Stine Seed Company, Peoples Company expand partnership offering a paid-in-full cover crop program to landowners

ADEL, Iowa — Stine Seed Company is pleased to partner once again with Peoples Company, a full-service farmland transaction and management business, on the Sustainability Cover Crop Initiative. The initiative, which is operated by Peoples Company, offers landowners a paid-in-full, managed cover crop program. Previously offered in five states, the initiative is expanding into 11 additional states for the 2022–2023 season, with the goal to plant cover crops on 25,000 acres over the next two years in the 16 eligible states.

“Over the past four years, the Sustainability Cover Crop Initiative has been tremendously successful in increasing the usage of cover crops because landowners know it’s a win-win,” said Myron Stine, Stine president. “By strategically planting cover crops, landowners can protect natural resources like soil and water, decrease inputs needed to grow on unproductive acres, and increase the value of the farm by demonstrating higher yields. Stine Seed is eager to continue working alongside Peoples Company to expand the Sustainability Cover Crop Initiative because we know caring for the land is paramount to any farm’s success.”

Launched in 2018, the Sustainability Cover Crop Initiative was originally available to landowners in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska and Missouri. Now, landowners in Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee and Wisconsin are eligible to participate in the program.

“For 50 years, Peoples Company has been working alongside landowners to deploy innovative strategies to improve farming and land management outcomes,” said Steve Bruere, Peoples Company president. “The Sustainability Cover Crop Initiative offers landowners a rare opportunity to have their land professionally managed and pay nothing for the planting of highly beneficial cover crops while achieving third-party sustainability certification, which will make their land and its yield more valuable.”  

The program is available for new land management accounts with Peoples Company, up to a maximum of 25,000 acres. The cost of cover crop application will be covered up to $30/acre, with a minimum of 120 acres and a maximum of 500 acres planted per client. Cover crop seed and application decisions will be made by land management professionals. To receive cover crops paid in full by the program, landowners must agree to have their land professionally managed by Peoples Company during a three-year term and agree to planting Stine Seed.

For more information or to inquire about program enrollment, please visit www.CoverCropProgram.com or reach out to Peoples Company at LandManagement@PeoplesCompany.com or 855-800-5263.