Farmers struggle to commit long-term

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Levi Lyle of Keota, Iowa, says the initial challenge with cover crops is that there's more labor involved; they don't pay for themselves in the short run.

Lee Agri-Media file photo

Trent and Levi Lyle monitor the progress of a field of soybeans that's transitioning to organic production.

Lee Agri-Media file photo

Cattle graze Oct. 3 on cover crops on a field at the Rodale Institute in Marion, Iowa. The mix of plants are clover, radishes, Japanese millet and oats. In states along the Mississippi River, Iowa had the most acreage with cover crops in 2022 but Wisconsin had the largest percentage of its cropland using cover crops.

Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette

Cattle graze Oct. 3 on cover crops on a field at the Rodale Institute in Marion, Iowa. The mix of plants are clover, radishes, Japanese millet and oats. According to a new study by Iowa State University researchers, almost 20 percent of farmers who reported planting cover crops on their land one year had ceased using them the following year.

Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette

Clover is part of a mix of plants that comprise a cover crop on a field at the Rodale Institute in Marion, Iowa. The mix of plants are clover, radishes, Japanese millet and oats. According to a new study by Iowa State University researchers, some farmers across the state quit planting cover crops after initially trying it. Despite that, the overall number of cover-crop acres is increasing.

Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette

Newly sprouted rye plants grow in rows at the Rodale Institute Midwest Organic Center in Marion, Iowa.

Savannah Blake/The Gazette

Olivia Cohen Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk

When Levi Lyle was just 6 years old, his father was diagnosed with stage-four lung cancer. With treatment, his father survived his diagnosis but the ordeal changed how he farmed.

Olivia Cohen is with The Cedar Rapids Gazette in Iowa. The story is a product of the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, an independent reporting network based at the University of Missouri in partnership with Report for America, with major funding from the Walton Family Foundation.