Abstract: Cultivated land underpins food security, and coal is fundamental to energy security, national development, and social stability. However, in China’s plains, extensive coal–cropland overlapping areas face a key sustainability challenge: mining-induced subsidence damages farmland and disrupts ecosystems, making the coordination of extraction and protection an urgent priority. To address the prevalent disconnect between subsurface mining design and surface protection in such areas, this study examines a coal mine in Shandong Province. To achieve 100% post-mining reclamation, regional surface deformation is linked to coordinated underground and surface measures via an active adaptive mining subsidence-control framework. This approach analyses the coupling mechanism between active mining and cultivated land protection, proposing a novel integrated strategy for plains coal–cropland zones. Building on this, a digital coupling model balancing underground mining benefits with surface reclamation returns was developed, enabling a comprehensive cost–benefit analysis of the active mining protection mechanism. The model was optimized using the Beluga Whale Optimization algorithm. Engineering case results show that, compared to the conventional “mining first, reclamation later” model, the new strategy not only achieves 100% farmland reclamation with full resource recovery but also delivers greater long-term economic and social benefits. The findings provide technical support for protecting cultivated land and ensuring stable coal supply in China’s coal–cropland overlapping regions.