In 2015, the state of Illinois developed a strategy to reduce nutrient runoff that went into the state’s waters — the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy (NLRS). This plan sought to reduce nitrate-nitrogen (N) loads by 15% and phosphorus (P) loads by 25% by 2025.

Farmers are becoming more open to acknowledging that carbon emissions and climate change are becoming a problem, according to Iowa State University researcher J. Arbuckle. And it’s a good thing they’re willing to talk about it, as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states that without cutting carbon emissions, growers will face increasing weather challenges, including severe storms, droughts, floods and pest migrations — problems that could be a major hit to the bottom line.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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%.