OMAHA (DTN) -- With an Illinois farm going back to 1826, Doug and Derek Martin recount how their dad became a no-till farmer in 1982, and the nine-generation farm started dabbling in cover crops more than a decade ago.

"You can ask dad now. He's mad that this wasn't a trend earlier. He feels like he missed out for 30 years," Derek Martin said. "He's our biggest advocate now."

The Martins were among the farmers who shared their stories about growing cover crops with leaders from ADM as the company spotlighted some of the farmers enrolled in its soil health program, "re:generations," which covers about 4.7 million acres in North America.

As he talks about the return on investment (ROI) on cover crops, Derek Martin noted, "Our ROI is keeping our dirt here and not sending it down the Mississippi (River)."

The Martins have reduced their rates of nitrogen, phosphorus and potash application. Nitrogen rates have dropped from as high as 1.2 pounds per bushel down to .7 pounds, which they attribute to better overall soil health.

"We're spending it different -- money-wise. We put in a lot of natural products that have fertilizer in with our compost tea and stuff -- boron, calcium and that's all got parts of phosphorus and potassium in it," Doug Martin said.

Doug Martin recalled sitting with a handful of other farmers around a coffee table in 2018-19 when producers were also struggling with income. They all had their legal pads out jotting down numbers.

"We've implemented a lot of cover crops the last several years on our farm," Doug Martin explained. "We experiment with different mixes ahead of corn and soybeans, trying to see what's going to benefit us the most and give us the most bang for our buck."

About four years ago, Martin Farms joined ADM's re:generations program, which provides incentives for sustainable practices they were already adopting. That partnership has since expanded to include downstream buyers like Pepsi.

"Through their program, they were offering incentives for cover crops and emission scoring and some of the practices we were already doing," Doug Martin said. "We saw it as a good fit and then it kind of evolved into the relationship they have with their end users such as Pepsi. They want to partner and work with people like us that show their products are raised implementing practices like ours."

DOUBLE CROPPING

Clinton Gordon, a first-generation farmer outside of Blue Mound, Illinois, said he first began looking at cover crops as a way to "soften the blow on his operating note." By taking advantage of some programs through the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) such as the Conservation Stewardship Program, Gordon said he would come out ahead. "I was just looking for any sources of revenue I could to do it. I believed in it and understood it, but obviously now I'm a little more well versed."

Gordon farms about 2,100 acres and grows cover crops on about 25% of his acres. He's also in his second year of growing a winter wheat crop on 80 acres that he follows up with late-planted soybeans. The winter wheat yielded 113 bushels per acre (bpa), and he planted his soybeans into the stubble at the end of June.

"They are loaded with pods. I'm excited," Gordon said.

Growing a double crop with winter wheat and soybeans takes more management and workload, Gordon said. Producers also need a buyer for the wheat, of which there are few in central Illinois outside of ADM. Still, Gordon said it's become an important business decision for his operation right now.

"The whole selling point for me was cash flow," Gordon said. "It is a pain for me as a first-generation farmer with another job. I have to finish up my seeding, harvest the wheat then plant the beans still, right. I feel like I don't get a break."

Keith Berns, who co-owns the cover crop seed company Green Cover in Nebraska with his brother Brian, shared a similar story from a farmer at Husker Harvest Days who told him about growing winter wheat this year then drilling soybeans right into the wheat crop. The eastern Nebraska farmer harvested 65 bpa of wheat but also expects to harvest 60 bpa of soybeans. The farmer told Berns he only had about $150 in input costs tied to both crops, combined.

"He really didn't use any herbicides and he used very little fertilizer," Berns said. "It's just a really low input system and he's harvesting two crops."

THE MAHA MOVEMENT BECOMES AN 'AH-HA' MOMENT

Paul Sheets, director of ADM's program, said the company has been seeing more interest from consumer packaged-goods companies about farming practices and sees that as a way to unlock more demand going forward. He points to the need to educate consumers about the values to soil health, water quality and potentially the nutrient density of foods.

