Preliminary Survey Results: The Status of Cover Cropping
in Annual Crop Rotations
Anne-Marie Ridgley
Community Alliance with Family Farmers, PO Box363, Davis CA
95617
A survey of 125 organic and conventional field and row crop farmers indicates that while the number if growers using cover crops remains relatively low, farmers' level of interest in cover crops is quite high. Growers in Colusa, Yolo, Sutter, Solano, and San Joaquin counties were contacted by phone and asked a series of questions about their cover cropping practices, barriers to use of cover crops and future research and eduction needs. Of those farmers contacted all of the organic farmers use cover crops; however, only 11 percent of the conventional farmers are using cover crops in their farming operations. An additional 15 percent of the conventional farmers are currently considering cover crops.
Those growers who were not using cover crops were asked what prevented them from including cover crops in their annual crop rotations. Forty-five percent of the respondents stated economic reasons for using cover crops. The most common economic barriers mentioned wee that the overall cost of growing the cover crop was too high or that the farmer could not afford to plant a cover crop in place of a cash crop. Thirty-nine percent of the farmers said that there were operational problems that prevented them from growing cover crops. The most frequently mentioned operational problem was the fact that the spring crop was planted too early to allow time to fit a cover cop in over the winter. Other barriers to the use of cover crops were concerns about increased weed or insect problems, increased soil compaction, and the difficulty in handling the cover crop residue.
Growers participating in the survey were also asked if there was any information that they wanted about cover crops that was not available to them, and if they had any suggestions for cover crops research in the next few years. Forty-one percent of them mentioned information needs and fifty-six percent had some research suggestions. There was a lot of overlap on the responses to these two questions. Often times, the information that people wanted was also something that they though more research should be done on. However, many of the non-cover crop users indicated an interest in receiving some basic introductory information on cover cropping in annual crop rotations. The information and research suggestions spanned a wide spectrum (more than 40 different research suggestions); however, the following are some of the topics that were most frequently mentioned: cost-benefit analysis, what benefits do cover crops provide in addition to nitrogen, how much nitrogen can you actually get from a cover crop, pest and cover crop interactions, and new varieties of cover crops.
Farmers' willingness to participate in this survey, their knowledge
if the potential benefits of cover crops, and their request for
additional information and research on the topic, all demonstrate
a high level of interest in cover cropping for annual crop rotations.
One survey question in particular clearly shows growers' desire
to learn more about cover crops. Those growers who are not using
cover crops were asked if they would be interested in each of
the following activities: reading about farmers who have successfully
included cover crops in their farming operation, attending an
informal meeting where farmers could share information about cover
crops, attending on-farm demonstration of cover-cropping, and
participating in on-farm research of cover crop practices. Sixty-eight
percent of the survey participants expressed interest in reading
abut farmers who grow cover crops, 45% said they might go to a
meeting, 60% said they might attend an on-farm demonstration of
cover cropping and 32% were interested in participating in on-farm
research.
Cover Crop Research and Education Summaries