Equitable Cropshare Arrangements for Intensive Dryland Cropping Systems

Changes in U.S. agricultural policy implemented following the 1996 Farm Act have allowed producers to consider different cropping systems without restrictions on farm program payment eligibility. As a result, planting decisions have been shifting in response to market prices, conservation compliance, and production goals. Some dryland crop producers are using more intensive dryland crop rotations to potentially increase farm income levels. For the purposes of this evaluation, intensive rotations include all systems that have more than fifty percent of the acreage in crop for each growing season. In the past three years, Western Nebraska has seen a decrease in the number of acres planted to wheat, and an increase in the number of acres planted to sunflowers, proso millet, dryland corn, and other specialty crops. Many of these crops are being grown in more intensive rotations using reduced tillage or no-till programs. The traditional wheat-fallow rotation is being evaluated in comparison to rotations of two crops in three years, three crops in four years, or continuous cropping systems