This week’s DataPoint is brought to you by the Dealership Minds Summit. Check out the program and register at DealershipMindsSummit.com.

U.S. cropland area planted to cover crops increased 17 percent between 2017 and 2022, from 15,390,674 acres to 17,985,831 acres, data from the recently released Census of Agriculture show. That means cover crops were planted on 4.7 percent of total cropland in 2022. 

Cover cropping is more common in the southern and eastern parts of the U.S. because of soil and climate conditions, among other factors, but one of the states with the greatest increase in cover crop acres as a proportion of total cropland from 2017 to 2022 was Texas. The state also had the largest absolute increase in cover crop acreage. Cover crop acreage in Texas increased more than 50% from 2017 to 2022. Cover crop use decreased in 2022 in some eastern states, including  Maryland, Georgia, North Carolina, New Jersey, Tennessee and Kentucky. 

Watch the full version of this episode of On The Record