Survey of Farmers Using Cover Crops

  

 

Three years of national survey results have now been collected on farmers who no-till and use cover crops. No-Till Farming magazine shared these results recently. Around 80.5% of all no-till farmers use cover crops, which has been steady, although slightly less than the peak in 2023 at 83.2%. Weather—especially dry weather in the fall—and getting a crop established could be part of the reason for a slight decrease in cover crop acres. Also, as finances get tight, sometimes cover crop acres are easy to cut.

Why do farmers use cover crops? The number one reason is still erosion control or prevention, followed by better soil biology and higher soil organic matter accumulation. The top three maximum benefits are still erosion prevention, followed by improved rainfall infiltration and then better soil biological activity. Higher yields and/or lower crop inputs were not in the top three, but often occur after numerous years of using no-till plus cover crops continuously. The transition period is often 3 to 7 years of continuous cover crops and no-till before these benefits occur. The biggest challenges were getting cover crops planted on time, getting adequate fall growth before winter, and getting cover crops seeded before frost.

How many years have the farmers cover cropped?
Part of the problem with this question is how many acres on the farm were cover cropped continuously. On average, farmers had about 493 acres in cover crops in 2023 compared to 644 acres in 2024. About 25.4% have less than 5 years’ experience using cover crops, another 26.8% have 6–10 years, and 20.6% have 11–15 years’ experience. On the high end of multiple years of cover cropping, 9.6% have 16–20 years, 9.3% have 21–30 years, and 7.3% have more than 30 years’ experience using no-till and cover crops.

What cover crops are they using and how?
Cereal rye is still king at 70.9%, followed by radish (39.8%), oats (35.3%), crimson clover (29.7%), wheat (24.6%), rapeseed (22.6%), and turnips (22.32%). Other cover crops included vetch (19.5%), annual ryegrass and buckwheat (18.9% each), triticale (17.2%), red clover (15.8%), Austrian winter peas (14.7%), Balsana clover and barley (14.7%), sunflowers (13.8%) and winter peas (11.9%). Sorghum, black oats, and flax were 10% or less.

Based on the numbers above, it’s obvious most farmers use multi-species mixes. Around 42.9% of farmers use 2–3 cover crop species in a mix, 41.8% use 4–9 species, 11.6% use 10–14 species, and 3.7% use 15 or more species. The easiest place to use a cover crop mix is after wheat harvest in the Midwest. Some Southern states use multi-species mixes more often, but they also have a much longer growing season. Only 30% of no-till and cover crop farmers did not use multiple cover crop species.

When do no-till farmers seed cover crops?
The majority (84.2%) seeded after harvest in 2024, which increased 8.9 percentage points over 2023. Dry conditions may be a contributing factor. About 25.6% seeded before harvest in 2024 compared to 21.9% in 2023. If you think the numbers do not quite add up, some farmers do both—seed some before and some after harvest.

On termination of cover crops:
Herbicides are still popular at 90%, followed by winter kill (19.4%), roller crimping (19.4%), mowing (7.1%), grazing (6.8%), tillage (5.7%), and other (4.8%).

Termination of cover crops varies by the main crop:

    On corn: 50.6% terminate before planting, 15.8% at planting, and 37.7% after planting.
    On soybeans: 35.6% terminate before planting, 16.3% at planting, and 60% after planting.

Only 18.5% of farmers inter-seed cover crops into a main crop, with 72.7% doing so on less than 300 acres and 10.6% on 300–500 acres. Drones are the most popular tool for inter-seeding (36.4%), followed by airplane or helicopter (22.7%), a drill (21.2%), and a broadcast spreader or inter-seeding tool (16.7% each). Post-harvest, the drill (55.8%) is still popular, followed by broadcast spreaders (26%) and air seeders (16.4%). Drone applications to seed cover crops have tripled from 3.4% in 2023 to 11.9% in 2024.

What about incentives to plant cover crops?
About 35.4% of farmers get federal funds to plant cover crops, 17.1% get state funds, and 15% get local funds. Just over 15% receive funds from companies or foundations, and 7.5% get funds from somewhere else. About one-third of cover crop users reported getting no extra funds.

Finally, carbon credits are becoming more popular.
About 53.2% receive some carbon credits, while 46.8% do not. Around 21.2% plan to look into it in 2024, up 3.5% from 2023. The remaining 32% are still considering it.