Many benefits of a cover crop being integrated into a crop rotation are long term and multi-year. The longer the system is in place, the more resilient the soil and the more benefits are realized.

Rulon Enterprises in Indiana shares how cover crops free up fertility, increase yields and improve soil health, providing a $69.17-per-acre benefit.

Do you believe you’ve seen a yield increase from using cover crops on your no-till operation, and if so, how much?

University of Missouri agronomists found corn and soybean yields increase by 20% or more when they use drainage control systems.

Our farm hit a plateau in the 1990s. Yields were flat and we just weren’t making the gains we thought we should be. It’s not that we sought out no-till as the magic solution; we just knew we had to try something different, as conventional tillage wasn’t cutting it.

Mississippi State University researchers found that replicated trials from 2005-14 indicate pretreated seeds are effective at whichever level of treatment a no-tiller chooses.

Corn has the potential to yield 500 bushels per acre. But according to the USDA, the average corn yield lands short at 158, and with an estimated 27% global population growth by 2050, the increasing demand will not be met.