Cover crops can heal soil, but need time to take root

A version of this story first appeared on Missouri’s KBIA.

Regenerative agriculture methods, such as cover crops, are one way farmers try to improve the health of their overworked soil. But adopting new farming practices takes time and costs money. And in an industry with slim margins, farmers aren’t incentivized to take the risk.

Now, researchers are developing new varieties of cover crop seeds intended to ensure better bang for the farmers’ buck. Farmers who grow, process and sell seeds are key to the work.

Inside a barn in southwest Missouri, farmer Macaulay Kincaid operates a massive and noisy seed mill. Kincaid is the second generation in his family to cultivate crops for seed production, and he’s still using the technology his uncle invested in 40 years ago.

“This version here is actually like a 1980s version,” he said. “This was like the bee’s knees back in the ‘80s.”

Recently harvested barley seeds flow through pipes and sift down four levels of screens. Kincaid conducts a rigorous seed testing and cleaning process so his product can be certified.

“You get larger seeds, very clean and little to no weed seeds,” Kincaid said. “That’s where you want to be.”

From the mill the seeds are bagged and sold, to be planted by farmers throughout the Midwest. Kincaid sells cover crops — vegetation that grows in the offseason to keep otherwise bare ground covered to reduce erosion and retain moisture.

Keeping a living root in the ground for as much of the year as possible is a tenet of regenerative agriculture — a movement that aims to farm with nature and reduce dependence on chemicals.

But cover crops can be a tough sell for farmers. It's expensive and could take years for those environmental benefits to appear.

“Can the operator and can the farm absorb the risk that comes with doing something new, knowing that it might take a few years for the full profitability to be seen?,” said Jennifer Simmelink, farmer and executive director of the Kansas Soil Health Alliance.

Simmelink said cover crops don’t earn a farmer a traditional income, but rather they’re an investment in the soil ... and that delayed return can be a barrier.

“It's easier to see money gained than money saved,” she said.

Even if cover crops result in long-term gains for soil health, they could be a flop in the short-term if the crop doesn’t align with weather, soil and climate conditions.

“It's so hard to put out, if you plant this, this will be your results, because it can vary,” said Simmelink.

Solveig Hanson is working with the University of Missouri Center for Regenerative Agriculture to create new cover crop varieties decrease that variability.

“We plant them in nurseries, we observe them, we select the best ones, and advance them,” she said.

Researchers hope to develop seeds that can thrive in specific regions, climates and soil conditions — and would help farmers adopt regenerative agriculture methods.

Hanson said this essentially name brand seed could be seen as less of a gamble than untested, uncleaned seed mixtures of unknown quality.

“What there's market space for really translates into what farmers see value in,” she said.

Much of what farmers already grow can be used as a cover crop — wheat, barley, rye — so long as it suits the environment.

Walking through his field in southwest Missouri, Macauley Kincaid said he’s a successful cover crop seed salesman because he uses a variety of them himself.

He said his cover crops improve the health of his soil and reduce erosion on his farm. Plus, it's dinner for his cows.