Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig announced the launch of the Greater Des Moines Watershed Program, a targeted initiative to accelerate and scale up the use of conservation practices across 22 counties upstream from the Des Moines metro.
The Farm to Faucet water quality package supports conservation incentives, cost-share and targeted investments to improve water quality upstream and downstream. The first phase of the program enhances cover crop incentives for farmers and landowners in the Greater Des Moines watershed, increasing cost-share payments for both new and existing cover crop users to $25 per acre on up to 500 acres per farmer or landowner.
The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship is investing an additional $2.5 million in the program with the goal of doubling cover crop adoption across the watershed.
