A summarization of the prior knowledge about potential cover crop benefits is needed for broader understanding of cover crop impacts on soil agricultural production and knowledge gaps that need further
Most agricultural soils are depleted of their soil organic matter (SOM) reserves. A severe loss of SOM content may degrade soil functionality, its capacity for provisioning of essential ecosystem services,
In the northern Great Plains, planting cover crops after a full-season cash crop often results in a poor or marginal stand due to low temperatures and/or dry soils. Greater stand
According to a survey of cover crop users in the United States, the second biggest challenge to the adoption of cover crops is successful establishment in a corn or soybean
Compared to tilled soil, no-till soils are cooler and wetter, potentially delaying planting dates and seed germination. Despite the benefits of cover crops, no-till farmers that use CCs tend to
Healthy soils constitute the foundation of thriving ecosystems and societies and are directly tied to food and nutritional security, water quality, human health, climate change mitigation/adaptation, and biodiversity. While soil
In agroecosystems, small increase in biodiversity can lead to large benefits for ecosystem function. Cover crop mixtures can increase the functional trait diversity of crop rotations during windows between cultivation