Economic Impacts of Diversified Cropping Systems

Conventional production systems in the Midwest are heavily reliant on synthetic nitrogen fertilizers and herbicides to maintain soil fertility and manage weeds. Consequently, nitrogen and herbicides emitted from cropland contaminate groundwater and surface waters, with negative impacts on community health, ecosystems, and fisheries. Alternative farming systems that employ diversified cropping patterns, mixed crop-livestock production, and integrated pest management can prevent many of these problems without reducing farm yields and profits. An ongoing study from Iowa State University’s Marsden Farm in Boone County, Iowa, has compared crop yields, weed suppression, and profitability of low-external-input cropping systems with those of conventional corn-soybean cropping systems. This research reveals that more complex rotations substituting other crops for some of the corn and soybean on a farm can reap a variety of benefits, from reduced pesticide use to increased farm profits. The long-term Marsden Farm study has only demonstrated this potential on a relatively small scale. Using data from that experiment, we analyze the economic feasibility of adopting diverse crop rotation systems on a larger scale across the state of Iowa.