Iowa landowners interested in preserving the future use of their farms may have that opportunity by enrolling their land into a permanent easement through USDA’s Agricultural Land Easements (ALE) program. Interested entities and their landowner partners have until Jan. 31 to apply for this year’s Iowa funding allocation.

Available through the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP), an ALE restricts converting the land to a non-agricultural use. Grazing and pastureland can also be protected through ALE, says Kurt Simon, state conservationist for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service in Iowa.

NRCS provides financial assistance to eligible partners for purchasing the easements, contributing up to 50% of the easement value of the land for agricultural lands. The NRCS assistance is matched by the partner entity. The landowner may continue to farm the land.

Landowners must partner with an entity
Landowners interested in enrolling their working farms into this program must partner with a cooperating entity on their application. Eligible cooperating entity partners include Indian tribes, state and local governments, and nongovernmental organizations that have farmland or grassland conservation easement programs. NRCS administers ACEP-ALE, but will not hold the easement deeds with individuals. NRCS offices can provide interested landowners with contact information of eligible cooperating entities.

To learn more about the program, visit NRCS, or contact your local NRCS office for a list of land trusts operating in Iowa.

Also, USDA announced that the Farm Service Agency, NRCS and Risk Management Agency have worked together to develop a consistent, simple and flexible policy for cover crop practices. Termination and reporting guidelines were updated for cover crops.

The cover crop termination guidelines provide the timeline for terminating cover crops, are based on zones, and apply to nonirrigated cropland. Go online to view the zones and additional guidelines. Click on “Cover Crop Termination Guidelines.”

The intended use of  “cover only” will be used to report cover crops. This includes crops that were terminated by tillage and reported with an intended use code of green manure. An FSA policy change will allow cover crops to be hayed and grazed. Program eligibility for the cover crop that is being hayed or grazed will be determined by each specific program.

If the crop reported as “cover only” is harvested for any use other than forage or grazing, and is not terminated properly, that crop will no longer be considered a cover crop. Crops reported with an intended use of “cover only” will not count toward total cropland on the farm. In these situations, a subsequent crop will be reported to account for all cropland on the farm.

Cover crops include grasses, legumes and forbs for seasonal cover and other conservation purposes. Cover crops are primarily used for erosion control, soil health improvement and water quality improvement. The cover crop may be terminated by natural causes, such as frost, or intentionally terminated through chemical application, crimping, rolling, tillage or cutting. A cover crop managed or terminated according to NRCS Cover Crop Termination Guidelines is not considered a crop for crop insurance purposes.

Cover crops can be planted. With no subsequent crop planted, before a subsequent crop, after prevented planted acreage, after a planted crop, or into a standing crop.