The Senate voted on Sunday to pass (51-50) the $740-billion Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) bill, which carves out $20 billion to support climate-smart agricultural practices for farmers. 

Albert Lea Seed agronomists identify 9 unintended consequences that may arise with cover crops and a list of potential solutions. 

Across the board, industry leaders don’t foresee a forage seed shortage, but highly recommend that if you want forage seed for the 2022 planting season to order early so that they can try to access what you need in time. The situation for cover crops seems to be a bit tighter.

Collectively, Hormel Foods and Target will provide $1.7 million for farmers to participate in the pilot and adopt practices such as cover cropping, reduced tillage and nutrient management. The goal is to enroll up to 50,000 acres.

The Practical Farmers of Iowa shares four tips to consider for the next planting season, based on data from a survey of its farm members.

Researchers went out about 2-3 weeks after farmers started grazing a cover crop field to measure standing and post-grazing cover crop biomass, and soil health before, the day after, and 2-3 weeks after grazing. One big factor determining profit was the number of times the cover crop could be grazed, and the quantity of grazed biomass consumed.