Independent research agronomist Jim Stute recently unveiled the results of a long-term study of the economic and weed suppression effects of cover crop adoption and management in southeast Wisconsin.

Funded by Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE), Stute’s study evaluated yield response and the net return-on-investment of cereal rye as a cover crop for both corn and soybean. 

The study found positive economic results when costs were managed appropriately, and that cover crops can be financially sound even for rented land, but that farmers’ timing when terminating their rye cover was critical for success. 

Studies showed positive yield responses to the cover crop for both corn (2.1%) and soybeans (2.3%). And that yield response, along with cost share opportunities and cost containment — by co-applying the cover crop termination and residual herbicide on the same pass — resulted in a higher net gain for the cooperating farmers.

Stute notes most a quarter of the cooperating farmers who fared best in the trials were planting on sites where cover crops had not been used before. In corn more than half the sites hadn’t seen covers and for soybeans it was about one third. 

Stute says that the first-year response in the study had “stunned” him. “That kind of dispels this myth that cover crops are a long-term proposition. You can get an immediate return, so that makes cover crops appropriate for rental ground.”

“For those thinking about covers on your own land or on rental land, it’s not something you need to be afraid of. But use cost share, follow our best practices or best practices for your neighborhood.”

For more information on this study and the positive effects cover crops can have on your farm, read Benjamin Fisher’s article “Cover Crops Managed Properly Can Bring Immediate Benefits” featured in the July 2026 Issue of No-Till Farmer.