INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana continues to be among the nation’s leaders in planting cover crops in freshly harvested corn and soybean fields to protect and nourish the soil.

There were 1.6 million acres of overwintering cover crops like wheat in the ground statewide this spring, according to a conservation survey by the Indiana State Department of Agriculture (ISDA).

In comparison, the state had just below 1 million acres of cover crops in 2022.

As a result of the sharp increase, cover crops in Indiana now exist on more land than any crop except for corn and soybeans, according to the survey.

Posey County led the state with about 87,000 acres of cover crops followed by Gibson County with 70,000 and LaPorte County with 60,000.

The survey also revealed cover crops, from the protection they offer against erosion, helped stop about 1.8 million tons of sediment last year from entering Indiana waterways through storm run-off.

Mark Parkman, of Westville, Ind., said he tries to use cover crops on 100 percent of his over 2,000 acres of corn and soybeans, but reached 95 percent coverage last year. Parkman said he’s been planting cover crops like radishes and wheat for the past 12 years.

As a result, Parkman said he no longer has major problems with soil washing into low lying areas of his fields or blowing away in windstorms.

Parkman said he also believes his yields are better from the nutrients put back into his fields once dying cover crops start decomposing. He doesn’t harvest his cover crops to achieve maximum organic replenishment of nutrients for his soil.

“We’re seeing a lot of good benefits from it,” he said.

Parkman said he plants corn and soybeans in his covered soil without tilling.

He said the covered ground helps retain moisture in the soil, which can help reduce stress in the corn and soybean plants during periods of drought. Parkman said he’s also seeing new soil emerge in spots once nearly bare from the organic material transforming into nutrient-rich dirt.

“There are so many advantages to it,” he said. 

Jeff Baltes said his family began using cover crops in his fields from Rolling Prairie to North Liberty in the 1980s.

Over time, Baltes said the percentage of his fields with cover crops increased until about 15 years ago when all of his family’s 3,000 acres were totally covered.

“The more benefits we saw, the more important it became to us,” he said.

According to USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, the last Census of Agriculture in 2022 showed the amount of acres with cover crops nationwide had increased by 17 percent since 2017.

Despite the sharp increase, the amount of cropland covered in the U.S. in 2022 was just 4.7 percent.

Currently, Farmers for Soil Health is working to achieve its goal of 30 million cover-cropped acres in the U.S. by 2030.

The organization, stemming from a partnership between the United Soybean Board, the National Corn Growers Association and the National Pork Board, was awarded $95 million in grants through USDA to help achieve its mission.

Parkman said he understands why some farmers might be reluctant to change from practices learned from previous generations or spend money on planting crops that won’t be harvested.

He said the profits of cover crops are from things like using less fertilizer on corn and soybeans because of the nutrients put back into the soil and fewer chemicals to kill weeds, which don’t thrive much in crop-covered ground.

“We’re thinking improve the soil. Less run-off. That’s where we’re making our money,” he said.

Baltes said his profit margins have also increased noticeably, mostly from much lower input costs.

“Our live return on investment at the end of the day is way up,” he said.

He also no longer faces the threat of crop losses from ponding since the root systems on cover crops help water filter into the ground by keeping the soil less compacted.

Baltes said the soil is also more porous from worms and other microbes drawn back to ground no longer disrupted from tilling.

“It soaks right in,” he said.

Baltes said the key for a farmer to succeed at cover cropping is to have a positive attitude from the beginning. Doubters might not give it a try or be quick to return to their conventional methods.

“It’ll never work for them because in their head they’ve already made up their mind that it’s not going to work. It’s a mindset,” he said.