What is it about?
To boost soil health, reduce erosion, and support climate goals, farmers often adopt sustainable agricultural practices like cover cropping. However, researchers have rarely looked at whether these practices continue over time, which is vital for achieving long-term environmental benefits. In our study, we analyzed detailed data from thousands of farm parcels in Indiana and a national dataset of self-reported cover cropping. Surprisingly, we found that farmers frequently stop using cover cropping on fields after a few years, even though conservation experts predicted higher persistence.
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Why is it important?
Achieving sustainability goals requires that humans change their behavior not just once but persistently. Yet, research and action aimed at reducing the environmental impacts of agriculture overwhelmingly focus on the initial step of adoption, often overlooking the question of what happens next. Our study sheds light on this blind spot. Without a deeper understanding of persistence, the massive investments in conservation and climate-smart investments by both the private and public sectors risk falling short of their potential to drive lasting environmental change.
Perspectives
I hope this article does not lead anyone to believe that conservation and climate-smart investments in agriculture have zero effect – the truth is far from it. The intent of our article is to simply highlight an important issue that hasn’t received enough attention from the conservation community, and to show with one important example why the topic deserves more attention. I enjoyed being able to study this issue with a team of scientists with different disciplinary training and experiences from a range of organizations, both academic and non-academic. Broad, interdisciplinary perspectives are needed to solve environmental problems.
Paul Ferraro
Johns Hopkins University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Beyond adoption: The persistence of conservation and climate-smart agricultural practices in the United States, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, October 2025, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2518373122.
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