Cover crops have traditionally been used in agriculture to slow erosion, improve soil health, enhance water availability, and help control pests that might otherwise interfere with the actual crops that are being grown there for harvest. They’re planted to cover the soil rather than for the purpose of being harvested. But what if cover crops can do more? What if they can produce new income streams while also sequestering carbon in the soil?
CoverCress is a new oilseed crop grown over winter between normal full-season corn and soybeans, acting like a cover crop while also producing oil and high protein feed that can fit markets similar to canola. Developed from pennycress, a flowering plant native to the U.S. Midwest, CoverCress functions as both a cover crop as well as a productive crop, combining soil improvement and grain production without displacing other crops. Click HERE to watch an introduction video that gives great details on what CoverCress is trying to do!
Learn how one company is developing a cover crop that pays at the next Agrifood Conversations on March 4 at 4:00 pm ET featuring Michael DeCamp, COO of CoverCress. Click HERE to register!
“Van Trump Farms”… Partnering with CoverCress! Now Available to Some Producers: I am also happy to announce that CoverCress is the newest crop added to our Van Trump Farms “Premium Acre Program”. Right now we are looking for growers in and around Southern Illinois to start growing this crop in the fall of 2022. We have a closed-loop value chain and the offer to the farmer is a contract to produce/harvest/deliver CoverCress to a pre-arranged collection site. We provide the seed to the grower and the grower gets paid on the contract at delivery. We are targeting $50/acre “NET” to the grower. I should note, at the moment space is limited and we can only accommodate a small number of producers who are willing to try around 250 acres. Click HERE if you’re interested or simply email your contact info to jordan@farmdirection.com and we will send you the information. I think the team at “CoverCress” are really onto something here and it’s worth learning more. I’m hoping collectively as a group we can get the best deal possible. Let us know if you are interested.
