Farmers can be paid for their conservation practices in numerous ways, including carbon markets, clean fuels and supply chain management opportunities. Minnesota Farmers Union Climate and Working Lands Director Ariel Kagan sees the organization as an unbiased source of information about these revenue opportunities. “We’re continuing to look at these new federal and state policies to get our heads around them so that we can help our members make good decisions.” Unfortunately, Kagen says the data isn’t keeping up with reality. “When you look at the data about how many cover crops are in Minnesota, it’s pretty low. We are seeing increases in the data, but it’s, it doesn’t reflect what I think is really happening on the ground. People are starting to experiment with cover crops and reduced tillage.”
