Persistence of Cover Crop Use in Crop Production in the United States, 2012–2022

Despite extensive research on cover crop use, little research has been done on the repeated use, or persistence, of cover crops in the crop production process. To examine the persistence of cover cropping, this report uses four panel data sources: (1) the U.S. Department of Agricultureʼs (USDAʼs) 2012, 2017, and 2022 Censuses of Agriculture; (2) crop acreage submitted by farmers through the USDA, Farm Service Agencyʼs Form 578 for crop years 2013−19; (3) an on-the-ground, in-person “windshield” survey by the Indiana Conservation Partnership for crop years 2014−19; and (4) the USDA Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) Phase 2 from 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, and 2021. The percentage of land under cover crops differs by data sources, but overall, cover crop use has increased over time. However, in the majority of data sources, this increase over time masks a significant share of fields and operations reducing or disadopting cover crop use. Results also indicate the levels of cover crop use and its persistence are positively correlated across regions but do not substantially differ across crop rotation or when livestock are present on the operation.