Estimating the impact of cover crop adoption on ambient nitrogen concentration in the upper Mississippi River drainage

Abstract

We examine cover crop (CC) adoption to determine how this soil health practice has influenced agricultural non-point source pollution. We use remotely sensed data on practice adoption, and control for hydrological flow direction, weather, and land use to estimate the ex post impact of CC on total Nitrogen concentrations in surface water while controlling for pollutant spillovers from upstream. At the mean treatment level in the study area (3.2%), a 1% increase in CC adoption results in a 0.06 mg/L (2%) reduction in concentration in the study area. Results provide novel estimates based on observed data that can be compared to biophysical simulations of CC effectiveness.