Growing up on a six-generation, family-owned dairy farm in Michigan, I remember helping my dad seed clover in the fall after harvesting corn silage. The goal was to produce some cheap fertilizer, protect the ground from winter erosion and mellow the soil prior to moldboard plowing, discing and planting in the spring.

Serious conflicts among government farm program and crop-insurance rules, regarding last fall’s seeding of cover crops, could lead to serious concerns regarding qualification for this year’s payments.