What Are Cover Crops?

• Plants (single species or mixes) grown primarily to improve soil health, not for direct harvest.
• Can be grown before, after or alongside a cash crop.

Why Grow Cover Crops?

Benefits (depending on goals and context):

• Reduce erosion and soil compaction (erosion is an incredibly underestimated expense!)
• Improve soil ecology and increase microbial activity
• Increase soil organic matter content
• Improve water infiltration and water-holding capacity
• Enhance soil aggregate stability
• Add nitrogen to the soil through the process of biological nitrogen fixation by legume cover crops or nutrient recycling (making nutrients available to the next crop)
• Smother weeds and help control pests/diseases

Water Use and Management in Arid Nevada: Are Cover Crops a Viable Option in Arid Environments?

• Yes, cover crops use water, but timing and management matter.
• About 50% of plant water use occurs during vegetative growth; terminating the cover crop before flower or seed set reduces water consumption.
• Fall-planted cover crops provide ground cover and capture snow for infiltration into the soil later in the season.
• Over time, improved soil organic matter content and soil aggregation yield better water retention and infiltration.
• In wet areas, cover crops can use excess spring moisture to allow earlier field access.

Key Considerations Before Planting

• Define your goals – e.g., erosion control, nutrient cycling, weed management, livestock forage.
• Choose species/mixes based on your goals, soil type, climate and seed cost/availability.
• Timing and termination – plant after harvest, interseed or between rotations. Terminate before excessive water use or seed development.
• Diversity pays off – plants have different root depths, canopy structures and root exudates (organic compounds released by plant roots, that is, sugars, amino acids, organic acids and secondary metabolites for pest and pathogen protection) that create stronger, more resilient systems to drought and disease as plant diversity increases.
• Cost versus benefit – short-term costs versus long-term gains (soil health, resilience, reduced inputs).

Conclusions and Recommendations

• Yes, cover crops can be and are grown in Nevada.
• Recognizing success often requires a paradigm shift: viewing cover crops as a long-term investment in soil health, farm resilience and profitability, rather than just short-term yield.
• There is no “one-size-fits-all” mix: tailor species and management considering your farm’s goals, soils and climate, that is, your operational context.
• Start simple, experiment, adapt: build soil health and improve profitability over time.

For the complete report with resources, tools, and functional groups, use the link below to download the PDF version.