DES MOINES, Iowa (Iowa Capital Dispatch) – Farmers upstream of the Des Moines region are eligible for cover crop incentives as part of state legislation to improve water quality in central Iowa. The expanded incentive program, which Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig announced Monday, is the “first of several” conservation initiatives in the Greater Des Moines Watershed Program rolling out over the next several weeks.
The practices are aimed at improving conservation and reducing nutrient runoff from agricultural land into Iowa rivers. A Polk County study from 2025 pinned agriculture as the primary contributor to high nitrate levels in the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers. Nitrate concentrations in the rivers have caused lawn watering bans in central Iowa this summer and last summer.
Naig and Gov. Kim Reynolds introduced a $319 million water quality investment, dubbed the “farm to faucet” package, during the legislative session. The funding package, which passed and was signed as part of the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship annual budget, will fund water quality monitoring, conservation practices in the Des Moines watershed and water treatment infrastructure improvements.
The first phase of the watershed program, announced Monday, allows farmers in eligible counties to enroll in cover crop cost assistance up to $25 per acre for as much as 500 acres. Participants living in Audubon, Boone, Buena Vista, Calhoun, Carroll, Clay, Dallas, Dickinson, Emmet, Greene, Guthrie, Hamilton, Hancock, Humboldt, Kossuth, Palo Alto, Pocahontas, Polk, Sac, Webster, Winnebago and Wright counties can be new or existing cover crop users.
“Cover crops are one of the most effective tools we have to keep soil and nutrients in the field, improve soil health, and protect water quality,” Naig said in the news release. “That’s why we’re increasing incentives and making it easier for farmers and landowners to participate.”
Cover crops, or the practice of keeping plants in the soil between harvest and planting seasons, is a conservation practice prioritized by the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy. Close to 4 million acres of Iowa farmland, or about 17%, had a cover crop in 2024, according to the Iowa Nutrient Research & Education Council. The 2024 figure was more than double the acreage planted with cover crop in 2017.
Farmers in the 22 eligible counties can sign up for the program at their U.S. Department of Agriculture service center and find more information on the Clean Water Iowa website. Naig said the “targeted conservation efforts” upstream of Des Moines will “complement” the infrastructure investments made downstream.
The department’s funding legislation, signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds earlier this summer, included a $25 million grant to Central Iowa Water Works to expand infrastructure and expand the nitrate removal capacity of the network that provides potable water to the Des Moines region.
The farm to faucet funding package also allocated funds for small and medium sized communities to upgrade water infrastructure systems. The news release from IDALS said additional conservation investments from the program will be announced “in the weeks ahead.”
