Whether you’re a farmer or not, you may be asking: what actually is a cover crop, and why are farmers planting them?

A cover crop is an additional crop added to a cash crop rotation for the benefit of topsoil and water quality. In laymen’s terms, it is a crop planted for groundcover between planting seasons. Instead of leaving fields bare in the off-season, covering the soil prevents weeds from taking root and reduces the amount of topsoil lost by constant wind and rain exposure.