A collection of case studies, reports, and other research-based materials that have examined the profitability of conservation practices on farms within the North Central Region.
Have a resource to add or recommend? Contact Jenny Seifert.
Cover CropsConservation TillageNutrient ManagementManaged Grazing
| Title | Source | Description |
|---|---|---|
| The Financial Implications of Conservation Agriculture: Insights from Analyses of Farms in the Upper Midwest | North Central Region Water Network, University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension, Environmental Defense Fund, Croatan Institute, University of Minnesota, Compeer Financial | This booklet aims to inform farmers’ key partners—in particular, farm business management educators, agricultural lenders, and conservation educators and professionals—about the financial costs and benefits of conservation agriculture practices to assist their work with farmers. (2023) |
| Influences of Intensified Environmental Practices on Farm Profitability 2021 | AgCentric | Cost and income comparisons between farmers participating in Minnesota’s Water Quality Certification program and the average farmer participating in the MN State Farm Business Management Education program. Includes preliminary cover crop financial data. (2021) |
| Economic Considerations for Adding Cover Crops as Agronomic Practice | AgCentric | A broad overview of selected financial and production practices related to the use of cover crops. This report is intended to be a “First Look” into the basic factors that will provide a “window” into the economic considerations for adding cover crops into agronomic practice. (2023) |
| How Conservation Practices Influence Agricultural Economic Returns: Implications for the Farm Finance Community | AGree | This report addresses questions the financial sector may have regarding the impacts of cover crops and no-till on short-term financial returns and long-term farm profitability. (2023) |
| The Role of the Banking and Financing Sector in Encouraging Conservation Practices and Transitions to Organic Production | AGree | The purpose of this paper is to ascertain what, if any, incentive programs or approaches could be developed in the banking or investment sectors to facilitate farmers’ transitions to organic production or their adoption of conservation practices. (2019) |
| Farmers employ diverse cover crop management strategies to meet soil health goals | Agricultural & Environmental Letters | An analysis of cover crop management data from 112 farms in the Soil Health Partnership network (2015–2021) to characterize cover crop management practices and costs. (2022) |
| Soil Health Case Study: Jim, Julie, and Josh Ifft, Ifft Yorkshires, IL | American Farmland Trust | Case study of the economic effects of cover crops and nutrient management on Ifft Yorkshires Farm. (2020) |
| Soil Health Case Study: Dan Lane, Homewood Farms, OH | American Farmland Trust | Case study of the economic effects of strip-till, nutrient management, and cover crops on Homewood Farms. (2020) |
| Soil Health Case Study: Eric Niemeyer, MadMax Farms, OH | American Farmland Trust | Case study of the economic effects of no-till, nutrient management, and cover crops on MadMax Farms. (2019) |
| Soil Health Case Study: Larry, Adam, and Beth Thorndyke, Thorndyke Farms, IL | American Farmland Trust | Case study of the economic effects of no-till, strip-till, nutrient management, and cover crops on Thorndyke Farms. (2019) |
| Government Programs that Support Farmer Adoption of Soil Health Practices: A Focus on Maryland’s Agricultural Water Quality Cost-Share Program | Choices | An article that summarizes the form and scope of federal- and state-level initiatives that provide incentives to farmers to adopt soil health practices in the United States. (2019) |
| The Economics of Cover Crops and No-till | Datu Research | Summary of case studies of four corn and soybean farmers in the Upper Mississippi River Basin (UMRB) with year-by-year budget data on their adoption of cover crops or no-till, using partial budget analyses. (2017) |
| Datu Case Study: Diaz Farm | Datu Research | A case study presenting budget effects during the first five years of planting cover crops on the Diaz Farm in Illinois from 2012 to 2016. (2017) |
| Datu Case Study: Moore Farm | Datu Research | This case study documents financial impacts of the first three years of cover crop adoption on the Moore Farm in northern Iowa from 2014 to 2016. (2017) |
| Datu Case Study: Willis Farm | Datu Research | This case study presents detailed budget results of four years of experimentation with cover crops on four fields of the Willis Farm in Missouri between 2013 and 2016. (2017) |
