Bill would encourage cover crops
Conservation practices in farming are crucial to risk mitigation, as a recent Tribune story mentions (“Focus on farmers: Planting methods getting reexamined after fatal I-55 dust storm crash,” June 19). Planting cover crops is
one of these important practices, and I have introduced a bipartisan bill with fellow Illinois U.S. Rep. Mike Bost to federalize a $5 per acre crop insurance discount to farmers who plant cover crops.
Climate change has already made the federal crop insurance program more expensive and challenging to manage as drought, rain and extreme weather further stress our soils. Crop insurance payments have risen more than 400% for drought-related losses and nearly 300% for rain and flooding-related losses between 1995 and 2020. Unless we act, climate change will continue to exacerbate losses.
Cover crops can help farmers mitigate this risk. A 2023 study found that higher cover-crop adoption led to lower levels of crop insurance losses due to prevented planting. Another study found that just a 1% increase in cover crop adoption led to nearly $40 million in savings from reduced prevented planting-related indemnities. With climate change threatening our food system, practices that build soil resilience are more crucial than ever. No one knows the importance of the soil that sustains us better than our farmers; they will play a vital role in achieving resiliency.
In addition to supporting low-risk farming, cover crops prevent erosion, improve soil health and water quality, enhance soil water availability, suppress weeds, help control pests and diseases, increase biodiversity, mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and sequester carbon.
The bipartisan COVER Act would reward farmers who opt for risk mitigation and conservation practices.
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