The U.S. Department of Agriculture is surveying farmers regarding their use and perspective of cover crops. Seed companies are asked to encourage their farm customers to participate.
Whether their farm customers are longtime advocates of cover crops or have never even considered using them, the Soil Health Partnership wants all farmers to participate in the USDA’s 2017 Cover Crop Survey.
The information will help guide cover crop research, policy and education nationwide. The survey takes less than 10 minutes to complete and ends in mid May. The survey can be taken here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2017CoverCropSurvey. After the data is analyzed, SARE will issue a summary and report.
In its fifth year, the survey helps the USDA’s Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program understand why farmers choose to use cover crops, or the reasons that they don’t.
“The experienced voices of all farmers are critical to the effectiveness of this survey,” says Nick Goeser, director of the Soil Health Partnership, and National Corn Growers Association director of soil health and sustainability. “We are encouraging our farmers enrolled in the Soil Health Partnership to participate in the survey, but all farmer views and experiences are relevant to USDA in understanding the real-life benefits and challenges of cover crops.”
Cover crops are one of the practices the SHP measures and encourages.
The Conservation Technology Information Center and the American Seed Trade Association are partners in the survey.
