Count your cover crop acres by December 15th

This fall the Farm Services Agency needs farmers who planted “overwintering small grain cover crops” like cereal rye to get to their local FSA office to certify those acres prior to December 15th. Or perennial forages too. Winter cover crops are not considered a “green manure” and therefore fall into a different category with the Farm Services Agency. Cover Crop Acreage Reporting Dates for 2014Now some might be thinking why do I need to do this? The more farmers who certify their acres with FSA the better we are able to know the total use of this practice. Current guessstimate that cover crop acres in Iowa number 300,000A are from combined acres given financial assistance through the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Iowa Department of Ag and Land Stewardships programs. But there are more out there because many farmers do cover crops without financial assistance. Get your acres counted today!