A. Plastina, J. Acharya, F. M. Marcos, M. R. Parvej, M. A. Licht, A. E. Robertson
{"title":"Does grazing winter cereal rye in Iowa, USA, make it profitable?","authors":"A. Plastina, J. Acharya, F. M. Marcos, M. R. Parvej, M. A. Licht, A. E. Robertson","doi":"10.1017/s1742170523000388","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Unproven economic returns at the farm level are a major barrier to large-scale adoption of cover crops. The objective of this study was to evaluate the short-run private net returns to producers implementing a cereal rye ( Secale cereale L.) cover crop preceding the no-till corn ( Zea mays L.) phase of a US Midwest corn–soybean ( Glycine max [L.] Merr.) rotation in an integrated crop and cow–calf operation. We used experimental agronomic data from six location-years in Iowa to estimate private net returns to cereal rye across alternative scenarios in a partial budget framework. Net returns in the absence of grazing averaged −$123.74 ha −1 and were negative for 82.2% of the treatments, while net returns under partial grazing averaged −$15.24 ha −1 and were negative for 54.8% of the treatments. Early-broadcast cereal rye produced higher biomass and larger net cost savings in the livestock enterprise than late-drilled cereal rye, but it also resulted in higher corn yield penalties. In the no-grazing scenario, net losses for early-broadcast cereal rye were $165.97 ha −1 larger, on average, than for late-drilled cereal rye. Our findings should raise awareness about the low probability of obtaining positive annual private net returns to cereal rye in Iowa in the absence of sizable targeted financial incentives, and inform the policy discussion on the cost-effectiveness of government-sponsored conservation programs.","PeriodicalId":54495,"journal":{"name":"Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0000,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s1742170523000388","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"AGRICULTURE, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Unproven economic returns at the farm level are a major barrier to large-scale adoption of cover crops. The objective of this study was to evaluate the short-run private net returns to producers implementing a cereal rye ( Secale cereale L.) cover crop preceding the no-till corn ( Zea mays L.) phase of a US Midwest corn–soybean ( Glycine max [L.] Merr.) rotation in an integrated crop and cow–calf operation. We used experimental agronomic data from six location-years in Iowa to estimate private net returns to cereal rye across alternative scenarios in a partial budget framework. Net returns in the absence of grazing averaged −$123.74 ha −1 and were negative for 82.2% of the treatments, while net returns under partial grazing averaged −$15.24 ha −1 and were negative for 54.8% of the treatments. Early-broadcast cereal rye produced higher biomass and larger net cost savings in the livestock enterprise than late-drilled cereal rye, but it also resulted in higher corn yield penalties. In the no-grazing scenario, net losses for early-broadcast cereal rye were $165.97 ha −1 larger, on average, than for late-drilled cereal rye. Our findings should raise awareness about the low probability of obtaining positive annual private net returns to cereal rye in Iowa in the absence of sizable targeted financial incentives, and inform the policy discussion on the cost-effectiveness of government-sponsored conservation programs.
期刊介绍:
Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems (formerly American Journal of Alternative Agriculture) is a multi-disciplinary journal which focuses on the science that underpins economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable approaches to agriculture and food production. The journal publishes original research and review articles on the economic, ecological, and environmental impacts of agriculture; the effective use of renewable resources and biodiversity in agro-ecosystems; and the technological and sociological implications of sustainable food systems. It also contains a discussion forum, which presents lively discussions on new and provocative topics.