*Global CA-CoP* *CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE*
*for sustainable agriculture and land management*
Dear Subscribers,
Please see herebelow an announcement from SARE (Sustainable Agriculture
Research and Education) on the publication: When Do Cover Crops Pay?
Apologoes for any cross-posting.
*Amir Kassam *
*Moderator*
*Global CA-CoP*
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
URL: http://www.fao.org/conservation-agriculture
*Conservation Agriculture is an ecosystem approach to regenerative
sustainable agriculture and land management based on the practical
application of context-specific and locally adapted three interlinked
principles of: (i) Continuous no or minimum mechanical soil disturbance
(no-till seeding/planting and weeding, and minimum soil disturbance with
all other farm operations including harvesting); (ii) permanent
maintenance of soil mulch cover (crop biomass, stubble and cover crops);
and (iii) diversification of cropping system (economically, environmentally
and socially adapted rotations and/or sequences and/or associations
involving annuals and/or perennials, including legumes and cover crops),
along with other complementary good agricultural production and land
management practices. Conservation Agriculture systems are present in all
continents, involving rainfed and irrigated systems including annual
cropland systems, perennial systems, orchards and plantation systems,
agroforestry systems, crop-livestock systems, pasture and rangeland
systems, organic production systems and rice-based systems. Conservation
Tillage, Reduced Tillage and Minimum Tillage are not Conservation
Agriculture, and nor is No-Till on its own* (more at:
http://www.fao.org/conservation-agriculture).
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: SARE <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wed, 19 Jun 2019 at 15:46
Subject: When Do Cover Crops Pay? New SARE Publication Addresses the
Question
To: Amir Kassam <[log in to unmask]>
An economic analysis of cover crop profitability for row crop farmers.
Click here to view online.
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Join SARE:
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*When Do Cover Crops Pay? *
*New USDA-SARE Report Addresses the Question *
Farmers around the country are planting cover crops on millions of acres to
protect and improve the soil, and the more that farmers use cover crops,
the more they value this conservation practice. *Cover Crop Economics*
<https://list.mg2.mlgnserv.com/track/click?u=7374bc3ef77a4d7a5bf6c9128e30cabe&id=48a5111d&e=5f69ce4273dc5de0>,
a new report published by USDA-SARE looks at the economics of cover crops
to help farmers answer that big question: "When do cover crops pay?"
The key, says North Dakota farmer Justin Zahradka, who has been planting
cover crops since 2011, is to “look at cover crops as an investment rather
than a cost.”
*Download or order Cover Crop Economics now! (Print copies available in
July)*
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Based primarily on yield and economic data gathered through five years of
national cover crop surveys, *Cover Crop Economics: Opportunities to
Improve Your Bottom Line in Row Crops* addresses the kinds of economic
returns that can be expected from cover crops, both under various
management scenarios and as cover crops improve soil health over time. The
report is timely, as the latest Census of Agriculture revealed that
national cover crop acreage increased by 50% from 2012 to 2017. It’s also
timely due to the interest in cover crops for planting on fields that were
flooded or otherwise unplanted (prevent plant situations) this spring, in
order to suppress weeds while protecting and improving the soil.
“The five years of national cover crop surveys showed us that cover crops
do improve commodity yields over time as farmers gain experience with cover
crops and the soil is improved,” says lead author Rob Myers, of the
University of Missouri and North Central SARE. “We saw this pattern in all
five years of the survey for both corn and soybeans.”
Because there is no one-size-fits-all answer to when cover crops start
paying for themselves, *Cover Crop Economics: Opportunities to Improve Your
Bottom Line in Row Crops*
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takes a holistic look at the question. It explores seven common management
situations for commodity farmers that can affect how quickly they receive a
positive net return from cover crops. In reviewing national survey data and
information from other studies and farmers experiences, the publication
describes a number of situations in which cover crops may increase
profitability within a year or two.
Prime examples of fast returns include when drought occurs when
herbicide-resistant weeds are a challenge, or when cover crops are grazed.
Other management situations which can speed up positive returns from cover
crops include when a farmer is dealing with compacted soils or is
transitioning to no-till, or when cover crops are contributing to a
commodity crop’s nutrient needs. Also, receiving federal or state incentive
payments while transitioning to cover crop use can make a major
contribution to a quick economic return.
