Research Shows Cover Crop Programs Improve Soil Health

By Blake Jackson

The New York Soil Health team has released a research brief examining how cover crop incentive programs influence farmer behavior and adoption rates across the Northeast.

Cover crops play a critical role in protecting and improving soil health, preventing erosion, and reducing fertilizer use. Despite these benefits, implementing cover crops can be time-consuming and resource intensive.

Incentive programs help lower financial risks and encourage adoption, especially for farmers who may face barriers due to cost, labor, or management challenges. For maximum impact, these programs must be accessible and flexible, particularly for smaller-scale operations or farmers with limited resources.

The policy brief, titled “Cover Crop Incentive Programs and Adoption Trends in the Northeast,” draws on a 2023 survey of farmers in New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Maryland.

Results show that participating farmers more than doubled their cover crop acreage from an average of 125 acres to 250 acres. Even after the incentives ended, these farmers maintained 37% more acreage than before enrollment.

However, participation has not been equally distributed. Survey data revealed that program participants were predominantly men, running larger conventional farms, with over 30 years of experience.

Complex applications and strict program requirements limited access for many smaller or beginning farmers, women, and other underrepresented groups.

The brief offers several recommendations to expand and improve program effectiveness:

• Increase the scale of cover crop incentive programs to encourage broader adoption.
• Combine continuous and short-term incentives to boost both adoption and retention.
• Simplify application and documentation processes to reduce perceived barriers.
• Diversify recruitment and program structures to reach underrepresented farmers, including new, beginning, and small-scale operations.

By balancing economic needs with environmental stewardship, well-designed incentive programs can help farmers adopt cover crops more widely and sustainably, promoting healthier soils and resilient farming systems across the region.

Photo Credit: gettyimages-eugenesergeev