Sustainable agriculture
OECD work on Agri-Environmental Indicators (AEIs) is primarily aimed at policy makers and the wider public interested in the development, trends and the use of agri-environmental indicators for policy purposes. The focus of the work is in particular related to indicator definitions, methodologies and calculation of indicators.
Many of the agri-environmental indicators being developed are of importance beyond OECD Member countries, for example, on issues covering soil and water quality, and the use of nutrients, pesticides and water by agriculture.
The general objectives of OECD work on AEIs are intended to:
Provide information on the current state and changes in the conditions of the environment in agriculture.
Persistent Cover Crop Adoption Varies by Primary Commodity Crop
The use of cover crops on U.S. cropland increased by 50 percent between 2012 and 2017. During this period, Federal and State conservation programs increased efforts to promote cover crops through financial and technical assistance. Cover crops such as unharvested cereal rye, oats, winter wheat, or clover are typically added to a crop rotation during the period in between two commodity or forage crops. Cover crops provide a living, seasonal coverage of soil that can result in a variety of on-farm benefits such as increased soil moisture capacity. Cover crops can also provide public environmental benefits such as less runoff of sediments and nutrients into waterways, reduced flooding in watersheds, and greater soil carbon sequestration.
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