While the number of cover crop acres in Iowa increased last year, it still fell short of the goal in Iowa’s Nutrient Reduction Strategy.

Last year, Iowa’s cover crop acres grew by 22% to 760,000 total acres. The goal was 12.5 million acres in the strategy. According to Iowa learning Farms’ year-end evaluation, 69% of the new acres were planted by farmers who started seeding cover crops at least three years ago. And only 11% were first time cover crop farmers on their land.