Farmers can get up to $25 per acre in cost-share to plant cover crops under a new water quality project that aims to educate farmers about conservation practices while supplying sustainably-raised soybeans to food companies.

The project, involving the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Unilever and other partners, offers cost-share to farmers who establish or expand their cover crop acreage and sign on to the Sustainable Soy program led by Unilever and Archer Daniels Midland (ADM). The two companies are working to build a supply chain that will allow ADM to supply sustainably-produced soybean oil to Unilever for its Hellman’s and Best Foods mayonnaise brands.

Farmers involved in the program will be "at the cutting edge of a new supply chain, through which buyers like Unilever will increasingly be seeking out products from certified sustainably-grown soybeans," said Maree Deventer, soy...