Practice: Cover Crops
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Crop Insurance Discount Program (CIDP)
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Receive a $5/acre rebate on your crop insurance if you plant cover crops. An especially helpful program for those who miss deadlines for other, higher-paying programs.
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Water Quality Initiative (WQI)
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This state incentive is popular because it’s easy to sign up for and accepts both new and continuing acres. But sign up early! Funds are first come, first served.
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Practical Farmers of Iowa (PFI) Cover Crop Program
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PFI offers a straightforward program that many farmers come back to year after year for its ease of use.
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Soil and Water Outcomes Fund (SWOF)
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Run by AgOutcomes, a subsidiary of Iowa Soybean Association, SWOF is a carbon inset program that pays farmers for environmental outcomes. It’s great for farmers with long term goals becasue you can add new practices every year to potentially increase your rates.
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Farmers for Soil Health
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A program made by farmers for farmers, this is a USDA grant funded initially by the Climate Smart Program (now known as AMP, or the Advancing Markets For Producers program). New in 2026, payments are $35 per acre for all farmers, not just those who are new to cover crops, and farmers must sign up…
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EQIP/RCPP
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RCPP and EQIP are both USDA programs administered through NRCS and offer some of the highest payment rates. Often, the rates are similar, which is why we have them grouped here. However, RCPP rates can sometimes differ because RCPP is based on individual project areas within the state of Iowa.