Improving water quality remains a goal of the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, and as an incentive to have farmers plant cover crops, the state is offering cost-share programs.  Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig says there are many proven benefits to having cover crops.

Naig says more than three million acres of Iowa farmland has been planted to cover crops.  He says farmers need to visit their local county conservation office to enroll, and he tells of the cost-share funding available for the program.

Producers transitioning acres to no-till or strip-till are eligible for ten dollars an acre, and new users can also receive three dollars an acre for utilizing a nitrogen inhibitor when applying fertilizer.  The state’s water quality initiative program has been active for ten years, and Naig says measurable progress has been made.