Conservation and climate-smart farming are not new terms in our vocabulary. More and more, we are seeing farmers changing their practices to be even more mindful of the effect they have on the soil and the environment around them. They are working to make sure good farms are being passed on to the next generation of American farmers.
As we move forward into a new age of farming, there are many companies and organizations that are offering help and incentives for cover crops and other climate farming practices. There are as many carbon credit programs as there are pods in an acre, and it’s hard to make heads or tails of what is right for you.
Farmers for soil health is a joint venture of the National Corn Growers Association, the Soybean Checkoff, and the Pork Checkoff. It is meant to help increase sustainable farming and get funding back to the farm level. They recently were awarded $95 million from the Climate Smart Commodity Grant from the USDA.
Jack Cornell is the Director of Sustainable Supply for the United Soybean Board. He talks about some of the goals the initiative has for increasing acres using cover crops. It includes a cost-share program and technical assistance for helping create more incentives at the state level.
Cornell says that Farmers are interested in changing farming practices, but don?t want it to interfere with their risk level or return on investment.
Cornell says that this initiative is just the beginning of its long-term goals.
You can learn more about the Farmers for Soil Health initiative by visiting the group?s website.