Some key findings from the report include (see the full report for details
on the calculations and assumptions underlying these conclusions):
- When herbicide-resistant weeds are a significant problem, cover crops
can be profitable in the first year of use
- When cover crops are grazed, they can provide a profit in the first
year of use if fencing and water are already available
- When soil compaction occurs, cover crops can provide a profit by the
second year of use
The findings in *Cover Crop Economics: Opportunities to Improve Your Bottom
Line in Row Crops*
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are based on an analysis of five years of data from the National Cover Crop
Survey, conducted by the Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC)
and SARE in the 2012-2016 growing seasons. This survey provides the largest
multi-year data set on cover crop yield response that has ever been
assembled, according to Myers, with about 500 farmers providing yield data
in most years of the survey.
In 2015 and 2016, the survey captured more detailed data on yield response
in a given field based on the number of years cover crops had been planted
in it. In those years, average corn and soybean yield increases in response
to covers were:
- After one year of cover crop use, corn yields increased 0.5% and
soybean yields 2.1%
- After three years of cover crops, corn yields increased 1.8% and
soybeans yields 3.5%
- After five years of cover crops, corn yields increased 3% and soybean
yields 5%
In the drought year of 2012, there was a significantly bigger yield boost
from cover cropping on the majority of farms responding to the survey. Corn
yields increased by 6% and soybeans by 11.4% after one year of cover crop
use due to impacts on rainfall infiltration, reduced soil evaporation from
cover crop residue, changes to soil biology such as increased mycorrhizal
fungi, and potentially deeper rooting of cash crops.”
Other smaller studies on yield response to cover crops have found a variety
of results, some showing modest yield increases and some showing no yield
response. “I think yield response to covers depends on how the farmer or
researcher manages the cover crop and the soil types they have, but clearly
there have been a range of yield impacts reported,” says Myers. “As with
other crop management practices, it takes planning to get the best results,
and mistakes can lead to a yield loss, particularly if cereal rye is used
before corn without adjustments to fertilizer practices or without
appropriate termination timing.”
For this report, the authors used $25 per acre as the cost of cover crop
seed and $12 per acre as the cost of seeding (when hired), for a total of
$37 per acre to establish cover crops. These figures are based on median
data from the surveys.
Experienced cover crop users often find ways to use them for less. One
large Iowa farmer grows his own cereal rye seed and plants a bushel of rye
per acre as a cover, according to Myers. He finds his cost for seed is $9
per acre and his cost of seeding is $5 per acre by using a high capacity
fertilizer spreader to broadcast the rye seed, making a total of $14 per
acre for seed and seeding. Others may keep the cost of seeding to a minimum
by seeding cover crops with a vertical tillage tool they would be operating
in any case. Some farmers have termination costs for cover crops, but many
do not, as they are already applying a spring burn down herbicide.
Alan Weber, an ag economist who has used cover crops on his own farm and
who co-authored Cover Crop Economics: Opportunities to Improve Your Bottom
Line in Row Crops, says, “One of our key takeaways from the review we did
of data and farmer approaches is that when farmers start to adopt cover
crops, they frequently start to determine other ways to make their cropping
system more economically efficient, finding they can save costs in certain
areas such as fertility or weed control. For some farmers those cost
savings from cover crops can be significant, particularly in certain
situations with herbicide-resistant weeds. In other cases, those cost
savings will be more minor, but the input savings generally increase over
time. Some aspects of soil health respond quickly to cover crops, such as
more earthworms and mycorrhiza, while other soil changes take longer.”
In the longer term, as aggregate soil structure starts to improve, cover
crops in combination with no-till can allow farmers to get into the field a
little earlier for planting or harvest in wet years, which can be another
way that cover crops provide a positive economic impact. Several years of
cover crop use can gradually start to improve soil organic matter, which
can improve soil water-holding capacity and help improve the inherent
fertility of the soil.
As a bottom line, Myers says, “Thousands of farmers are finding the
profitability benefits of cover crops on their farm do improve over time.
Depending on circumstances specific to each field and farm, cover crops may
provide a relatively quick profit, such as from grazing, or may take 2-3
years to provide a return. It’s not unlike how applying ag lime can take
2-3 years to pay, or buying a new piece of equipment can take a few years
to cash flow. However, if producers use cover crops to address problems
specific to their farm, such as weeds, fertility, erosion, or compaction,
they can quickly gain cost efficiencies with their commodity cash crops.
The cover crops also provide a management tool to make soils more resilient
to excessively dry or wet weather while building towards long-term
improvements in profit.”
Download or order your free print copy of *Cover Crop Economics:
Opportunities to Improve Your Bottom Line in Row Crops *at
www.sare.org/cover-crop-economics
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by calling (301) 779-1007. *Print copies will be shipped in early July. **Cover
Crop Economics *is available in quantity for free to educators for use in
educational workshops, classes or tours.
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