| Conservation’s Impact on the Farm Bottom Line | Environmental Defense Fund, Soil Health Partnership, K-Coe Isom | An evaluation of the financial impact of conservation tillage and cover crop usage among Midwest corn and soybean farmers. (2021) |
| Farm Finance and Conservation: How stewardship generates value for farmers, lenders, insurers and landowners | Environmental Defense Fund and K-Coe Isom | An analysis of the impact of conservation on farm budgets with three in-depth case studies that combine farmers’ own records with their experiences adopting conservation practices. |
| The Economics of Cover Crops on Minnesota Farms: 2022 Data Report | Environmental Defense Fund | This report provides preliminary data from the FINBIN database on the financial impacts of cover crops on Minnesota row crop farms during the 2022 growing season. (2023) |
| A practitioner’s guide to conducting budget analyses for conservation agriculture | Environmental Defense Fund | The purpose of this report is to provide guidance for researchers, academics, conservation nonprofits, state and government agencies, and other organizations interested in measuring the farm financial outcomes of in-field conservation practices. (2020) |
| Banking on Soil Health: Farmer Interest in Transition Loan Products | Environmental Defense Fund | Market research of 100 Iowa farmers about their interest in a soil health transition loan product. (2021) |
| How Conservation Makes Dairy Farms Resilient, Especially in a Lean Agricultural Economy | Environmental Defense Fund | This report analyzes the impact of conservation on dairy farm budgets with four in-depth case studies that combine the farmers’ own records with their experience adopting conservation practices. (2019) |
| Financing Resilient Agriculture | Environmental Defense Fund | This report presents climate risks to agricultural finance institutions and the role they can play in helping farmers invest in resilient production systems. (2020) |
| Headwaters Agricultural Sustainability Partnership Return on Investment Project | Environmental Initiative | Reports of aggregated data on the economic and environmental impacts of conservation practices from eleven Minnesota farms. (2021) |
| Cover Crops, Farm Economics, and Policy | farmdoc | Conference paper that discusses methods to provide public support for cover crops, including direct subsidies for planting cover crops and providing insurance benefits for cover crops. (2023) |
| Cover Crops and Farm Profitability in Central Indiana | farmdoc | This article examines the effect that established cover crop management can have on net return per acre. (2020) |
| Pilot Milkshed Sustainability Project | Farmers for Sustainable Food | An analysis of data from 15 farms for the 2019-2021 crop years to determine the impact of on-farm conservation on sustainability metrics, farm finances and local water resources. |
| Financial Innovations to Accelerate Sustainable Agriculture: The Blueprints for The Value Chain | Field to Market | The report provides blueprints of finance and risk sharing solutions that can help farmers transition to conservation practices (2022). |
| Estimation of Financial Implications Resulting from the Implementation of Farm Conservation Practices | Iowa Soybean Association | A report of interview-based estimates of enterprise-level financial implications resulting from the implementation of farm conservation practices in Iowa. (2019) |
| Annual Net Returns to Cover Crops in Iowa: Journal Article | Fact Sheet | Journal of Applied Farm Economics and Iowa State University Extension and Outreach | Partial budget analyses based on a survey of Iowa farmers to evaluate the changes in net returns resulting from the incorporation of cover crops into corn or soybean production systems. Results can be used as benchmarks for current or potential cover croppers and for ground-truthing agricultural and conservation policy design. (2018) |
| Economics of Cover Crops | Iowa State University Extension and Outreach | A decision tool to help determine projected and actual costs and benefits of cover crops, with or without grazing or harvesting. |
| Partial Budgets for Cover Crops in Midwest Row Crop Farming: Journal Article | Fact Sheet | Iowa State University Extension and Outreach and Journal of the ASFMRA | This study uses partial budgets to assess the annual net private economic returns to cover crop use in Midwest row crop farms. (2018) |
| Perceived Benefits and Net Returns of Cover Crops in Midwest US Agriculture | Iowa State University Extension and Outreach | Fact sheet about the results of focus groups and a survey of farmers’ perceptions of cover crops. (2018) |
| Economic Drivers of Cover Crop Adoption | Iowa State University Extension and Outreach | Slide deck on the economic drivers of cover crop adoption among Iowa farmers. (2020) |
