RMA added this flexibility starting with the 2021 crop year as part of a broader effort to encourage producers to use cover crops, an important conservation and good farming practice.

When faced with a crop failure due to severe weather, or conditions prevent planting in the first place, seeding cover crops on these acres can help control weeds and protect soil from erosion as well as provide other soil health benefits. Trials from the University of Minnesota reveals which covers grow the most biomass the quickest.

The editors of No-Till Farmer, Strip-Till Farmer and Cover Crop Strategies assembled this web page to serve as a source for growers looking for options on prevented-planting acres in the U.S. and potentially find sources of disaster aid.

Farmers who planted cover crops on prevented plant acres will be permitted to hay, graze or chop those fields earlier than November this year, the USDA announced.