The Farm Service Agency this week reported farmers were unable to plant a record 19 million acres this year and took prevented planting. University of Nebraska Lincoln Extension Ag Economist Jim Jansen says Northern Plains growers had much of that prevented plant. He says South Dakota was one of the hardest hit states and that growers need to be taking steps to plan for their next crop year.
He advises producers to work closely with their local Farm Service Agency and with their Crop Insurance agents.
Jansen says the government supported planting of cover crops on fields where they were not able to plant because of benefits in preventing soil erosion, protecting water quality and soil health.
FSA reported that producers planted 2.71 million acres of cover crops in 2019, compared with 2.14 million acres at this time in 2018 and 1.88 million at this time in 2017.