| Whole Farm Conservation Best Practices Manual | Iowa State University Extension and Outreach | This publication provides best management recommendations for farmers and landowners getting started with conservation and water quality practices by helping select and incorporate in-field and edge-of-field conservation practices most appropriate to the decision maker’s land and preferences. |
| The Business Case for Conservation: Cost-Benefit Analysis of Conservation Practices | Precision Conservation Management (PCM) | Summary of data from 2015 to 2022 of Illinois farmers’ financial returns for nitrogen applications, cover crops, and tillage. (2023) |
| Livestock and Cover Crops | Practical Farmers of Iowa | Fact sheet on considerations for grazing cover crops, including costs. |
| Economic and Soil Health Impacts of Grazing Cover Crops | Practical Farmers of Iowa | This report describes the economic and soil health impacts six cooperators experienced in grazed cover crop systems from 2018-2019. (2019) |
| Cover Crop Economics: Opportunities to Improve Your Bottom Line in Row Crops | Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (SARE) | A technical bulletin of research findings about the financial impacts of cover crops. (2019) |
| Cover Crop Survey Annual Report 2016-2017 | Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (SARE) and CTIC | This survey of 2102 farmers is a compilation of facts, figures, statistics and information on cover crop use across the United States. (2017) |
| Cover Crop Survey Annual Report 2019-2020 | Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (SARE) and CTIC | This survey of 1172 farmers is a collection not just of figures and statistics, but also reflects farmers’ excitement, concerns and enthusiasm regarding cover crops. (2020) |
| Economics of Soil Health Systems on 30 U.S. Farms | Soil Health Institute, National Association of Conservation Districts and USDA NRCS | The Soil Health Institute partnered with the National Association of Conservation Districts and the United States Natural Resources Conservation Service to interview 30 farmers across the US who have adopted soil health management systems and used partial budget analysis to compare financial returns by quantifying the net economic effect of changes in their production systems. (2023) |
| Partial Budget Analysis Methodology Used by Soil Health Institute | Soil Health Institute | A brief description of the partial budget analysis methodology employed by the Soil Health Institute when assessing the economics of soil health management systems. (2021) |
| Economics of Soil Health Systems in Illinois | Soil Health Institute | Results from interviews with 11 Illinois farmers using cover crops and no-till about the costs and benefits of their soil health management systems. (2022) |
| Economics of Soil Health Systems in Indiana | Soil Health Institute | Results from interviews with 16 Indiana farmers using cover crops and no-till about the costs and benefits of their soil health management systems. (2022) |
| Economics of Soil Health Systems in Iowa | Soil Health Institute | Results from interviews with 10 Iowa farmers using cover crops and no-till about the costs and benefits of their soil health management systems. (2022) |
| Economics of Soil Health Systems in Michigan | Soil Health Institute | Results from interviews with 10 Michigan farmers using cover crops and no-till about the costs and benefits of their soil health management systems. (2022) |
| Economics of Soil Health Systems in Minnesota | Soil Health Institute | Results from interviews with 10 Minnesota farmers using cover crops and no-till about the costs and benefits of their soil health management systems. (2022) |
| Economics of Soil Health Systems in Nebraska | Soil Health Institute | Results from interviews with 12 Nebraska farmers using cover crops and no-till about the costs and benefits of their soil health management systems. (2022) |
| Economics of Soil Health Systems in Ohio | Soil Health Institute | Results from interviews with 11 Ohio farmers using cover crops and no-till about the costs and benefits of their soil health management systems. (2022) |
| Economics of Soil Health Systems in South Dakota | Soil Health Institute | Results from interviews with 10 South Dakota farmers using cover crops and no-till about the costs and benefits of their soil health management systems. (2022) |
| Economics of Soil Health Systems on 100 Farms | Soil Health Institute | Results from interviews with 100 farmers using cover crops and no-till about the costs and benefits of their soil health management systems. (2021) |
| Incorporating cover crops profitably on highly erodible land in West-Central Indiana | Soil Health Partnership | A case study of the economic benefits of wheat cover crop management on an Indiana farm. (2021) |
