4.3 Article

Incentive programs promote cover crop adoption in the northeastern United States

Journal

AGRICULTURAL & ENVIRONMENTAL LETTERS
Volume 8, Issue 2, Pages -

Publisher

WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/ael2.20114

Keywords

-

Ask authors/readers for more resources

Farmers are increasingly using cover crops to improve soil health and provide ecosystem services. This study compares cover crop incentive programs in four states and surveys farmers to understand the effects of these programs on cover crop adoption.
Farmers are increasingly planting cover crops to improve soil health and provide other ecosystem services. Cover crop incentive programs in Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, and Vermont were compared and farmers using cover crops were surveyed (n = 328) to characterize program participants and assess the effects of programs on cover crop adoption. Farmers who participated in incentive programs differed from nonparticipants in their perspectives about incentive programs, challenges they faced using cover crops, and reasons for cover crop use. When averaged across farmers, results show that incentive programs doubled average farmer cropland with cover crops from 50.7 ha prior to participation to 101.0 ha during participation. Among participants who no longer were enrolled in a program, cover crop use remained on average 37.2% greater than before enrollment. Results highlight the role of incentive programs in facilitating adoption and provide insights for expanding participation to different farmers and increasing program impact.

Authors

I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.

Reviews

Primary Rating

4.3
Not enough ratings

Secondary Ratings

Novelty
-
Significance
-
Scientific rigor
-
Rate this paper

Recommended

No Data Available
No Data Available