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Survey: cover crop acres on the rise

The 2017 cover crop survey shows farmers are planting more cover crops. The survey, from the USDA’s Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program and the Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC), shows that cover crop acreage has been steadily increasing since 2012.

Chad Watts, executive director of CTIC says the survey shows that farmers use cover crops to increase yields in corn, soybeans, and wheat.

“About a two bushel increase on any given commodity,” he says.

He says farmers are also motivated to use cover crops to better control herbicide-resistant weeds and 69 percent of the respondents saw an improvement.

The survey shows there are some factors that might limit farmers from using cover crops.  Rob Myers, with North Central SARE, says tight margins come into play.

“For the farmers not yet using a cover crop, it has a higher level of impact. So it doesn’t sway all of them, but it’s a more significant factor for that crowd,” he says.

This is the fifth year for the nationwide survey. Eighty eight percent of the more than 2,000 respondents use cover crops.