Motivation, Challenges, and Farm Resilience: Examining Cover Crop Adoption using a Survey Approach

Erratic weather, shifting rainfall, and rising temperatures are making agriculture more vulnerable, highlighting soil health practices like cover crops key to boosting climate resilience. Despite cover crops benefit for soil health and sustainability, adoption remains low at ~5% in the USA. Cover crop adoption depends on a “complex web” of multilevel and multiple factors of demographics, farm characteristics, and perspectives, whereas the regional difference is large. Adoption rates vary by region due to irrigation, farm types, and cost-share program, with the Heartland (10%) and Northern Great Plains/Prairie Gateway (11%) of the additional net returns to farmers for no-till farming practices. Texas, especially South Texas, has low adoption (0.8% of its total cropland) due to several barriers warranting further study. This research studies the cover crop adoption likelihood considering farm characteristics (41-80% of off-farm income (p<0.1), irrigation (p<0.01), demographic, and perspectives of farmers using a survey approach in Texas. The result shows that farming experience over 2 years (p<0.01), primary operator (p<0.01), and farm size of 200-500 acres (p<0.1) are more likely to adopt cover crops. Whereas, adoption is hindered by conventional tillage, hard to operate cover crops (p<0.01), farm size over 1000 acres with irrigation (p<0.01), and lack of cost-share programs. However, partners’ positive view (p<0.1) promotes adoption and cover crops increases environmental resilience among adopters. The perspectives of farmers reveal practical implications of institutional technical support, community engagement, and cost-share programs that can increase farmers’ interest for extension use of cover crops.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Integrated Agricultural Sciences

Grantor

Texas State University

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Amin, Bonny

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Liu, Xiangping

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Dey, Madan M.
• Racelis, Alexis

• cover crops
• adoption
• irrigation
• farm characteristics
• Texas

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10877/23101

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digital.library.txst.edu:10877/23101