Skip to main content
ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Sustainable Agricultural Systems Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #419424
Research Project: Enhancing Sustainability of Mid-Atlantic Agricultural Systems Using Agroecological Principles and Practices

Location: Sustainable Agricultural Systems Laboratory

Title: Code and limited data for: Rotational complexity increases cropping system output under poorer growing conditions

Author
item Muller, Katherine
item Bybee-Finley, Kristine
item Schomberg, Harry
item Cavigelli, Michel
item White, Kathryn
item Han, Eunjin
item BOWELES, TIM - University Of California Berkeley
item VIENS, FREDERI - Rice University

Submitted to: Ag Data Commons
Publication Type: Database / Dataset
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/26/2024
Publication Date: 6/26/2024
Citation: Muller, K.E., Bybee-Finley, K.A., Schomberg, H.H., Cavigelli, M.A., White, K.E., Han, E., Boweles, T., Viens, F. 2024. Code and limited data for: Rotational complexity increases cropping system output under poorer growing conditions. Ag Data Commons. https://doi.org/10.15482/USDA.ADC/25943899.v1.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15482/USDA.ADC/25943899.v1

Interpretive Summary: The benefits and trade-offs of complex crop rotations, those with greater numbers of crops and/or different types of crops, have not been well-quantified. ARS and university scientists compiled data from 20 long-term cropping systems studies from across North America that grew every crop each year to create a database with 460 site-years of crop yields. We converted yield to gross returns in inflation-adjusted dollars for cash crops in the rotations (corn, soybean, small grains, and perennial forages). Whole rotation-level returns were determined as the average return for all crops in a rotation per year. The complexity of the rotation was defined with a continuous variable that accounted for the number of species and the length of the rotation. The influence of rotational complexity on returns was evaluated across growing conditions for each individual cash crop and entire rotations. Individual crop returns increased or stayed the same with more complex rotations. The effect of rotational complexity on rotation-level returns differed across growing conditions. Under poor growing conditions, rotational complexity was more beneficial. Future research can study how farmers consider opportunity costs with more complex management. These results will be of interest to crop scientists, producer groups, and policy makers.

Technical Abstract: This repository contains scripts and limited data for the article, "Rotational complexity increases cropping system yields under poor growing conditions," published in One Earth (115 log number 407407). It contains all code used to process, analyze, and present data and results, along with data files derived from public sources, such as the National Agricultural Statistics service. We do not currently have permission to share the full dataset with the public.