Cover Crop Advisors Survey Highlights Usage Trends
Over 650 farm advisors from 46 U.S. states participated in a recent national survey on cover crops. The report, released by the Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC), SARE, and ASTA, is the eighth survey since 2012 and the first to focus specifically on advisors.
"Advisors play a key role in informing farmers about cover crops and providing technical assistance to help them succeed with covers," said Rob Myers, director of the University of Missouri Center for Regenerative and regional director of extension programs for North Central Region SARE. "Understanding their attitudes toward cover crops, how they get their information, and how they perceive cover crop benefits will help guide efforts to support those advisors."
"This survey opened a window into how cover crops fit into crop consulting businesses and other advisory services. We also observed that seeing is believing, which is borne out by the fact that approximately 70% of the respondents who farm themselves use cover crops on their own operations, and those cover crop users are more inclined to advise their clients on the practice," said Ryan Heiniger, executive director of the Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC).
These cover crop users had more success with client adoption. Around 22.3% of them reported that 25–50% of their clients also used cover crops. In contrast, only 9.1% of non-users saw similar adoption rates among their clients.
The survey also explored how advisors learn about cover crops. Most preferred hands-on learning like training sessions (63.9%), webinars (57.4%), one-on-one talks with farmers (58.3%), and field visits (30.6%).
Looking ahead, 56.9% of advisors expect cover crop acreage to grow. There’s also strong support for using cover crop mixes (46.7%) and combining cover crops with other soil health practices (52.9%).
The survey was conducted online in October 2024. For more details, visit the CTIC website.
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