Growing a cover crop with an appropriate amount of water use during long fallow periods between grain crops in a winter wheat–sorghum– fallow (WSF) system could increase productivity, profitability, resource use, and weed management. However, too much water use during the fallow period will reduce soil water storage for the subsequent crops and result in lower crop yields. The objective of this study was to identify potential spring fallow replacement cover crops and management options to optimize productivity, water use, and precipitation storage and use efficiency of a WSF cropping system.