| 2020 Cover Crop Planting Report | Soil Health Partnership | Findings from a survey of cover crop usage on Soil Health Partnership trial sites to examine how cover crops impact management decisions and farmer profitability over time. (2021) |
| Cover Crop Trends, Programs, and Practices in the United States | USDA Economic Research Service | This report details how cover crops are managed on corn, cotton, soybean, and wheat fields, based on a series of farm- and field-level surveys. (2021) |
| Cover Crops Economics Tool | USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service | The Cover Crop Economics Tool is a user-friendly economic assessment tool to assess the costs and benefits of incorporating cover crops into a crop rotation. |
| Economics of Cover Crops | University of Wisconsin-Madison | A slide deck about the economics of cover crops. (2014) |
| EARLY SPRING and SUMMER Cover Crop Options for Wisconsin Cropland | University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension | Basic selection and management information for some common and economical annual plant species suitable for use as cover crops in Wisconsin. (2020) |
| Corn Silage with Winter Rye Cover and Forage Crops: Fact Sheet | Slide Deck | University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension | Results from a five-year trial of planting winter rye as a cover crop after corn silage showing impacts on yields and economic returns. (2018) |
| Title | Source | Description |
|---|---|---|
| The Financial Implications of Conservation Agriculture: Insights from Analyses of Farms in the Upper Midwest | North Central Region Water Network, University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension, Environmental Defense Fund, Croatan Institute, University of Minnesota, Compeer Financial | This booklet aims to inform farmers’ key partners—in particular, farm business management educators, agricultural lenders, and conservation educators and professionals—about the financial costs and benefits of conservation agriculture practices to assist their work with farmers. (2023) |
| Influences of Intensified Environmental Practices on Farm Profitability 2021 | AgCentric | Cost and income comparisons between farmers participating in Minnesota’s Water Quality Certification program and the average farmer participating in the MN State Farm Business Management Education program. Includes preliminary cover crop financial data. (2021) |
| How Conservation Practices Influence Agricultural Economic Returns: Implications for the Farm Finance Community | AGree | This report addresses questions the financial sector may have regarding the impacts of cover crops and no-till on short-term financial returns and long-term farm profitability. (2023) |
| The Role of the Banking and Financing Sector in Encouraging Conservation Practices and Transitions to Organic Production | AGree | The purpose of this paper is to ascertain what, if any, incentive programs or approaches could be developed in the banking or investment sectors to facilitate farmers’ transitions to organic production or their adoption of conservation practices. (2019) |
| Soil Health Case Study: Dan Lane, Homewood Farms, OH | American Farmland Trust | Case study of the economic effects of strip-till, nutrient management, and cover crops on Homewood Farms. (2020) |
| Soil Health Case Study: Eric Niemeyer, MadMax Farms, OH | American Farmland Trust | Case study of the economic effects of no-till, nutrient management, and cover crops on MadMax Farms. (2019) |
| Soil Health Case Study: Larry, Adam, and Beth Thorndyke, Thorndyke Farms, IL | American Farmland Trust | Case study of the economic effects of no-till, strip-till, nutrient management, and cover crops on Thorndyke Farms. (2019) |
| The impact of no-till on agricultural land values in the United States Midwest | American Journal of Agricultural Economics | Results from this empirical analysis support the notion that economic and environmental benefits from adopting soil conservation practices, such as no-till, are likely capitalized into higher farmland values. (2022) |
| The Economics of Cover Crops and No-till | Datu Research | A summary of case studies of four corn and soybean farmers in the Upper Mississippi River Basin (UMRB) with year-by-year budget data on their adoption of cover crops or no-till, using partial budget analyses. |
| Datu Case Study: Diaz Farm | Datu Research | A case study presenting budget effects during the first five years of planting cover crops on the Diaz Farm in Illinois from 2012 to 2016. (2017) |
| Datu Case Study: Moore Farm | Datu Research | This case study documents financial impacts of the first three years of cover crop adoption on the Moore Farm in northern Iowa from 2014 to 2016. (2017) |
