Cover crop adoption and intensity on Wisconsin's organic vegetable farms

Cover crop adoption varies across agroecological contexts, both in terms of the number of farmers using cover crops and in the ways that farmers use them. Most assessments of cover crop adoption treat adoption as a binary variable, rather than as a continuum of practices, and do not use regression analysis to identify the drivers of adoption. In 2014, we surveyed organic vegetable farmers in Wisconsin to assess their use of cover crops in terms of cover crop acreage, species diversity, and complexity of management practices. We also used regression analysis to identify key drivers of cover crop use and assessed farmer and farm characteristics and perceptions of cover crops. Survey results and regression analysis show that cover crops are widely used by Wisconsin's organic vegetable farmers, but acreage, diversity, and complexity of cover crop use varied and have different explanatory factors. Cover cropping extent is negatively correlated with dependence on vegetable revenue, while cover crop species diversity and complexity are positively linked to more educated and experimental farmers. By using different measures of adoption and regression analysis, we can better understand how and why farmers are using cover crops, providing opportunities for improved adoption through research and policy interventions.