SPRINGFIELD – The second year of the Illinois Department of Agriculture’s cover crop program ended with 768 applications requesting over 185,000 acres. The program opened the application period on December 15 and saw the acreage limit met within its first 24-hours. Officials say that qualified applicants will be awarded on a first come, first served basis.
“We were expecting great interest after a successful first year, but to meet our 50,000-acre allotment so quickly was astonishing,” said Jerry Costello II, IDOA Acting Director. “It shows there’s a great interest out there for cover crops and IDOA is committed to promoting conservation farming in Illinois.”
The program is for acreage in Illinois planted to cover crops in the fall of 2020 that will be planted to an insurable crop in 2021. Recipients of the premium discount program receive $5 per acre on the following year’s crop insurance for every acre of cover crop enrolled and verified in the program.
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