Cover-crop-insurance discounts proposed

Crop-insurance discounts for planting cover crops are a good sign for farmers and reflect bipartisanship in the Wisconsin State Legislature. Assembly Bill 727 – now Wisconsin Act 223 –was earlier in 2022 approved by agriculture committees in both chambers as well as the joint committee on finance. The legislation supports a program that would provide farmers $5-per-acre savings on crop-insurance premiums for planting cover crops.

The legislation has received strong endorsement by both agricultural and conservation groups, said Margaret Krome, policy director for the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute.

"The change it could bring about would improve soil and water quality as well as farmer bottom lines," she said.

The Wisconsin proposal is modeled after those in Iowa and Illinois.

"Programs have been successful in Iowa and oversubscribed in Illinois," Krome said. "We want it to also be successful in Wisconsin and at the federal level."

Michael Fields Agricultural Institute conducted a survey in 2019. Two-thirds of responding farmers who hadn't previously planted cover crops said they would consider doing so with a crop-insurance-incentive program, Krome said. And two-thirds of survey respondents who had planted cover crops would likely plant more.

Jason Rowe of Cuba City, Wisconsin, farms about 1,300 acres. He's planted about 500 of those acres to cover crops. A member of the Lafayette Ag Stewardship Alliance, he's been planting cover crops for seven years. Some of the acres he farms haven't had the best soil quality in the past, he said.

"I've planted cover crops to help improve soil quality," he said.

Rowe said he's seen benefits from planting cover crops, but he's unsure whether $5-per-acre discounts on crop insurance would convince farmers who haven't already planted them to try them. Cover-crop seed and the seeding process itself together cost $30 to $40 per acre. Some farmers say they'd also have the costs to terminate the cover crop in the spring. But some farmers don't account for long-term benefits because they probably wouldn't see the beneficial effects of cover crops for three to four years after planting them for the first time.

Josh Kamps, a University of Wisconsin-Division of Extension regional crops and soils educator, said, "Crop insurance is the right avenue for promoting cover crops and soil health."

Discounts for planting cover crops in the future may need to be viewed similarly to auto insurance, he said. If, for example, farmers can provide data showing how practices – such as implementing cover crops or no-till – can improve soil and water health, that could qualify them for greater savings on insurance. Farmers would need to consider how they would need to manage their crop programs differently – such as terminating cover crops in the spring or adopting crop rotations that would maximize benefits of using cover crops.

Amy Penterman, president of the Dairy Business Association, said there's value in the soil-health benefits of planting cover crops. She and her family own Dutch Dairy near Thorp, Wisconsin; they practice no-till and grow cover crops. In 2022 they had a very wet spring yet were able to begin planting two weeks earlier than other area farmers who didn't use those practices.

"How do you put a value on that?" Penterman said.

Mike Berget of Berget Family Farms of Darlington, Wisconsin, is vice-president of the Wisconsin Corn Growers Association. He's also a member of the Lafayette Ag Stewardship Alliance, a farmer-led watershed-protection group. Berget Family Farms has planted fall cover crops for about nine years, he said.

"We plant them for soil health and erosion control," he said. "It's always good to have something green growing all the time. We also plant tillage radishes to help ease compaction if there's wet weather at wheat-harvest time."

But farmers who haven't planted cover crops before would likely need to see greater discounts than $5 per acre to try them, he said.

"I think it would take more like one-third to one-half the cost of seeding for more new farmers to try them," he said.

Depending on the type of cover-crop seed and the method to plant the cover crop – such as drilling or aerial application – the cost could run $40 to $50 per acre, he said. But the proposal that would provide Wisconsin farmers $5-per-acre discounts on crop insurance would be helpful and appreciated by farmers. The Lafayette Ag Stewardship Alliance will cover $20 per acre – to as many as 50 acres – for members who practice nutrient management, no-till or reduced till, or plant green. The group also offers an incentive program through The Nature Conservancy. Members and non-members in Lafayette County would be eligible to receive $40 to $60 per acre – to as many as 25 acres – to try cover crops for the first time. The enrollment deadline for each program is Nov. 15.

Other farmer-led watershed-protection groups and their partners also are offering incentive programs. And at the federal level the National Corn Growers Association is promoting a cover-crop program for insurance discounts. It was renewed for crop-year 2022, Berget said, but hasn't yet been renewed for the 2023 season.

U.S. Rep. Sean Casten, D-Illinois-6-Downers Grove, introduced in July 2022 the Conservation Opportunity and Voluntary Environment Resilience Program Act with co-sponsor U.S. Rep. Cindy Axne, D-Iowa-3-West Des Moines. The bill would codify a Good Steward Cover Crop program, which would mirror the Pandemic Cover Crop Program. It would provide a $5-per-acre discount on crop-insurance premiums for farmers who plant cover crops. The legislation also would authorize a pilot program to determine additional actuarially sound discounts for producers who adopt soil-health practices authorized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Risk Management Agency. A cover-crop program could be further addressed in discussions concerning the 2023 farm bill.

Visit michaelfields.org/cover-crops and lafayetteagstewardship.org and datcp.wi.gov – search for "producer-led groups" – for more information.

This is an original article written for Agri-View, a Lee Enterprises agricultural publication based in Madison, Wisconsin. Visit AgriView.com for more information.