Cover crops have been proposed as a resource that could enhance the effect of no‐till (NT) cropping systems. Crop yield limitations due to cover crops in the U.S. Great Plains are a concern to potential adopters. This research determined the impact of cover crops on crop yield and economic return compared with conventional practices in dryland systems of the Texas Rolling Plains. The study conducted at the Texas A&M AgriLife Chillicothe Research Station evaluated the following treatments: (a) conventional till (CT); (b) NT, and NT with the following cover crops; (c) Austrian winter pea (Pisum sativum L.); (d) hairy vetch (Vicia villosa L.); (e) crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum L.); (f) winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.); and (g) a multi‐species mixture. Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) yields, expenses, and returns were determined over a 4‐yr period (2013–2016). Cover crops increased total seed costs compared to CT and NT. Hairy vetch and the multi‐species mixture increased total expenses over CT and NT. However, no significant treatment effect was determined for crop yield or net return among treatments. A multi‐species mixture did not provide an agronomic or economic advantage compared to single species cover crop approaches. Under dryland conditions in the Texas Rolling Plains, these selected cover crops maintained cotton yields without negatively affecting net returns. Other ecosystem services should be considered prior to implementing cover crops in studied cropping systems. Site‐specific research is warranted in regions of the southern Great Plains where water may be more limited than the Texas Rolling Plains.

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Cover crop biomass is helpful for weed and pest control, soil erosion control, nutrient recycling, and overall soil health and crop productivity improvement. These benefits may vary based on cover crop species and their biomass. There is growing interest in the agricultural sector of using remotely sensed imagery to estimate cover crop biomass. Four small plot study sites located at the United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service, Crop Production Systems Research Unit farm, Stoneville, MS with different cereals, legumes, and their mixture as fall-seeded cover crops were selected for this analysis. A randomized complete block design with four replications was used at all four study sites. Cover crop biomass and canopy-level hyperspectral data were collected at the end of April, just before cover crop termination. High-resolution (3 m) PlanetScope imagery (Dove satellite constellation with PS2.SD and PSB.SD sensors) was collected throughout the cover crop season from November to April in the 2021 and 2022 study cycles. Results showed that mixed cover crop increased biomass production up to 24% higher compared to single species rye. Reflectance bands (blue, green, red and near infrared) and vegetation indices derived from imagery collected during March were more strongly correlated with biomass (r = 0–0.74) compared to imagery from November (r = 0.01–0.41) and April (r = 0.03–0.57), suggesting that the timing of imagery acquisition is important for biomass estimation. The highest correlation was observed with the near-infrared band (r = 0.74) during March. The R2 for biomass prediction with the random forest model improved from 0.25 to 0.61 when cover crop species/mix information was added along with Planet imagery bands and vegetation indices as biomass predictors. More study with multiple timepoint biomass, hyperspectral, and imagery collection is needed to choose appropriate bands and estimate the biomass of mix cover crop species.

Cover crops can provide several ecosystem services in agricultural cropping systems.Benefits may be enhanced with increasing cover crop biomass production. In waterlimited environments, feasibility of cover crop germination and production is not always certain. This study was conducted to determine differences in biomass production, water use, and water use efficiency (WUE) between monoculture cover crops and a mixture at Chillicothe, TX, in the Southern Great Plains under rainfed conditions in a continuous cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) cropping system over a 6-yr period. Evaluated cover crops included Austrian winter pea (Pisum sativum L.), crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum L.), hairy vetch (Vicia villosa L.), hard red winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), and a grass/broadleaf mixture. Although cover crops were planted after optimum planting dates and under varying climatic conditions, biomass production was 2863, 2480, and 2301 kg ha −1 for the mixture, pea, and vetch, respectively. Peas and the mixture were the most consistent, producing significantly greater biomass than wheat and clover but not more than vetch. The mixture resulted in greater WUE than wheat. Clover resulted in reduced biomass production and WUE than vetch, pea, and the mixture over the study period. A cover crop mixture did not produce significantly greater biomass or significantly increase water use efficiency compared with vetch and pea. Under dryland conditions, peas, vetch, and a mixture were shown to be viable cover crop options in Southern Great Plains cotton systems, performing as well as a wheat cover crop.

Core Ideas Soil nitrate was lower due to a cereal rye cover crop during the active growing season. Infiltration was greater for no‐till with rye cover crop than conventional tillage. After 17 years, no‐till with rye had greater soil organic C than conventional tillage in surface layers. Soil organic C did not differ between no‐till with rye and conventional tillage for subsurface layers. No‐till with rye has potential to alleviate resistance and compaction at subsurface layers. Adoption of conservation tillage in cotton cropping systems lags well behind other major crops in the United States. The Texas High Plains region is the largest cotton‐producing region in the United States and is in an area where soil and water conservation are of utmost importance. There is little information of the impacts of conservation tillage on soil function within this environment, and long‐term studies are critical to understanding potential impacts of implemented practices. As conservation tillage expands in use, understanding the impact of transitioning to such systems on nutrient cycling and soil compaction becomes paramount. Our objective was to quantify the impact of a long‐term no‐till cover crop system on soil chemical and physical properties in a continuous cotton system within a semiarid environment. Two systems implemented in 1998 were evaluated: (1) conventional tillage (CT); and (2) no‐till with a cereal rye cover crop (NT‐rye). Soil NO3–N was significantly lower due to NT‐rye treatments during the active cover crop growing season. However, NO3–N concentrations were not different between tillage treatments in the cotton growing season. Soil organic C (SOC) was significantly greater for NT‐rye in the upper 10 cm, and there were no significant differences for SOC between treatments to a depth of 90 cm. Bulk density and penetration resistance varied by sampling time and depth and infiltration was as much as 34% greater for NT‐rye. No‐till with a rye cover crop can increase surface SOC levels while improving infiltration and penetration resistance in semiarid continuous cotton cropping systems.