| Datu Case Study: Willis Farm | Datu Research | This case study presents detailed budget results of four years of experimentation with cover crops on four fields of the Willis Farm in Missouri between 2013 and 2016. (2017) |
| Datu Case Study: Kuhns Family Farm | Datu Research | This case study tracks the economic effects of 23 years of no-till farming on the Kuhns Family Farm in central Illinois. (2017) |
| Conservation’s Impact on the Farm Bottom Line | Environmental Defense Fund, Soil Health Partnership, K-Coe Isom | An evaluation of the financial impact of conservation tillage and cover crop usage among Midwest corn and soybean farmers. (2021) |
| Farm Finance and Conservation: How stewardship generates value for farmers, lenders, insurers and landowners | Environmental Defense Fund and K-Coe Isom | An analysis of the impact of conservation on farm budgets with three in-depth case studies that combine farmers’ own records with their experiences adopting conservation practices. |
| A practitioner’s guide to conducting budget analyses for conservation agriculture | Environmental Defense Fund | The purpose of this report is to provide guidance for researchers, academics, conservation nonprofits, state and government agencies, and other organizations interested in measuring the farm financial outcomes of in-field conservation practices. (2020) |
| Banking on Soil Health: Farmer Interest in Transition Loan Products | Environmental Defense Fund | Market research of 100 Iowa farmers about their interest in a soil health transition loan product. (2021) |
| How Conservation Makes Dairy Farms Resilient, Especially in a Lean Agricultural Economy | Environmental Defense Fund | This report analyzes the impact of conservation on dairy farm budgets with four in-depth case studies that combine the farmers’ own records with their experience adopting conservation practices. (2019) |
| Financing Resilient Agriculture | Environmental Defense Fund | This report presents climate risks to agricultural finance institutions and the role they can play in helping farmers invest in resilient production systems. (2020) |
| Headwaters Agricultural Sustainability Partnership Return on Investment Project | Environmental Initiative | Reports of aggregated data on the economic and environmental impacts of conservation practices from eleven Minnesota farms. (2021) |
| Financial Innovations to Accelerate Sustainable Agriculture: The Blueprints for The Value Chain | Field to Market | The report provides blueprints of finance and risk sharing solutions that can help farmers transition to conservation practices (2022). |
| Estimation of Financial Implications Resulting from the Implementation of Farm Conservation Practices | Iowa Soybean Association | A report of interview-based estimates of enterprise-level financial implications resulting from the implementation of farm conservation practices in Iowa. (2019) |
| Whole Farm Conservation Best Practices Manual | Iowa State University Extension and Outreach | This publication provides best management recommendations for farmers and landowners getting started with conservation and water quality practices by helping select and incorporate in-field and edge-of-field conservation practices most appropriate to the decision maker’s land and preferences. |
| The Business Case for Conservation: Cost-Benefit Analysis of Conservation Practices | Precision Conservation Management (PCM) | Summary of data from 2015 to 2021 of Illinois farmers’ financial returns for nitrogen applications, cover crops, and tillage. (2021) |
| Economics of Soil Health Systems on 30 U.S. Farms | Soil Health Institute, National Association of Conservation Districts and USDA NRCS | The Soil Health Institute partnered with the National Association of Conservation Districts and the United States Natural Resources Conservation Service to interview 30 farmers across the US who have adopted soil health management systems and used partial budget analysis to compare financial returns by quantifying the net economic effect of changes in their production systems. (2023) |
| Economics of Soil Health Systems in Illinois | Soil Health Institute | Results from interviews with 11 Illinois farmers using cover crops and no-till about the costs and benefits of their soil health management systems. (2022) |
| Economics of Soil Health Systems in Indiana | Soil Health Institute | Results from interviews with 16 Indiana farmers using cover crops and no-till about the costs and benefits of their soil health management systems. (2022) |
| Economics of Soil Health Systems in Iowa | Soil Health Institute | Results from interviews with 10 Iowa farmers using cover crops and no-till about the costs and benefits of their soil health management systems. (2022) |
