EECO Implementation Program

• Crops included: Kernza®, winter barley, hybrid winter rye, winter camelina, elderberry, hybrid hazelnut
• Entire state of Minnesota eligible
• Covers up to 100 acres per crop per farm, 250 acres cap per operation
• Technical Assistance to growers
• Ecosystem Service payments $20-50 per acre
• Risk Management payment up to half the cost of production available in the event of crop or market failure
• Cost share available for select elderberry and hybrid hazelnut plantings

Enroll here

EECO enrollment must be filled out before planting an eligible crop 

Sign-up deadline Dec. 31st, 2025

• Participating growers will be eligible to enroll up to 100 acres per crop in the program, with a 250 acre cap per operation
• Growers must commit to best efforts to follow a Practice Standard containing best management practices (BMPs) to receive financial assistance
• Field and practice verification by a UMN technical representative may be required
• Prompt and cooperative responses and provision of documentation to EECO program staff is expected and much appreciated.

The pilot program covers all of Minnesota, as well as the tribal nations located in the same geographic area.

Top priority will be given to commercial row crop acres located in Drinking Water Source Management Areas (DWSMAs) or Wellhead Protection Areas (WHPAs). To see whether you farm in a DWSMA or WHPA, enter your address in this map.

Enrolling acres within DWSMA and WHPA remain the top priority.

The Forever Green EECO Implementation Program includes a de-risking payment program for enrolled growers including:

• Ecosystem service payments range from $25-50 per acre per year for perennials (Kernza) and $20-40 per acre for winter annuals (winter barley, winter camelina, and hybrid winter rye), based on field specific nitrate leaching reductions as modeled by the Nutrient Tracking Tool.
• Acres enrolled on DWSMAs will receive a 25% premium on their ecosystem service payments.
• Economic risk payments up to 50% of the cost of production in the event of on-farm or market failure. This is an outcomes-based and crop-specific payment triggered in the event of loss such as winter injury, market failure, production issue outside the growers control, etc. Documentation of on-farm or market failure must be included in order to receive payout. If a crop succeeds in the market bringing in returns above the cost of production, there is no economic risk payout. Cost of production will be based on a standardized enterprise budget using publicly available county-specific average land rental rates.

• Winter Camelina : $70/acre maximum
• Winter Barley : $115/acre maximum
• Hybrid Rye : $255/acre maximum
• Kernza : $175/acre maximum

• Hazelnuts : $16,500 (50% establishment costs) maximum for select Go-First Farm partnerships of at least five acres
• Elderberry : $1000 per acre provided to select plantings that strategically advance supply chain and market development for elderberry of at least one acre       

Enrolled growers will need to comply with program requirements and technical production standards to remain eligible for ecosystem service and economic risk mitigation payments.

The UMN Forever Green Initiative is developing the next generation of perennial and winter-annual crops to keep Midwest farms in production year-round. These crops diversify farmland, protect soil health, improve water quality, and provide pollinator habitat, all while providing additional economic opportunities for farmers and communities.   

Kernza intermediate wheatgrass is a perennial grain that has a long, dense root system that can greatly reduce nitrate leaching and deliver other environmental benefits to soil, water, and climate.

In Minnesota, Kernza is planted in late summer (mid-August to early September) and is usually harvested one year later (early to mid-August). Currently, Kernza produces a commercially viable grain harvest for three years in the upper Midwest.

Kernza also produces a high volume of forage and makes an excellent dual-use crop for grain and forage. Kernza is still in an ‘early adopter’ phase, meaning best practices for growing, harvesting, and post-harvest handling are still developing.

Markets for Kernza are also in development. A producer-owned and -led cooperative, Perennial Promise Grower’s Coop, is based in MN and will assist members in marketing . A few small businesses, such as Perennial Pantry, are able to directly purchase, clean, and process grain for use in their own products. Significant entrepreneurship is welcome and needed to grow the market for perennial grain.

All Kernza growers must be licensed by The Land Institute. Kernza stands will be eligible for program enrollment for three years of production. Existing plantings will be eligible for enrollment.

