PFI Farmers Test Whether Cover Crops Help Them Get in the Field Sooner

By Elizabeth Wilhelm

In 2025, 38 farmers across Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and Wisconsin tracked whether they could work fields with a history of cover crop use each week from spring through fall. Farmers recorded whether field and weather conditions allowed them to work their fields for most of the day.

PFI compared those observations with USDA estimates, using the same definition of a suitable fieldwork day.

The findings

Overall, PFI farmers reported about the same number of days suitable for fieldwork as the USDA average in 2025.

PFI farmers reported 51 suitable spring fieldwork days, one more than the USDA average. They reported 51 days in summer, matching the USDA average, and 27 days in fall, one fewer than the USDA average. Altogether, farmers reported, on average, 129 suitable fieldwork days, matching the USDA average.

While PFI farmers reported results similar to the USDA average, some fields with long-term cover crop use showed different results.

Margaret Hogan of Earlville, Iowa, reported 157 days when she could work her fields from April through November, compared with 127 days for her USDA district over the same period. In the spring, she reported 67 days suitable for fieldwork, compared with 46 days for the USDA district average. She has used cover crops for more than 10 years.