Monitoring the Spatial Distribution of Cover Crops and Tillage Practices Using Machine Learning and Environmental Drivers across Eastern South Dakota

The adoption of conservation agriculture methods, such as conservation tillage and cover cropping, is a viable alternative to conventional farming practices for improving soil health and reducing soil carbon losses. Despite their significance in mitigating climate change, there are very few studies that have assessed the overall spatial distribution of cover crops and tillage practices based on the farm’s pedoclimatic and topographic characteristics. Hence, the primary objective of this study was to use multiple satellite-derived indices and environmental drivers to infer the level of tillage intensity and identify the presence of cover crops in eastern South Dakota (SD). We used a machine learning classifier trained with in situ field samples and environmental drivers acquired from different remote sensing datasets for 2022 and 2023 to map the conservation agriculture practices. Our classification accuracies (>80%) indicate that the employed satellite spectral indices and environmental variables could successfully detect the presence of cover crops and the tillage intensity in the study region. Our analysis revealed that 4% of the corn (Zea mays) and soybean (Glycine max) fields in eastern SD had a cover crop during either the fall of 2022 or the spring of 2023. We also found that environmental factors, specifically seasonal precipitation, growing degree days, and surface texture, significantly impacted the use of conservation practices. The methods developed through this research may provide a viable means for tracking and documenting farmers’ agricultural management techniques. Our study contributes to developing a measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) solution that could help used to monitor various climate-smart agricultural practices.