Additional Resources

• Kernza.Org Grower Resources
• Perennial Promise Growers Cooperative
• Arcola Farms
• Apply to be a Kernza grower
• EECO Program Kernza Best Management Practices

Winter camelina is a winter-hardy oilseed with a range of end-use applications, including renewable fuels, feed, food, bioplastic, and other industrial applications. In the Upper Midwest, camelina is being developed as a winter annual “cash cover crop” that is planted in mid-September to mid-October ideally following a spring small grain, early soybeans, or other short-season crops such as corn silage or canning crops. Camelina can then be relay-cropped with soybean the following spring. This system produces “three crops in two years” that can be harvested and marketed, along with offering the many water, soil, and climate benefits of full-season winter cover. 

Markets include contracts through Cargill for renewable fuels production and smaller niche markets for cover crop seed. 

Growers utilizing the relay or double crop soybean system with winter camelina are eligible for an additional $80/acre (100 acre cap). 

Additional Resource

• Winter Camelina Grower Guide
• Cargill Winter Camelina Program
• EECO Program Winter Camelina Best Management Practices

Winter barley is a fall-planted winter hardy small grain that is also a promising “cash cover crop” for growers, offering opportunities primarily in feed markets, but also value-added markets in milling & distilling. A new variety of winter barley, MN-Equinox, is the first facultative winter-hardy variety developed at the University of Minnesota that has good winter survival in the upper Midwest. 

Additional Resources

• UMN Winter Barley
• Winter Barley : An Emerging Crop
• Double Cropping Winter Barley With Soybeans
• EECO Program Winter Barley Best Management Practices

Hybrid Winter Rye has an established value-added market in the distilling industry, yielding at least 2 to 3 times more than typical open-pollinated varieties. Hybrid winter rye has also undergone extensive testing in feed markets, especially swine, showing great promise as an alternative feed ingredient that does not negatively influence animal growth or product attributes. Hybrid winter rye are proprietary genetics and require a signed license agreement with your seed provider. Saving the harvest back and/or selling it for cover crop seed use is not an allowable market for this crop. 

Additional Resources:

• KWS Hybrid Winter Rye Production Guide
• Hybrid Rye for Animal Feed
• Albert Lea Seed Buyers of Rye
• KWS Hybrid Rye Buyers List
• PFI Small Grains Business Directory
• EECO Program Hybrid Rye Best Management Practices

Hazelnuts are a hybrid cross of native Minnesota genetics with European hazelnuts that are a well-adapted and disease resistant perennial agroforestry crop for Minnesota. Hybrid hazelnuts have a bushier growth habit and are planted into systems with perennial pasture or other continuous living cover vs. the bare soil tree orchards of the Pacific Northwest. Well established emerging markets for nuts & oil exist in the upper Midwest through Hazel Heart Farms and a Go First Farm cooperative harvesting & processing network throughout Wisconsin & Minnesota. Access to plants and UMN genetics is restricted through participation in the Go First Farms Network and plantings of 5 acres minimum will be considered for EECO establishment support. 

Eligible operations will need to align with programmatic and collaborative goals of Upper Midwest Hazelnut Development Initiative.

Additional Resources:

• Upper Midwest Hazelnut Development Initiative
  • UMHDI - Hazelnuts 101 Fact Sheets
• Midwest Hazelnuts, LLC
• Hazelnuts Go First Farm Recruitment
• Hazel Heart Farms
• EECO Program Hazelnuts Best Management Practices (coming soon!)

Elderberries are a native perennial shrub that is well suited for understory plantings and agroforestry applications. Elderberries have a well-established market for juice, dried flowers, and dried berries in medicinal & culinary applications with the majority of the products coming from Europe. The Midwest is a prime location for commercial expansion of elderberry and can thrive in continuous living cover systems. Berries are marketed and processed through collaboration with the Midwest Elderberry Cooperative. Establishment support is available to select operations that meet the collaborative and programmatic needs of the EECO program and are required to be one acre or larger. 

Additional Resources:

• Midwest Elderberry Cooperative
• EECO Program Elderberry Best Management Practices (coming soon!)