Cover Crops, Water Use and the Water Cycle: What Does the Evidence Tell Us

This session introduces key components of the water cycle and how cover crops influence processes such as organic matter accumulation, improve pore space, enhance water infiltration, reduce surface runoff, increase flood resilience, drainage, evapotranspiration and soil water retention. It highlights a wide range of supporting evidence, including global synthesis studies, regional research from Nebraska and Iowa, on-farm trials, farmers perspectives, meta-analyses and multi-location field studies from both semi-arid western Nebraska and eastern Colorado. It concludes with a summary of key findings and major takeaways, emphasizing practical recommendations and management strategies to address water-related challenges, particularly during dry years.

This webinar, entitled ‘Cover Crops, Water Use and the Water Cycle: What Does the Evidence Tell Us,’ is the second in a four-part series on cover crops, presented by Andrea Basche, an associate professor at the UNL Department of Agronomy and Horticulture.