Financial incentive programs and farm diversification with cover crops: assessing opportunities and challenges
Farmers in the Great Lakes region of the U.S. face tremendous pressure to reduce nutrient losses from agriculture. Increasing crop rotation diversity with overwintering cover crops can support ecological processes that maintain productivity while improving multiple ecosystem functions, including nut...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad35d8 |
| _version_ | 1797225090628190208 |
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| author | Alison Surdoval Meha Jain Erica Blair Haoyu Wang Jennifer Blesh |
| author_facet | Alison Surdoval Meha Jain Erica Blair Haoyu Wang Jennifer Blesh |
| author_sort | Alison Surdoval |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Farmers in the Great Lakes region of the U.S. face tremendous pressure to reduce nutrient losses from agriculture. Increasing crop rotation diversity with overwintering cover crops can support ecological processes that maintain productivity while improving multiple ecosystem functions, including nutrient retention. We conducted a mixed-methods study to understand how financial incentive programs impact transitions to cover cropping in Michigan. Michigan farms span a wide range of soil types, climate conditions, and cropping systems that create opportunities for cover crop adoption in the state. We tested the relationship between Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) payments for cover crops and cover crop adoption between 2008–2019, as measured by remote sensing. We coupled this quantitative analysis with interviews with 21 farmers in the Lake Erie watershed to understand farmers’ perspectives on how incentive programs could support greater cover crop adoption. Panel fixed effects regressions showed that EQIP increased winter cover crop presence. Every EQIP dollar for cover crops was associated with a 0.01 hectare increase in winter cover, while each hectare enrolled in an EQIP contract for cover crops was associated with a 0.86–0.93 hectare increase in winter cover. In semi-structured interviews, farmers reported that financial incentives were instrumental to cover crop adoption, but that program outcomes fall short of intended goals due to policy design problems that may limit widespread participation and effectiveness. Thus, strengthening EQIP and related conservation programs could support broader transitions to diversified farming systems that are more sustainable and resilient. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T14:03:29Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9e59681e470141c98c605d1e49b5091e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T14:03:29Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-9e59681e470141c98c605d1e49b5091e2024-04-03T11:26:20ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262024-01-0119404406310.1088/1748-9326/ad35d8Financial incentive programs and farm diversification with cover crops: assessing opportunities and challengesAlison Surdoval0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4999-7705Meha Jain1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6821-473XErica Blair2Haoyu Wang3https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1629-0949Jennifer Blesh4https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3807-2352The Nature Conservancy , Arlington, VA, United States of AmericaSchool for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan , Ann Arbor, MI, United States of AmericaRural Grocery Initiative, Kansas State University , Manhattan, KS, United States of AmericaDepartment of Geography and the Environment, University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX, United States of AmericaSchool for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan , Ann Arbor, MI, United States of AmericaFarmers in the Great Lakes region of the U.S. face tremendous pressure to reduce nutrient losses from agriculture. Increasing crop rotation diversity with overwintering cover crops can support ecological processes that maintain productivity while improving multiple ecosystem functions, including nutrient retention. We conducted a mixed-methods study to understand how financial incentive programs impact transitions to cover cropping in Michigan. Michigan farms span a wide range of soil types, climate conditions, and cropping systems that create opportunities for cover crop adoption in the state. We tested the relationship between Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) payments for cover crops and cover crop adoption between 2008–2019, as measured by remote sensing. We coupled this quantitative analysis with interviews with 21 farmers in the Lake Erie watershed to understand farmers’ perspectives on how incentive programs could support greater cover crop adoption. Panel fixed effects regressions showed that EQIP increased winter cover crop presence. Every EQIP dollar for cover crops was associated with a 0.01 hectare increase in winter cover, while each hectare enrolled in an EQIP contract for cover crops was associated with a 0.86–0.93 hectare increase in winter cover. In semi-structured interviews, farmers reported that financial incentives were instrumental to cover crop adoption, but that program outcomes fall short of intended goals due to policy design problems that may limit widespread participation and effectiveness. Thus, strengthening EQIP and related conservation programs could support broader transitions to diversified farming systems that are more sustainable and resilient.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad35d8cover cropremote sensingdiversified farming systemsincentive programsEQIPagri-environmental policy |
| spellingShingle | Alison Surdoval Meha Jain Erica Blair Haoyu Wang Jennifer Blesh Financial incentive programs and farm diversification with cover crops: assessing opportunities and challenges Environmental Research Letters cover crop remote sensing diversified farming systems incentive programs EQIP agri-environmental policy |
| title | Financial incentive programs and farm diversification with cover crops: assessing opportunities and challenges |
| title_full | Financial incentive programs and farm diversification with cover crops: assessing opportunities and challenges |
| title_fullStr | Financial incentive programs and farm diversification with cover crops: assessing opportunities and challenges |
| title_full_unstemmed | Financial incentive programs and farm diversification with cover crops: assessing opportunities and challenges |
| title_short | Financial incentive programs and farm diversification with cover crops: assessing opportunities and challenges |
| title_sort | financial incentive programs and farm diversification with cover crops assessing opportunities and challenges |
| topic | cover crop remote sensing diversified farming systems incentive programs EQIP agri-environmental policy |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad35d8 |
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