Global Meta-Analysis Quantifies Benefits of Cover Crop Use

By Devin Voss

For years, both scientists and farmers have debated whether the use of cover crops—plants used to cover the ground after harvesting of main crops—have a positive or negative impact on subsequent crop yield. Hundreds of studies have been performed on the subject, with each resulting in a different conclusion.

Researchers at the Indiana University School of Science in Indianapolis compiled data from more than 100 field trials across the globe and found that cover crops have a net-positive impact, overall increasing crop yield by 2.6% globally. Standing out among the findings was how substantially yields benefited from the use of legumes as cover crops, including peas, vetch, and clover.

Yu Peng, a Ph.D. student in the School of Science, led a comprehensive study using literature synthesis and meta-analysis to quantify the results of the data gathered. Peng and his team collected over 1,000 records of field-based yield data and analyzed how cover crop type, soil texture, soil water conditions, aridity, cover crop duration, and other management practices impact crop yield.