Page 22 - Ebook_CoverCrops2022_Final

Lee Tesdell, an Iowa landowner who has worked In other cases, landowners may want their rent-
with a farmer renting his land to establish cover ers to use cover crops, but can’t convince them
crops, tried drones this year but found they can to adopt the practice.
only plant about 20 pounds of seed per acre at More than half of the cropland in the contigu-
a time, which means they can’t cover very many ous 48 states is rented.
acres before needing to be refilled.
In the latest SARE survey, 19% of farmers
“I’m not real optimistic about drones at the rate surveyed had concerns about using cover crops
I’m using them,” Tesdell said. “I want more seed on rented land. In the same survey, more than
on the ground.” 15% of respondents said they did not own the

According to a SARE report, costs for seeding land they farmed, 15% owned less than 25%
cover crops can range from $5 to $18 per acre, of their farmed acres and 6% owned between
though a 2012 survey found a median cost of 26% and 50%.
$12 an acre. In Louisiana, where Naveen Adusumilli has
Hiring an aerial applicator may cost $12 to $18 been researching the adoption of conservation
per acre, while a 10-foot drill may cost around practices on rented land, there’s an upward trend
$10 an acre and a 40-foot row crop planter of farmers using cover crops between the years
could amount to $10 an acre. If seeding with 1997 and 2020. There’s also a clear increase in
fertilizer, producers would likely just pay the cost tenant-farmed land acres, as more landowning
farm operators age and decide to rent out the
of the fertilizer application and the seed.
land instead of continuing to work it. However,
Myers said cost-conscious farmers have found as there’s no hard data on the two together, it’s
ways to reduce their cost of cover crop seed- unclear whether there’s a link or not.
ing. For example, some are using more efficient “That’s the kind of a connection we would like
methods of seeding like a 30-foot-wide row crop to make,” Adusumilli, an associate professor
planter rather than a 10-foot-wide drill. Others of agricultural economics and agribusiness at
are having their fertilizer dealers mix their cover Louisiana State University, told Agri-Pulse.
crop seed in with their fertilizer to save an extra “But hard numbers are tough to report.”
trip over the field.
But according to Adusumilli, many of the
Some 20% to 30% of farmers are using lower barriers to cover crop adoption on rented
seeding rates per acre for cover crops than they ground tend to present themselves when the
used to, either to stretch their dollars, make it landlords aren’t actively engaged in the
easier to plant green, or just because they believe operation of the farm.
they can get the cover crop they need with less
seed, according to Myers. According to USDA, 80% of rented farmland
in 2014 was owned by landlords who are not
actively involved in farming. And nearly 20% of
Getting .that .landlord . . the acres rented in eight states — Kansas, North
(or .renter) .on .board Dakota, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Texas, Wash-
Cost isn’t the only factor farmers have to con- ington, Idaho and Arkansas — was owned by
sider: Producers can’t even get to the point of landlords who lived more than 100 miles away
figuring out whether a cover crop will pencil out from the land.
if they rent their land and the owner doesn’t It can be difficult for tenant farmers to convince
want cover crops. a landowner who is not actively involved in the

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