DataPoint: Owner-Operators & Cash-Rent Farmers Lead Cover Crop Adoption

Cash-renters and owner-operators adopt cover crops at rates higher than share-renters. Researchers with USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) explored whether adopting cover crops differed between farmers who owned the land they farmed and those who were renters, whether under a cash- or share-rent agreement.

They found that owner-operated cotton fields had the highest rates of cover crop adoption for owned land, with 22% of owner-operated cotton fields having cover crops in 2019. Owner-operated fields nominally led cash-rented fields in cover cropping for cotton, corn, and sorghum, but trailed cash-rented fields for soybeans and barley. Owner-operated fields exceeded share-rented fields in cover crop adoption for all five commodity crops surveyed. 

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