Farmers

You Are Always the Decision Maker.

No two farms are the same, and no one knows your fields better than you. That’s why we are not prescriptive about the conservation practices you implement. Our field team pairs farmers with opportunities based on your operation’s needs and challenges.

We keep you in the driver’s seat, with one-year contracts and the option to re-enroll in subsequent years. Use our clear, detailed data to make informed decisions about land management practices and maximize the benefits of our programs while improving your bottom line.

Get Started

1-YEAR CONTRACTS

NO LIMITS ON ACRES
ENROLLED

25% PAID PRIOR TO
VERIFICATION

Our Process

  • STEP 1:

    Use our online portal to create an account, map field boundaries, and enter cropping system information.

  • STEP 2:

    Review the proposed payment offering and decide if you wish to continue.

  • STEP 3:

    Sign your contract to confirm your participation and receive your initial 25% payment.

  • STEP 4:

    Implement conservation practices, with your SWOF field representative helping along the way.

  • STEP 5:

    Receive the remaining 75% payment after your farm’s outcomes are measured and verified in the spring.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • To qualify for enrollment, your field must be in an eligible county, you must be willing to adopt at least one new conservation practice, and you must create an account through our website to enter past and proposed practice information and field boundaries.

  • In general, the more practices you include, the higher outcome payment you will generate. Soil types and baseline practices affect the outcomes, so it is hard to consistently say what each practice yields for an outcome payment. We suggest using both cover crops and either reduced or no tillage.

  • You still need to add at least one additional conservation practice. We suggest breaking down your operation field by field and decide if there is a practice you can add.

    — Are you using cover crops before both corn and soybeans? If you are only seeding a cover crop ahead of your soybeans, you could add it in front of your corn as well.

    — Can you add an extended rotation? If you could add diversity to your corn/soybean rotation, that would be considered a change.

    — Is 100% of your operation using no-till and cover crops? If not, the Soil and Water Outcomes Fund would be a fit for the rest of your fields.

  • If you would like to enroll acres, identify which fields you would like to enroll and the types of practices you can add to those fields. A map of geographical areas currently open for enrollment is listed in several places on our site. View the map and get started here.

  • The contract is for one crop year. You have the option to re-enroll acres each year and/or include more practices. Once a contract is signed, payments are made in two installments: 25% is paid prior to verification, and 75% is paid afterward.

  • No, there is not an acre cap per farmer. Enrollment closes once we reach our acre goal for the year.

  • Some areas are subject to be incompatible with government programs. Contact your local SWOF representative for details on your area.

  • The Soil and Water Outcomes Fund only enrolls acres where there is a guaranteed outcome purchaser. So, as long as farmers are compliant with their contract, payment will be made.

  • The environmental outcomes are being purchased by a combination of public and private customers to achieve their sustainability goals - such as scope 3 emission insets - with reduced risk and increasing cost efficiency. Specific customer information will be shared with farmers once the final outcomes payment has been made.

  • When compared to other carbon programs, The Soil and Water Outcomes Fund typically has a higher potential payment. This is because we provide compensation to farmers for water quality improvements in addition to carbon (CO2e) outcomes.

    In addition, our staff are highly regarded for the degree of hands-on support they provide farmers during the enrollment, practice implementation, and monitoring and verification processes.

  • “Over the years, our soil health and organic matter are slowly creeping up. We are using less and less commercial fertilizers while getting more and more yields. I can tell you that what we are doing is working because I'm able to raise more yield with less input.”

    — Travis Milne, Missouri

  • “Soil health is the number one priority here. Everything we farm, whether we own it or rent it, we want to improve the ground for the next generation…I chose your program because I liked the way it was designed and set up, but you are also easy to work with. No hiccups whatsoever.”

    — Dan Glandorf, Iowa

  • “With the help of SWOF, we’ve been able to make more widespread reductions in our tillage. We’ve also been experimenting with cover crops. Together, these efforts are helping us become more sustainable and resilient as weather patterns change, and they also save us time and money in labor.”

    — Grant Allyn, Indiana

  • “Being a smaller producer, I'm always thinking of how we can advance and do things a little differently to be more efficient. When you don't have to run a chisel across the field and you don’t have to soil finish it, that makes a difference!”

    — Lillie Beringer-Crock, Iowa