Cost-Share for Extended Rotations

Program Overview

Extended crop rotations enhance soil quality and provide a pathway to reduce reliance on synthetic inputs. Practical Farmers of Iowa supports farmers using extended crop rotations by providing cost-share for the following extended rotation practices:   

1. Reduction of applied nitrogen on corn cost-share: For 2027 corn following a small grain plus cover crop or a leguminous hay crop, reduce your usual corn-soybean rotation nitrogen rate by 40 pounds per acre, or apply no more than 100 pounds of nitrogen per acre.

2. Small grains cost-share: Raise a small grain, such as oats, cereal rye, barley, wheat or triticale, that will be harvested for grain or forage in 2027, and follow it with a frost-seeded or summer-planted cover crop containing at least one legume species. 

Eligibility

• Participants must farm in Iowa or in eligible counties in Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska or South Dakota.  
• No PFI membership purchase required.
• Conventional and organic-transition acres are eligible; organic-certified acres are ineligible.
• No acre cap. Sign up as soon as possible as the program will close once the program’s allotted acres are filled. 
• Acres can overlap with publicly funded cost-share programs on a county, watershed, state or federal level (ex. EQIP, CSP, etc.).  
• Acres cannot overlap with: 
  • PFI programs paying for similar practices, specifically fall cover crop cost-share in 2026 or 2027, or N Rate Risk Protection Program in 2027.  
  • Privately funded cost-share programs, such as a carbon market (ex. Indigo, SWOF, TruCarb, ADM re:generations, etc). See FAQs for more guidelines. 

Program Requirements

Participants receive $20 per acre by completing one or both of the following program scenarios:

1. Reduction of applied nitrogen on corn cost-share 

• On 2027 corn following a small grain plus cover crop or leguminous hay crop in your rotation, reduce your applied nitrogen rate to corn by 40 pounds of nitrogen per acre compared to your typical nitrogen rate in a corn-soy rotation OR apply no more than 100 pounds of nitrogen per acre to corn harvested in 2027 that followed a small grain plus cover crop or leguminous hay crop in your rotation.   
• Participants must:
  • Grow corn in 2027, following a good stand of legume that was originally seeded with a small grain 
  • Reduce nitrogen by 40 pounds from typical program, or limit to no more than 100 pounds applied nitrogen
• Schedule a conversation with a PFI staff agronomist to verify and document nitrogen plan 
• Conversations with agronomists for ERCS required in nitrogen-reduction phase; to be scheduled for January or February 

2. Small grains cost-share 

• Participants must raise a small grain, such as oats, cereal rye, barley, wheat or triticale, that will be harvested for grain or forage in 2027, and follow it with a frost-seeded or summer-planted cover crop containing at least one legume species. 
• Participants must provide:
  • Documentation of small grain seeded (seed tags and bill, or self-raised seed form) 
  • Documentation (seed tags or bill) of legume* seeded with or as cover following small grain (*soybeans are not an acceptable cover crop) 
• Note: Double-cropping soybeans and relay-cropping soybeans are not eligible for this cost-share. Hay and other forages are eligible if they contain a small grain and a legume.  

Program Steps

1. Have fields eligible for the 2027 program.  

See program program eligibility guidelines to ensure your practices fit the program requirements.  

2. Enroll in the program by April 30, 2027.  

*Note:  Enroll ASAP to reserve acres. The program may close early depending on available funding.  

3. Sign a cost-share agreement with PFI.  

Your agreement must be signed within 30 days of PFI emailing it to you. This is a nonbinding agreement between Practical Farmers of Iowa and the agreement holder; you sign it online. If for some reason the agreement conditions cannot be satisfied, the contract will be canceled with no cost-share paid on the enrolled acres and with no penalty to the contract holder. Note that contracts can be canceled through Sept. 30, 2027. After that point, payments are being processed and any contracts previously signed will receive payment.   

4. Talk to a PFI agronomist if enrolling in the reduction of applied nitrogen to corn cost-share.   

Anyone considering enrolling in the reduction of applied nitrogen to corn portion of the cost-share must schedule a phone call with a PFI agronomist by May 28, 2027. During this phone call, you and the PFI agronomist will determine whether your cropping rotation and soil health practices may allow you to reduce your applied nitrogen rate to corn and, if so, by how much. Anyone can sign up for a consultation, but it is required for people in the reduction of applied nitrogen to corn cost-share. 

5. Attend a learning event to connect with other farmers in 2027. 

View our events calendar. Examples of learning events include field days, webinars, shared learning calls or other small grains related events.   

*Note: If attending an event in person isn’t feasible, then viewing a recording of an event is satisfactory. See PFI’s YouTube channel for virtual options available.  

6. Complete your wrap-up survey no later than Sept. 30, 2027.  

The wrap-up survey will ask you to confirm whether or not you followed through on your enrollment plans, as well as ask you to provide small grain marketing information and program evaluation.  

7. Submit program documentation no later than Sept. 30, 2027.  

PFI will require the following documentation for payment: 

• If PFI does not already have an IRS W-9 form on file for you, you will be required to submit one. 
• If participating in the small grains cost-share, you must submit the small grain seed invoice and cover crop seed invoice for the small grain acres enrolled in the program.  

8. Payments will be processed after all relevant paperwork is received and confirmed. All payments will be processed by Dec. 31, 2027. 

 Key Dates

Aug. 3, 2026-April 30, 2027	Enrollment period or until the program’s allotted acres are filled.
May 28, 2027	Deadline for a conversation with a PFI agronomist for those enrolling in the reduction of applied nitrogen to corn portion of the cost-share.
Aug. 2	Wrap-up surveys sent to participants via email
Sept. 30, 2027	Deadline for wrap-up survey to be completed, program documentation to be submitted, and to cancel the contract.
Dec. 31, 2027	All payments have been processed.

Program participants produced over 7,150 acres of oats, 490 acres of hybrid rye, 3,690 acres of winter wheat, 640 acres of spring wheat, 440 acres of spring barley, 3,280 acres of cereal rye, 40 acres of winter triticale and 85 acres of spring triticale.

In the nitrogen reduction phase, 46.7% of the farmers applied no more than 100 units, 53.3% of the farmers cut 40 units of nitrogen.

Frequently Asked Questions

Resources

• University of Minnesota 
• PFI’s YouTube Channel 
• Organic Grain Resource and Information Network (OGRAIN) – University of Wisconsin-Madison 
• Organic Small Grain Marketing – OGRAIN 
• Artisan Grain Collaborative 
• Marbleseed – Resource Directory, Field Crop Resources