Boost Your Farm’s Success: The Power of Crop Rotation for Resilient Crops and Higher Yields

Crop rotation, an ancient agricultural practice, remains highly relevant and beneficial today. Particularly in the Midwest, where corn and soybeans dominate. Farmers can effectively manage disease, weeds, and soil health by alternating these crops, leading to higher yields.

REDUCED PEST PRESSURE

One of the primary advantages of crop rotation is its ability to break the cycle of pests. Rotating corn and soybeans disrupts the lifecycle of diseases and insects that overwinter in the soil, reducing their impact on the subsequent crop.

Soybeans are non-host plants to many overwintering diseases that significantly impact corn yields, such as gray leaf spot, tar spot and northern corn leaf blight.

In addition, soybeans help reduce populations of yield-robbing pests such as corn rootworm (CRW), the most destructive insect to corn. Entomologists recommend adding soybeans into a corn rotation as the most effective means of controlling Bt-resistant CRW that do not exhibit extended diapause. CRW beetles lay eggs in the fall, primarily in corn residue, but if corn is not present the following spring, hatching rootworm larvae will die.

WEED CONTROL AND HERBICIDE
RESISTANCE

Crop rotation is valuable to farmers in managing herbicide resistance, a significant concern in corn and soybean production. Although crop rotation does not prevent herbicide resistance, it does make resistance management and prevention easier.

Applying soybean herbicides one season and then corn herbicides the next keeps weeds from adapting to any one mode of action too quickly. This also reduces the likelihood that weeds will develop resistance to herbicides.

HIGHER YIELDS

Corn and soybeans grown in rotation tend to have higher yields. Soybeans grown after soybeans usually yield less, and corn grown after soybeans usually yield more than corn grown after corn.

IMPROVED SOIL HEALTH AND NUTRITION

Corn-on-corn fields require higher nitrogen fertilizer applications compared with corn following soybeans. However, corn following soybeans benefit from more soil-available N, particularly early in the season, which can lead to increased yield potential.

Alternating crops with different root systems—corn’s fibrous roots and soybean’s taproots—enhances soil structure and health. This rotation improves soil aggregation, increases water infiltration, and promotes a healthier, more resilient soil ecosystem.

Crop rotation is a powerful tool for Midwest farmers, offering numerous disease and nutrient management benefits. By strategically alternating corn and soybeans, farmers can improve soil health, increase crop yields, and more effectively manage pests and diseases. As farming challenges evolve, incorporating crop rotation into agricultural practices will continue to be a cornerstone of sustainable and profitable farming in the Midwest.