meaningful environmental impact through cover crops.

Ben West says the group offers cost-share and technical assistance opportunities in twenty states.

“And really, the program is open to two kinds of farmers.”  He says, “Those who have not used cover crops in the past.  Where they’ll get a $50 (per acre) payment over three years to help mitigate the financial risk of trying something new. The other kind of farmer are farmers who have been using cover crops.”

Farmers for Soil Health covered more than 78,000 acres with cover crops in its first year.  West says the goal is to expand adoption of cover crops to 30 million acres by 2030.

“Our goal was to make this as easy from the farmer side as possible, so enrollment is very easy, and verification is mostly remote through satellites,” he says.

He tells Brownfield…

“Farming already is complex, so we really think a key to the program is having real people that farmers can reach out to that’s familiar with their state, with their climate, with their soils and talk them through all the decision points that they’ll need to make,” he says.

West says enrollment is now open for year two.  A link to learn more can be found HERE.

Farmers for Soil Health is a collaboration between the National Corn Growers Association, National Pork Board and United Soybean Board, in partnership with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and USDA’s Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities.

AUDIO: Ben West – Farmers for Soil Health