"We've got to figure out a way of telling that story to consumers because the cost of the value proposition isn't necessarily huge," Sheets said. "The incentives being offered today are anywhere from $10 to $40 an acre. If you look at that compared to the costs of a loaf of bread, a gallon of fuel or a pound of meat, it's a relatively small percentage. I think almost every consumer in the United States would love to know that story."

As companies look to broaden the use of no-till farming, cover crops and reducing inputs, they are now also getting an unexpected policy boost from the Trump administration's "Make America Healthy Again" efforts. Last month, the conservative organization Heritage Foundation held a conference in Washington, D.C., that included highlighting how regenerative agriculture can change food production practices nationally. Three farmers talked about their operations and how they have scaled back on using chemical inputs.

During the press conference last week to roll out Make America Healthy Again strategies, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins teased out more plans at USDA to promote cover crops and other conservation practices.

"USDA's upcoming regenerative pilot program is built to address on-farm resource concerns while also providing farmers with usable, outcomes-based conservation plans," Rollins said.

Asked by DTN if Rollins was referring to the renamed "Advancing Markets for Producers" (AMP) program, a USDA spokesperson commented, "USDA will release more details on the new regenerative pilot program in the coming weeks."

AMP replaced the Partnership for Climate-Smart Commodities under the Biden administration. USDA has reworked several grants under that program, though the spokesperson said USDA is not able to provide information about how many of the 140 or so grants remain active. "The review process is underway and will take some time to complete."

Unlike divisions on issues such as carbon sequestration, policymakers from both sides of the political spectrum still see multi-dimensional benefits of healthier soils.

"Well, there's no question that soil health has had wide support, and it has not been controversial in the sense of it being polarized unlike some issues in agriculture and other walks of life," said Rob Myers, director of the Center for Regenerative Agriculture at the University of Missouri. "So that's good because it's going to continue to take a big effort across all sectors of agriculture to continue making progress with soil health."

Missouri's regenerative ag center is involved in multiple grants and has roughly 1,200 Missouri farmers enrolled in an AMP grant program involving roughly 300,000 acres of practices. That includes 583 farmers adding cover crops to their operations with more than 200 growing cover crops for grazing practices.

"We have multiple practices that we're supporting, but the most active is cover crops," Myers said. "So overall, we're feeling like we are in pretty good shape to continue doing our efforts on regenerative agriculture."

Despite low commodity prices, Myers said enrollment in Missouri increased by more than 120 farmers. Unlike some other programs, Missouri's AMP grant is enrolling farmers on a year-to-year basis.

Missouri's regenerative ag center is part of the Farmers for Soil Health project as well.

DIVERSIFIED PRACTICES

The policy group AGree also released a report on Monday co-authored by Myers and Farm Journal Foundation's Stephanie Mercier examining diversified farming systems and some of the barriers to their adoption. The report highlights how producers can increase revenue, reduce input costs and reduce exposure to commodity price swings. The report also points to challenges such as complications with crop insurance and lack of market infrastructure such as grain elevators to handle alternative crops, or livestock processing for smaller producers.

The AGree report includes details about rotational grazing and integrating livestock systems back into crop farms as one of the core principles of regenerative agriculture as well. The report also points to several ways USDA can help expand diversified practices such as directing programs like the Environmental Quality Incentives Program to fund rotational grazing with cover crops.

Another recommendation in the report states USDA's Risk Management Agency should study how to allow farmers to harvest cover crops for seed for commercial sales without losing their insurance coverage on their primary cash crops.

Also see, "Why Now Might Be a Good Time to Try Cover Crops," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

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Editor's note: DTN is a contractor for the Farmers for Soil Health program.

Chris Clayton can be reached at Chris.Clayton@dtn.com

Follow him on social platform X @ChrisClaytonDTN

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