美国国家公共电台 NPR--More Midwest farmers are planting 'cover crops' in the off-season to help the climate

More Midwest farmers are planting 'cover crops' in the off-season to help the climate

Transcript¹

More Midwestern farmers are planting off-season crops that help protect the soil and reduce fertilizer use. The next farm bill could make it easier to adopt this practice.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Farmers usually plant in the spring and harvest in fall. Now more are beginning to plant crops that cover the ground in the offseason instead of leaving fields empty. These are known as cover crops. And efforts are underway to get more farmers to adopt the practice. Jonathan Ahl of St. Louis Public Radio explains how they're used and how they can help farmers and the climate.

JONATHAN AHL, BYLINE²: Tim Gottman's 2,400 acre farm in northeast Missouri looks harvested, but among the remnants of corn stalks are blobs of green plants that are thriving despite the cold and windy conditions of early spring in the Midwest. Gottman points to acres of gently sloping land wet from a recent rain.

TIM GOTTMAN: So all this water would be running that way, and if them terraces weren't there and this green, the wheat and rye weren't here, it would just allow the water to run faster and take the soil with it. And when the soil is leaving, your fertilizer is going with it.

AHL: Gottman is a big fan of the offseason plants, and he says they're working to improve the bottom line on his corn and soybean farm. He's not alone. The University of Illinois completed a study using a combination of USDA reports and satellite images to produce the most accurate survey of cover crop usage in the Midwest. The study found in the past 10 years, the number of acres using the practice tripled. But it comes with a big caveat³.

JONATHAN COPPESS: It is certainly not at a level that would be necessary for some of the challenges, like the water quality challenges, like soil erosion. It's going to take a lot more acres to get there.

AHL: Jonathan Coppess is the director of the University of Illinois' Ag Policy Program. He says the new data shows the cover crop usage went from 1.8% to 7.2% - a big jump but still a small number of acres. Coppess says he hopes there will be more incentives⁴ for them put into the farm bill that's up for renewal⁵ this year. He says there could be more bipartisan support for a program that can help reduce fertilizer costs and work to address climate change because cover crops can also help take carbon out of the atmosphere.

COPPESS: We can use it maybe to design up policies that will help incentivize the behavior, help incentivize the practice. It can maybe help jumpstart that by showing, you know, funds going in for this practice will get response on the ground, and we can measure it.

AHL: The offseason planting strategy is also getting endorsements⁶ from large agriculture groups, including the National Corn and Soybean Growers Associations. Kurt Boeckmann is the director of environmental programs for Missouri Corn. He says there has been a lot of progress, but there needs to be more. But he also says it's important to farmers to be encouraged and not forced.

KURT BOECKMANN: Really, just want to make sure that it's voluntary. We don't want to mandate⁷ anything. We don't want farmers to be forced into planting cover crops on their acres. We want them to make those decisions. They know their land better than anyone.

AHL: Sixty-five percent of Tim Gottman's farmland has cover crops on it, but he understands why more farmers don't plant them. He says large corporate-owned farms don't want to put in the time or effort to take care of the land.

GOTTMAN: Because you got plants out there growing on you on a field that you're wanting to plant, and it's three counties away, and rain's coming. You're not heading to spray over there. They just want the dirt because they're not really farming for maybe the same reason I am.

AHL: The current farm bill expires in September, and incentives for cover crops will be a tiny sliver⁸ of what looks to be a more than a half-a-trillion-dollar package. But there will be countless⁹ programs and initiatives competing for those dollars.

For NPR News, I'm Jonathan Ahl, in Rolla, Mo.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 caveat   

n.警告； 防止误解的说明

参考例句：

• I would offer a caveat for those who want to join me in the dual calling.为防止发生误解，我想对那些想要步我后尘的人提出警告。
• As I have written before,that's quite a caveat.正如我以前所写，那确实是个警告。

4 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

5 renewal   

adj.(契约)延期，续订，更新，复活，重来

参考例句：

• Her contract is coming up for renewal in the autumn.她的合同秋天就应该续签了。
• Easter eggs symbolize the renewal of life.复活蛋象征新生。

6 endorsements   

n.背书( endorsement的名词复数 )；（驾驶执照上的）违章记录；（公开的）赞同；（通常为名人在广告中对某一产品的）宣传

参考例句：

• He must make much money on those tennis shoe endorsements he does. 他替那些网球鞋珍重广告，就赚了不少钱。 来自互联网
• But celebrity endorsements remain an important promotional tool for marketers. 尽管如此，邀明星助阵仍是营销人员重要的推广手段之一。 来自互联网

7 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

8 sliver   

n.裂片，细片，梳毛；v.纵切，切成长片，剖开

参考例句：

• There was only one sliver of light in the darkness.黑暗中只有一点零星的光亮。
• Then,one night,Monica saw a thin sliver of the moon reappear.之后的一天晚上，莫尼卡看到了一个月牙。

9 countless   

adj.无数的，多得不计其数的

参考例句：

• In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。
• I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。