Cover crops are a farming practice that can reduce negative environmental impacts. Public subsidies are provided to encourage them. Nevertheless, area in cover crops increased less between 2017 and 2022 than between 2012 and 2017. Moreover, other covered cropland has declined including cropland in commercial fall-seeded crops (particularly winter wheat and forages), land in the Conservation Reserve Program, and pasture and forage land that can be converted into cropland without additional improvement (see Data Note). These findings raise questions about current US policy initiatives in this area of farm environmental policy, including the level of subsidy needed.
