Does grazing winter cereal rye in Iowa, USA, make it profitable?

Unproven economic returns at the farm level are a major barrier to large-scale adoption of cover crops. The objective of this study was to evaluate the short-run private net returns to producers implementing a cereal rye ( Secale cereale L.) cover crop preceding the no-till corn ( Zea mays L.) phase of a US Midwest corn–soybean ( Glycine max [L.] Merr.) rotation in an integrated crop and cow–calf operation. We used experimental agronomic data from six location-years in Iowa to estimate private net returns to cereal rye across alternative scenarios in a partial budget framework. Net returns in the absence of grazing averaged −$123.74 ha −1 and were negative for 82.2% of the treatments, while net returns under partial grazing averaged −$15.24 ha −1 and were negative for 54.8% of the treatments. Early-broadcast cereal rye produced higher biomass and larger net cost savings in the livestock enterprise than late-drilled cereal rye, but it also resulted in higher corn yield penalties. In the no-grazing scenario, net losses for early-broadcast cereal rye were $165.97 ha −1 larger, on average, than for late-drilled cereal rye. Our findings should raise awareness about the low probability of obtaining positive annual private net returns to cereal rye in Iowa in the absence of sizable targeted financial incentives, and inform the policy discussion on the cost-effectiveness of government-sponsored conservation programs.