Farm Advisor Report Shows Growing Interest in Cover Crops

Newly released survey findings show how — and how frequently — farm advisors advise growers on cover crops. According to Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE), more than 650 farm advisors from across the U.S. participated in the survey.

The survey was conducted in tandem by the Conservation Technology Information Center, SARE, and the American Seed Trade Association last October. The combination of private and public sector advisors represented 46 states. Of the 654 advisors who participated in the survey, 77% were certified crop advisors (CCAs), a certification conferred by the American Society of Agronomy.

Among the highlights of the survey findings:

• The advisors who used cover crops on their own farms were five times more likely to recommend cover crops to farmers not yet using them, compared to advisors who did not farm with cover crops themselves.
• Advisors using cover crops on their own farms tended to have a much higher percentage of clients using cover crops — 22.3% of the advisors who use cover crops themselves reported 25% to 50% of their clients are using covers, compared to 9.1% at the same level of adoption among clients of advisors who did not personally use cover crops.
• The farm advisors surveyed used a wide range of information sources to learn about cover crops. Advisors who reported that they learned about cover crops on the job rather than through formal academic or training channels preferred training sessions (63.9%) and webinars (57.4%) for learning new cover crop insights, but also liked learning from farmers one-on-one (58.3%) and by visiting field trials (30.6%).
• Looking ahead, a majority of the farm advisors (56.9%) expected to see cover crop acreage continue to increase. They also expected farmers to continue increasing use of cover crop mixes (46.7%) and trying ways of combining other soil health practices with cover crops (52.9%). The advisors expected a moderate amount of interest in newer cover crop topics like planting green (29.2%), grazing cover crops (32.2%), and others.

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For more information on the National Cover Crop Survey Report 2024-2025, visit sare.org.