American Farmland Trust (AFT) has developed a series of two-page guides highlighting the economic costs and benefits of adopting soil health practices for farmers. Soil health practices such as no-till, cover crops, nutrient management, and crop rotations have been shown to reduce erosion, maximize water infiltration, improve nutrient cycling, and improve resilience, but their effects on a farm’s bottom line are quite complicated.

For farmers to feel confident making the decision of whether to adopt these practices, they need information on the economic effects—both positive and negative—of these practices. The guides highlight relevant studies from the existing economic literature in quick, easy-to-read two-page factsheets.

These guides build off AFT’s Soil Health Case Studies, providing farmers with crucial information to help them make their decision to adopt soil health practices. The first three guides in this series focus on corn, soybean, and small grain rotations and the guides are delineated by methodology: Budget Analyses, National Surveys, and Research Trials. Each guide briefly outlines the methodology, explains key findings from relevant literature, and ends with key takeaways. For readers who would like to dive deeper into specific studies, each reference is hyperlinked at the bottom of page two.