Abstract
AbstractUsing cover crops can be beneficial not only for soil health but also for the environment. However, relatively few farmers have adopted cover crops, so understanding the barriers to adoption is necessary. We used a probit model with data on 1,712 soybean producers from the 2012 USDA Agricultural Resource Management Survey to identify factors affecting adoption of cover crops. We found that more precipitation was positively correlated with adoption, as was more hired labor. Adoption was also positively correlated with crop diversification and no-till adoption, which may relate to equipment availability.
Highlights
Agricultural nonpoint sources are the leading contributor to water pollution in the United States, but the problem can be reduced by adopting appropriate management practices (U.S Environmental Protection Agency [EPA], 2005)
Of the soybean fields that were the focus of the phase 2 survey, 12% of farmers reported it was classified as highly erodible land by NRCS
We found that cover crop adoption was positively related to other best management practices for water quality including reduced fertilizer use and conservation tillage/ no-till
Summary
Agricultural nonpoint sources are the leading contributor to water pollution in the United States, but the problem can be reduced by adopting appropriate management practices (U.S Environmental Protection Agency [EPA], 2005). Cover crops can be an effective practice for reducing soil erosion and nutrient loss, sequestering carbon, and improving soil health (Hoorman, 2009). It can help stabilize yields (Bergtold et al, 2017). Water quality issues caused by agricultural nonpoint sources are increasing (Sharpley and Smith, 1991; Zhang et al, 2017) and can be mitigated by the use of cover crops. Reduced amounts of NO3 reduce gaseous losses, including nitrous oxide (N2O), a greenhouse gas (Davidson et al, 2000) These reductions of available nitrogen can reduce N runoff
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