Implications of adopting soil health practices on the economic performance of Minnesota row crop operations

Abstract

Production agriculture has a large dependency on Earth’s resources, resulting in a strong endorsement of reduced tillage and cover cropping systems on row crop farms from conservationists and soil health specialists. Despite this endorsement, there are low adoption rates of these conservation practices which directly affect agriculture production and profitability. Part one of this study uses an ordinary least squares model to determine the impact of conservation and conventional tillage systems on yield for Minnesota corn, soybean, and spring wheat farms. Part two of this study uses the yield estimates from part one to estimate the impact of cover crop adoption on field-level profitability, considering cover crops as both a single-year and multi-year decision. Results indicate that many cover crop scenarios do not show positive cash flows unless used with cost-share assistance. Results also indicate that the profitable cover crop scenarios incorporate the lowest cost options of cover crop seed, planting, and termination methods.