While incentive payments may have helped drive cover crop adoption, a recent study finds that isn’t the only reason farmers continue to plant them. Ryan Heiniger, executive director of the Conservation Technology Information Center, says the National Cover Crop Survey reports farmers are seeing a wide range of benefits. The survey was conducted by the CTIC, Sustainable Ag Research and Education group, and the American Seed Trade Association. “Soil structure, less soil erosion, less soil compaction are among the many benefits that farmers are seeing and rating as some of the top benefits that they’ve observed in using cover crops,” he says.
He says land ownership was once considered a barrier to cover crop use, but the study tells a different story. “14.2% of cover crop users do not own any of the land that they farm, compared to only 9.6% of non-cover crop users not owning any of the land they farm,” he says.
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