Figuring out the return on investment with soil health tends to be complicated.
Nebraska farmer Keith Berns owns a cover crop seed business and travels as a speaker. He says his message is called “Soil health makes sense, but does it make dollars?”
“And the whole crux of it is it doesn’t really matter how good it does for the environment, how good it does for your neighbors. If you can’t make money doing it, then it’s not going to be something that’s sustainable for the long run.”
He tells Brownfield no-till practices, cover crops, and integrating small grains to diversify crop rotation are three soil health practices he focuses on when doing a financial analysis.
