Sarah Hill

Crop Insurance Isn’t Holding Growers Back From Using Covers

By Sarah Hill posted on December 2, 2021

Crop insurance has been perceived as a barrier to growers adopting the use of cover crops to improve their soil health and minimize risk, but that is not the case, according to a peer-reviewed study in the Journal of Environmental Management.

Financial Impacts of Cover Crops, Conservation Tillage Can Make Inroads with Landowners

By Sarah Hill posted on November 23, 2021

Agricultural land is 45.2 million acres across Nebraska, with that land being used for irrigated and dryland cropping, grazing and hay. Over half of those acres (56%) are owned by farmers and ranchers, while 44% of the land is owned by absentee landowners.

Cover Crops Profitable When Livestock Added

By Sarah Hill posted on November 5, 2021 | Posted in Economics

One of the reasons growers choose not to use cover crops is because they don’t think the practice is profitable. However, like with any crop, it all comes down to each individual choice by a grower as to whether covers will be successful.

Cover Crop Use is a Multi-Faceted Issue

By Sarah Hill posted on October 22, 2021

When it comes to convincing growers to use cover crops in their operations, people make all the difference. That’s what the Nature Conservancy discovered in a study they funded that was done by a Purdue University professor and a researcher who had looked at farms in Indiana, Illinois and Iowa counties with relatively high adoption rates of cover crops.

Purdue Ag Economy Barometer Finds That Most Growers Still New to Using Cover Crops

Out of 400 large-acreage growers surveyed, 41% are currently seeding covers on their operations.

By Sarah Hill posted on October 7, 2021 | Posted in Seeding Practices

The practice of using cover crops still has plenty of room for growth, according to the results of the August Purdue Ag Economy Barometer. Forty-one percent of growers with production of more than $500,000 annually said they are currently using cover crops, while 65% of growers responded that they had either used cover crops in the past or were currently using covers.

Glyphosate Still Most Effective Herbicide for Cover Crop Termination

By Sarah Hill posted on October 5, 2021

Growers have several options when it comes to cover crop termination, but herbicides are used by 79% of growers, according to the 2021 Cover Crop Strategies benchmark study. A recent multi-state study funded by the United Soybean board evaluated herbicide options.

USDA Seeks Grower Input on Carbon Markets

Growers have until Nov. 1 to submit their comments to the federal agency.

By Sarah Hill posted on September 29, 2021 | Posted in Economics

The USDA is looking to create a set of pilot projects that provides incentives to implement climate smart conservation practices on working lands and to quantify and monitor the carbon and greenhouse gases associated with those practices. The pilot projects could even expand or develop new and additional markets.

Growers Could Receive $25 Per Acre Payments if Using Cover Crops

More than two-thirds of no-tillers will be eligible for up to $5 billion in financial incentives.

By Sarah Hill posted on September 24, 2021 | Posted in Economics

Landowners could receive payments of $25 per acre on up to 1,000 acres if cover crops are established in their fields for the purposes of soil health, according to a preliminary Senate draft of the Build Back Better bill and corresponding budget. Non-operating landowners could receive payments of $5 per acre for encouraging tenants to seed covers on rented fields.

Self-Seeding Covers Can Help Growers Reduce Costs

By Sarah Hill posted on September 10, 2021

If you haven’t gotten fall covers established yet, now is the time to be seeding them, so many growers are thinking about what species to include in cover crop mixes. Self-seeding black medic might be a good choice.

Covers Improve Soil Health: Why Aren’t We Incentivizing Them More?

By Sarah Hill posted on August 30, 2021

Kudos to the tiny-but-mighty state of Vermont, which has recorded nearly 30% of its available cropland planted to covers in 2017, according to the Soil Health Institute. That’s far above the U.S. average of 5.6%.

Articles by Sarah Hill

Crop Insurance Isn’t Holding Growers Back From Using Covers

Financial Impacts of Cover Crops, Conservation Tillage Can Make Inroads with Landowners

Cover Crops Profitable When Livestock Added

Cover Crop Use is a Multi-Faceted Issue

Purdue Ag Economy Barometer Finds That Most Growers Still New to Using Cover Crops

Glyphosate Still Most Effective Herbicide for Cover Crop Termination

USDA Seeks Grower Input on Carbon Markets

Growers Could Receive $25 Per Acre Payments if Using Cover Crops

Self-Seeding Covers Can Help Growers Reduce Costs

Covers Improve Soil Health: Why Aren’t We Incentivizing Them More?

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