COVER Act of 2023

This bill amends the Federal Crop Insurance Act to establish a Good Steward Cover Crop program and a Soil Health Pilot Program, providing additional premium subsidies to producers who plant cover crops or use innovative soil health practices. Sec. 2, Good Steward Cover Crop Program: The Secretary of Agriculture must carry out a program starting with crop year 2023 to give additional premium subsidies to producers for each acre where they plant qualifying cover crops (like cereal, grass, legume, brassica, or nonlegume broadleaf for conservation) and also plant other crops and buy crop insurance for those other crops. The subsidy is $5 per acre, calculated on a common land unit basis, but cannot exceed the premium owed for that acre, and is adjusted for the producer's share. Participation in state conservation programs does not disqualify a producer. The Secretary must conduct outreach to producers, including underserved producers, and enter cooperative agreements for outreach. Annual reports to Congress must summarize activities, and a study within 4 years must examine if cover crops reduce crop insurance payments and stabilize yields. Funding is mandatory: $60 million for fiscal year 2024, $66 million for 2025, $72 million for 2026, $78 million for 2027, and $84 million for 2028, with up to $5 million per year for technical assistance, outreach, and program support. Sec. 3, Soil Health Pilot Program: The Federal Crop Insurance Corporation must establish a pilot program where producers using innovative soil health practices, like conservation crop rotations, can get additional premium subsidies on crop insurance. The subsidies must be offered through reinsurance with private companies, be actuarially sound, and require producers to pay premiums and administrative fees. The pilot program will be conducted in a number of counties determined adequate for a comprehensive evaluation.