| Economics of Soil Health Systems in Michigan | Soil Health Institute | Results from interviews with 10 Michigan farmers using cover crops and no-till about the costs and benefits of their soil health management systems. (2022) |
| Economics of Soil Health Systems in Minnesota | Soil Health Institute | Results from interviews with 10 Minnesota farmers using cover crops and no-till about the costs and benefits of their soil health management systems. (2022) |
| Economics of Soil Health Systems in Nebraska | Soil Health Institute | Results from interviews with 12 Nebraska farmers using cover crops and no-till about the costs and benefits of their soil health management systems. (2022) |
| Economics of Soil Health Systems in Ohio | Soil Health Institute | Results from interviews with 11 Ohio farmers using cover crops and no-till about the costs and benefits of their soil health management systems. (2022) |
| Economics of Soil Health Systems in South Dakota | Soil Health Institute | Results from interviews with 10 South Dakota farmers using cover crops and no-till about the costs and benefits of their soil health management systems. (2022) |
| Economics of Soil Health Systems on 100 Farms | Soil Health Institute | Results from interviews with 100 farmers using cover crops and no-till about the costs and benefits of their soil health management systems. (2021) |
| Upper Midwest Tillage Guide | University of Minnesota Extension | This guide includes the history, implements, considerations for reducing intensity, and economics of tillage. |
|
Long-term research avoids spurious and misleading trends in sustainability attributes of no-till: Publication | Press Release |
W.K. Kellogg Biological Station, Michigan State University; published in Global Change Biology | A study of the long-term environmental sustainability and profitability of continuous no-till agriculture on yield, soil water availability, and N2O fluxes. |
| Title | Source | Description |
|---|---|---|
| The Financial Implications of Conservation Agriculture: Insights from Analyses of Farms in the Upper Midwest | North Central Region Water Network, University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension, Environmental Defense Fund, Croatan Institute, University of Minnesota, Compeer Financial | This booklet aims to inform farmers’ key partners—in particular, farm business management educators, agricultural lenders, and conservation educators and professionals—about the financial costs and benefits of conservation agriculture practices to assist their work with farmers. (2023) |
| Influences of Intensified Environmental Practices on Farm Profitability 2021 | AgCentric | Cost and income comparisons between farmers participating in Minnesota’s Water Quality Certification program and the average farmer participating in the MN State Farm Business Management Education program. Includes preliminary cover crop financial data. (2021) |
| The Role of the Banking and Financing Sector in Encouraging Conservation Practices and Transitions to Organic Production | AGree | The purpose of this paper is to ascertain what, if any, incentive programs or approaches could be developed in the banking or investment sectors to facilitate farmers’ transitions to organic production or their adoption of conservation practices. (2019) |
| Soil Health Case Study: Jim, Julie, and Josh Ifft, Ifft Yorkshires, IL | American Farmland Trust | Case study of the economic effects of cover crops and nutrient management on Ifft Yorkshires Farm. (2020) |
| Soil Health Case Study: Eric Niemeyer, MadMax Farms, OH | American Farmland Trust | Case study of the economic effects of no-till, nutrient management, and cover crops on MadMax Farms. (2019) |
| Soil Health Case Study: Dan Lane, Homewood Farms, OH | American Farmland Trust | Case study of the economic effects of strip-till, nutrient management, and cover crops on Homewood Farms. (2020) |
| Soil Health Case Study: Larry, Adam, and Beth Thorndyke, Thorndyke Farms, IL | American Farmland Trust | Case study of the economic effects of no-till, strip-till, nutrient management, and cover crops on Thorndyke Farms. (2019) |
| A practitioner’s guide to conducting budget analyses for conservation agriculture | Environmental Defense Fund | The purpose of this report is to provide guidance for researchers, academics, conservation nonprofits, state and government agencies, and other organizations interested in measuring the farm financial outcomes of in-field conservation practices. (2020) |
| Banking on Soil Health: Farmer Interest in Transition Loan Products | Environmental Defense Fund | Market research of 100 Iowa farmers about their interest in a soil health transition loan product. (2021) |
| How Conservation Makes Dairy Farms Resilient, Especially in a Lean Agricultural Economy | Environmental Defense Fund | This report analyzes the impact of conservation on dairy farm budgets with four in-depth case studies that combine the farmers’ own records with their experience adopting conservation practices. (2019) |
