McCully Kincaid

Inside a barn in southwest Missouri, farmer McCully Kincaid operates a massive and noisy seed mill.

Kincaid is the second generation in his family to cultivate crops for seed production, and he's still using the technology his uncle invested in 40 years ago.

Recently harvested barley seeds flow through pipes and sift down four levels of screens.

Kincaid conducts a rigorous seed testing and cleaning process so his product can be certified.

From the mill, the seeds are bagged and sold to be planted by farmers throughout the Midwest.

Kincaid sells cover crops, vegetation that grows in the off-season, to keep otherwise bare ground covered to reduce erosion and retain moisture.

Keeping a living root in the ground for as much of the year as possible is a tenet of regenerative agriculture, a movement that aims to farm with nature and reduce dependence on chemicals.

But cover crops can be a tough sell for farmers.

It's expensive and could take years for those environmental benefits to appear.

Jennifer Simmelink is a farmer and executive director of the Kansas Soil Health Alliance.

She says cover crops don't earn a farmer a traditional income, but rather they're an investment in the soil.

And that delayed return can be a barrier.

It's easier to see money gained than money saved.

Even if cover crops result in long-term gains for soil health, they could be a flop in the short term if the crop doesn't align with weather, soil, and climate conditions.

But what if there was less variability?

Solveig Hansen is working with the University of Missouri Center for Regenerative Agriculture to create new cover crop varieties.

Researchers hope to develop seeds that can thrive in specific regions, climates, and soil conditions and would help farmers adopt regenerative agriculture methods.

Hansen says this essentially name-brand seed could be seen as less of a gamble than untested, unclean seed mixtures of unknown quality.

Much of what farmers already grow can be used as a cover crop.

Wheat, barley, rye, so long as it suits the environment.