Cover crops have been promoted as a management approach to provide environmental benefits to annual cropping systems and are gaining popularity in New York. Corn (Zea mays L.) silage rotations in New York may be a particular area where adoption of cover crops should be further promoted. Greater knowledge about successful management practices, soil health improvements, and N management is needed. In this study, 115 New York dairy farmers were surveyed to gain insight into the issues that serve as barriers to adoption of cover crops. Two surveys were developed and targeted to farmers (i) with experience growing cover crops (73 farmers) and (ii) without cover crop experience (42 farmers). Farmers with cover crop experience were motivated to use cover crops to reduce risk of erosion, improve soil organic matter levels, and capture end‐of‐season N. On average, 19% of the total cropland and 48% of the corn acreage were cover cropped annually. Cereal rye (Secale cereale L.) was the most common cover crop. Timing and costs were raised as barriers for adoption by farmers without cover crop experience. Most farmers who started using cover crops continued to do so; only 14% had discontinued use, citing lack of time and delay in corn planting as reasons. Results of this survey showed potential for expanding acreage of cover crops in New York.

Dairy farms can improve their environmental footprint by feeding more homegrown forage. As a consequence, higher yields will reduce feed imports and enhance nutrient use efficiency. To improve forage production, limitations to production need to be identified. In particular, there is a need for long-term yield records, of at least 8 years, to evaluate yield stability and production trends. Such information should allow us to identify the system with the best buffering capacity (resilience) under changing climate. Here, we analyzed 14 years of yield data from a 1000-cow dairy farm. We studied individual field yield and farm-average yields of corn silage and alfalfa and grass hay mixtures. Fields were classified in four quadrants based on yield and yield variability over time. Soil physical and chemical properties were evaluated as potential indicators of biological buffering capacity. Across all fields, corn silage yield increased from 13.3 to 17.8 Mg dry matter (DM) ha −1 between 2000 and 2013 whereas hay yield averaged 8.6 Mg DM ha −1 without a trend. Those findings are explained by timing and amount of rainfall, field drainage, soil phosphorus, and organic matter. Fields with the highest biological buffering capacity averaged 18-20 mg Morgan soil test phosphorus kg −1 and 2.9-3.2 % organic matter versus 9 mg phosphorus kg −1 and 2.7-2.8 % organic matter for low and variableyielding fields. We suggest therefore that management practices that increase organic matter, improve drainage, and provide optimal soil fertility will result in higher and more stable yields that are less impacted by weather extremes.

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