| Financing Resilient Agriculture | Environmental Defense Fund | This report presents climate risks to agricultural finance institutions and the role they can play in helping farmers invest in resilient production systems. (2020) |
| Headwaters Agricultural Sustainability Partnership Return on Investment Project | Environmental Initiative | Reports of aggregated data on the economic and environmental impacts of conservation practices from eleven Minnesota farms. (2021) |
| Pilot Milkshed Sustainability Project | Farmers for Sustainable Food | An analysis of data from 15 farms for the 2019-2021 crop years to determine the impact of on-farm conservation on sustainability metrics, farm finances and local water resources. |
| Financial Innovations to Accelerate Sustainable Agriculture: The Blueprints for The Value Chain | Field to Market | The report provides blueprints of finance and risk sharing solutions that can help farmers transition to conservation practices (2022). |
| Whole Farm Conservation Best Practices Manual | Iowa State University Extension and Outreach | This publication provides best management recommendations for farmers and landowners getting started with conservation and water quality practices by helping select and incorporate in-field and edge-of-field conservation practices most appropriate to the decision maker’s land and preferences. |
| The Business Case for Conservation: Cost-Benefit Analysis of Conservation Practices | Precision Conservation Management (PCM) | Summary of data from 2015 to 2021 of Illinois farmers’ financial returns for nitrogen applications, cover crops, and tillage. (2021) |
| Title | Source | Description |
|---|---|---|
| The Financial Implications of Conservation Agriculture: Insights from Analyses of Farms in the Upper Midwest | North Central Region Water Network, University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension, Environmental Defense Fund, Croatan Institute, University of Minnesota, Compeer Financial | This booklet aims to inform farmers’ key partners—in particular, farm business management educators, agricultural lenders, and conservation educators and professionals—about the financial costs and benefits of conservation agriculture practices to assist their work with farmers. (2023) |
| Influences of Intensified Environmental Practices on Farm Profitability 2021 | AgCentric | Cost and income comparisons between farmers participating in Minnesota’s Water Quality Certification program and the average farmer participating in the MN State Farm Business Management Education program. Includes preliminary cover crop financial data. (2021) |
| Financing Resilient Agriculture | Environmental Defense Fund | This report presents climate risks to agricultural finance institutions and the role they can play in helping farmers invest in resilient production systems. (2020) |
| Financial Innovations to Accelerate Sustainable Agriculture: The Blueprints for The Value Chain | Field to Market | The report provides blueprints of finance and risk sharing solutions that can help farmers transition to conservation practices (2022). |
| How Much Can You Afford to Pay for Hay? | Minnesota Department of Agriculture | Summary of a study that investigated the impact of bale grazing on animal and pasture productivity, including the value of spent hay litter from purchased hay and affordability of hay used for winter bale grazing. (2017) |
| Livestock and Cover Crops | Practical Farmers of Iowa | Fact sheet on considerations for grazing cover crops, including costs. |
| Economic and Soil Health Impacts of Grazing Cover Crops | Practical Farmers of Iowa | This report describes the economic and soil health impacts six cooperators experienced in grazed cover crop systems from 2018-2019. (2019) |
| Grazing Systems Planning Guide | University of Minnesota Extension | This guide discusses the components of a grazing system by taking you through the grazing management planning process. |
| Business Case Study: Brey Cycle Farm: Raising Heifers with Management Intensive Rotational Grazing | University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension and Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection | A case study evaluating the financial and conservation benefits of using managed intensive rotational grazing to raise heifers as part of a Wisconsin dairy farm’s overall system. (2022) |
This resource hub is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under agreement number 2021-38640-34714 through the North Central Region SARE program under project number ENC21-206. USDA is an equal opportunity employer and service provider. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.