The educational materials listed on this page are about Crop Rotation.
Crop rotation is an important part of any sustainable cropping system. As you develop a crop rotation plan, seek out crop rotation guides and examples, which will help you maximize the benefits of crop rotation. For example, see SARE’s Crop Rotation on Organic Farms: A Planning Manual, which includes in-depth information about the advantages of crop rotation and real-world examples of vegetable crop rotation plans and crop rotation charts. Another useful resource is the SARE topic brief Cover Crops for Sustainable Crop Rotations, which summarizes the usefulness of rotating cover crops in any cropping system.
Crop rotation can be employed in many types of cropping systems, including vegetables, agronomic crops, livestock and organic. There are many benefits and advantages of crop rotation: a careful crop rotation plan supports ecological pest management, improves soil health, and helps with nutrient management and soil fertility management, among other benefits. Carefully planned rotations including forage crops and cover crops can improve the sustainability of dairy farming systems. Learn more from the SARE fact sheet Alternative Continuous-Cover Dairy Forage System for Profitability, Flexibility and Soil Health.
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Economics of Grazing and Haying Cover Crops in North Central Kansas
Grown on an estimated 10 million acres across the country, cover crops are becoming an indispensable part of crop rotations. To maintain this momentum, the development of reliable information at the local level—how to craft a diversified rotation that pays—needs to keep pace with growth in farmers’ interest. That is what motivated Josh Roe to […]
Producers and Researchers Collaborate to Improve Soil Health in North Dakota
Soil—and whole farms—have been renewed through soil-improving practices like cover crops and no till. In the semiarid plains of western North Dakota, a team of producers and researchers are working to boost soil health for improved yield stability, farm income, and natural resource health of farms. The Southwest North Dakota Soil Health Project is a […]
Crop Rotation
Crop rotation is the ancient practice of growing a wide variety of crops in a sequential system throughout a field in order to avoid a buildup of disease and pests. Strategic crop rotations can help producers promote good soil health by alternating crops with different nutrient needs and benefit overall soil structure by breaking up subsoil by alternating deep and shallow rooting plants. NCR-SARE supports research and education projects that study the applications of crop rotation-including improving soil quality and health, and managing pests, diseases, and weeds.
Integrated Weed Management - One Year's Seeding
Weed biology and ecology can help every farmer become a better weed manager. This guide is the result of a series of winter meetings attended by Michigan farmers, MSU Extension agents and research scientists. It brings together field-tested experience from successful growers and Extension agents and insights distilled from more than 50 years of weed science research.