1. Datu Case Studies On-farm Economics of Cover Crops & No-till
I’m Marcy Lowe, CEO of Datu Research
Glad to be here
First 4 Datu Case Studies on economics of cover crops & no-till
As Beth said, we hope to do them nationwide
In this presentation, I’ll share:
Method we used
Key takeaways
Next steps
On-farm Economics of Cover Crops & No-till
Marcy Lowe, CEO, Datu Research
NACD Annual Meeting
January 30, 2018

2. 2014 CIG, with support from Walton Family Foundation
National Association of Conservation Districts
180+ Soil Health Champions
Datu Research
4 Farmer Case Studies
A little background on how these four case studies came about:
Evidence that cover cropping and no-till can:
Limit soil loss
Reduce run-off
Enhance biodiversity
Need more hard data on:
Farm-level economics
What works where: the how, the why
Audience: farmers! Quick to read, relevant to your own farm; importance of the narrative that explains the numbers

3. 4 Cases Moore Diaz Willis Kuhns K.F. Farm Diaz Farm Willis Farm
Here are the four case-study farms:
NACD helped get nominations from conservation districts
Interviewing, vetting
Each farmer had detailed records and willing to share them
Diversity in farm size, geography
Settled on these four: 25 acres to 2,300 acres
Note that for this study, Kuhns Family Farm tracked no-till only (not cover crops)
K.F. Farm
Diaz Farm
Willis Farm
Moore Farm
Location
Effingham County Illinois
Stephenson County Illinois
Gentry County Missouri
Howard County
Iowa
Years of No-Till 23 26 30 25
Years of Cover Cropping 0* 5 4 3
Crop
Corn-soybean rotation
Livestock
Hog -
Cow-calf
Acreage
1,800
1,500
2,300

4. Method: Partial Budget Analysis
Focus on changes in income attributed to adoption
Baseline is average of 2-7 years before study period
Categories determined by literature review, consultations, interviews
Each change in income expressed in $/acre
Data from farmer records and in-depth interviews
Validation by each case study farmer
For our analytic framework, we chose partial budget analysis
Changes in income ATTRIBUTED TO ADOPTION of cover crops
Baseline ave. 2-7 years
Budget categories
Changes expressed in $ per acre
Gathered data from farmer records, in-depth interviews
Validation by each farmer; guidance from NRCS economists

5. Categories Tracked Planting Erosion-related repairs Seeds Implements
Machinery
Termination
Operator
Fuel
Learning activities
Herbicide
Fungicide
Additional scouting
Insecticide
Workshops, internet
Fertilizer application
Cattle grazing
N, P, K
Replacing hay
Yield
These are the budget categories, and what they consisted of
Some categories imply negative income changes (costs), some are positive income changes (savings)
Planting
Termination
Fertilizer Application
Erosion-related repairs
Cattle grazing
Yield – final category, to get the net change in income

6. Key Changes in Income Across Four Case Studies
I’d like to show you what the changes in income looked like
Starting first with a couple years from Michael’s 4-year experiment with cover crops
Across Four Case Studies

7. Income Changes Attributed To Cover Crops
2013
Here is Michael’s first year of cover crops
Shows the changes in income Michael attributed to cover crops across four fields, in $/acre
Categories as mentioned. You’ll notice he spent more on planting, more on learning activities (time spent on trainings, web research)
The main positive change was in fertilizer application (big savings)
As for yields,
Different results on corn fields v soybean
Corn yield went down – this is where we feel that the narrative becomes so important
suspected because legume cc did not supply enough N, and C from the rye tied up more N in the soil
Soybean yield went up, heavy rains early in season on nearby unplanted fields >But rye prevented erosion: add est extra 20 bushels of harvested [formula: Change in combined yield = (average corn yield * corn acreage + average soybean yield * soybean acreage) / (corn acreage + soybean acreage).
Timing, nitrogen issues
Rye prevented erosion

8. 2016 Michael’s 4th year of cover crops Well rewarded for experimenting
One of the most positive changes: spent far less on fertilizer (same with Dan)
Reduction was well timed, not like 2013

9. Change In Income Associated with Fertilizer Application
3 out of the 4 farmers reported significant savings in fertilizer (positive income changes)
Showing the max/min view because it differed so much each year (in fact, by field)
No one’s fertilizer costs increased
Where there’s no min (blue bar), the farmer reported no change in income
Frank Moore (northern Iowa) reported no change

10. Change in Income Associated with Erosion Repair
The other thing we were struck by was consistent savings in erosion repair
Dan, Michael, Frank Moore all showed savings
Lowest was no change
Highest was $16 saved per acre

11. Compared to the Baseline
Planting costs increased by as much as $38 per acre
Fertilizer costs decreased by as much as $50 per acre
Erosion repair costs decreased by as much as $16 per acre
Yields increased by as much as $76 per acre
Yearly net change in income ranged from -$83 to $110 per acre
Again, because results varied so much, no averages—instead, full range of the change in income across the four cases:
Planting costs up by as much as $38 per acre
Fertilizer costs down by as much as $50 per acre
Erosion repair costs down by as much as $16 per acre
Yields increased by as much as $76 per acre
Yearly net change in income ranged: -$83 to $110 per acre
Ups and downs
Farmers were pleased with their learning curves
Shows you don’t have to wait years and years for benefits

12. Takeaways From All Four Case Studies
Economic benefit takes time and experimenting
Incentive programs further help the bottom line
Adopters reap rewards from self-education
Reduced fertilizer costs can bring dramatic savings
In all four cases, adoption reduced erosion repairs
Econ B increases over time:
Net positive in 3 out of 4 years on Willis Farm
immediate gains of no-till on Kuhns farm
Incentive programs (additional analysis) help the bottom line
In some cases the diff between + and –
Adopters reap rewards from self-education
Will help reduce adoption costs for future adopters
Reduced fertilizer costs can bring dramatic savings
3 out of 4 cases
In all four cases, adoption reduced erosion repairs
Others may draw additional conclusions

13. Tremendous Contribution By Datu Case Study Farmers!
Stan Kuhns
Dan Diaz
Michael Willis
Frank Moore
Thank you to the farmers!
Can’t thank you enough
Data and time
Incredible value created
Speeding up the learning curve for other farmers
Next steps:
Get the case studies into farmers’ hands
Study how best to do that (Linda Prokopy of Purdue)
CCA role
Seeking funding for more case studies in other geographies

14. Thank you for your attention!
Marcy Lowe
CEO, Datu Research
Really encourage all to offer feedback!
This is only the beginning, we want to do more case studies
How can we share this info with as many farmers as possible?