PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Jun 5, 2018
Conservation for Very Erodible Row Cropland Act of 2018 or the COVER Act
This bill amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to modify Department of Agriculture (USDA) conservation programs to authorize additional assistance for farm practices related to soil health and carbon storage.
The bill modifies the Environmental Quality Incentives Program to require USDA to provide payments under the program for practices that:
improve soil health,
enhance the ability of a farmer to absorb and recover from shocks and stresses to production,
increase the storage of carbon on agricultural land, and
achieve other conservation outcomes determined by USDA.
The bill modifies the Conservation Innovation Grants program to establish a pilot program to provide payments to encourage: (1) the measurement of outcomes relating to the planting of a regionally appropriate cover crop, and (2) opportunities to increase farm income. In carrying out the program, USDA must prioritize certain projects with third-party partners such as academic entities, carbon offset protocol developers, livestock producers, and food manufacturers.
People & committees
Sen. Bennet, Michael F. [D-CO] · D–CO
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Aug 11, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze S.2989 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine S.2989 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine S.2989 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine S.2989 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.