Soil Texture as a Moderator of Cover Crop Impacts on Crop Yields: Evidence From Midwestern Panel Data

Abstract

This study investigates whether the adoption of cover crops improves the crop yields ofcorn and soy beans. Furthermore, this study explores whether the inclusion of relevant soil texture information more narrowly identifies this effect. This is achieved through the construction of a county-level panel data set concerning 12 states in the American Midwest from 2005-2016. The data leverage remote-sensing cover crop adoption data, weather data, and soil texture data. We employ linear panel fixed effects models with various alternative specifications as robustness checks. We also include an external-instrument-free estimation strategy estimation strategy. These estimation approaches take advantage of the panel nature of the data to address the stability of the model results under alternative specifications and potential endogeneity issues. Our results indicate modest improvements in the yields of both corn and soy beans through the use of cover crops. Furthermore, we find that the inclusion of soil texture information in particular clay content consistently improves the estimation of cover crop adoption across alternative specifications. Our results suggest that cover crops can improve cash crop yields.