Farmers across Illinois have a new opportunity to save money and improve soil health as the Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA) rolls out the sixth year of its popular Fall Covers for Spring Savings Program. Designed to encourage the use of cover crops, the program not only supports sustainable farming practices but also offers financial incentives to participants.
The pre-enrollment phase opens today, allowing farmers to input and validate their application information ahead of the official submission period, which starts at 8:00 AM on December 16. Applications can be saved and edited until submission. This year’s program allocates funding for 190,000 acres of farmland, with spots available on a first-come, first-served basis. Given the high demand last year, when all available acreage was claimed in less than an hour, farmers are encouraged to act swiftly. By the end of the previous application period, requests had exceeded 241,650 acres.
The program applies to farmland in Illinois seeded with cover crops in fall 2024 that will transition to insurable crops in 2025. Participating farmers can receive up to $5 per acre off their 2025 crop insurance premiums for every verified acre of cover crops, depending on their individual insurance policies.
To qualify, farmers must:
Certify their cover crops with their local Farm Service Agency (FSA) office.
Provide a current FSA-578 form and federal crop insurance policy numbers.
Have coverage through the USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) crop insurance program.
The program emphasizes additional acreage of cover crops not already covered by other state or federal programs. IDOA will verify all acres enrolled to ensure they meet program standards before forwarding confirmed applications to the RMA for processing. Cover crops play a crucial role in improving soil health, reducing erosion, and enhancing water retention. By offering this financial incentive, the state aims to make these benefits more accessible while promoting environmentally responsible farming.
Farmers interested in participating should prepare their documents and submit their applications as soon as the submission window opens. For more details, contact the IDOA at 217-782-6297.
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