On U.S. cropland, the use of cover crops increased by 50 percent between 2012 and 2017. During this same period, Federal and State conservation programs increased efforts to promote cover
Cover crops provide a variety of important agroecological services within cropping systems. Typically, these crops are grown as monocultures or simple graminoid-legume bicultures; however, ecological theory and empirical evidence suggest
With the decision to adopt cover crops, a conservation practice that is becoming increasingly popular throughout the country, the economic picture can admittedly be hard to decipher at first. This
In late 2012 and early 2013, the North Central Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program and the Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC) conducted a survey of farmers who grow
In the first few months of 2014, the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program and the Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC) conducted a national survey of farmers about the
This document summarizes information collected from more than 1,200 farmers across the United States who completed an online survey on cover crops in early 2015. A large majority of respondents
The fourth annual SARE/CTIC Cover Crop Survey collected data from 2,020 respondents from 48 states and the District of Columbia. Eighty-one percent described themselves as cover crop users. Their plantings
Cover crops are a key component of conservation cropping systems. They can also be a key component of integrated crop-livestock systems by offering high-quality forage during short periods between cash
In the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, winter cereal cover crops are often planted in rotation with summer crops to reduce the loss of nutrients and sediment from agricultural systems. Cover crops
Cover crops can be useful tools to improve nutrient management and protect air, soil, and water quality. However, when using cover crops, producers need to determine the type of cover
When we use tillage, the soil ecosystem is disturbed on a massive scale. Purdue’s Dr. Eileen Kladivko contrasts natural ecosystems with tilled systems and describes what we stand to lose
The definition of soil health is changing. For many decades, the study of soil health emphasized soil’s physical and chemical properties. Today, soil scientists strive to include biological aspects as
Research has clearly shown that many of the same soil health practices of interest to farmers for enhancing productivity are also beneficial for water quality. Consequently, conducting the additional research
Soil organic carbon (SOC) is a vital component of soil with important effects on the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems. Storage of SOC results from interactions among the dynamic ecological processes
Over the past 150 years, the amount of carbon in the atmosphere has increased by 30%. Most scientists believe there is a direct relationship between increased levels of carbon dioxide
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