Financial Assistance

The most common source of funding to support the implementation of cover crops is through the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).

This program is available to agricultural producers to implement conservation practices that can lead to better soil and wildlife habitats and cleaner air and water. One type of conservation practice is implementing cover crops into a crop rotation. Most states offer a certain amount of money per acre per year, for a set number of years, to assist in the implementation of cover cropping.  In addition, historically underserved producers, which include beginning producers, limited resource producers, and socially disadvantaged producers can receive additional assistance.