Long-Term Evidence Shows that Crop-Rotation Diversification Increases Agricultural Resilience to Adverse Growing Conditions in North America

Summary

This analysis of long-term crop yield data across North America demonstrates that increasing temporal crop diversification through rotation systems substantially improves maize yields whilst also buffering against adverse growing conditions. More diverse rotations increased average yields by 28.1% and reduced yield losses during drought years by 14.0%–89.9%, suggesting that agroecosystem diversity functions as both a productivity and a resilience strategy in intensive grain systems. The findings support crop rotation as a central risk-reduction strategy for grain producers facing climate variability.

Regional applicability

The study's North American focus on intensive maize systems and precipitation gradients has direct relevance to United Kingdom cereal and mixed farming systems, particularly in managing weather extremes and soil health. However, UK rotations typically differ in crop composition and climatic context; the drought-resilience benefits may be most applicable to drier regions of southern England, whilst the findings on yield stability under variable rainfall conditions are broadly transferable across UK arable regions.

Key measures

Maize yield (bushels/acre or equivalent); yield response to rotation diversity across precipitation gradients; yield loss reduction in drought years (percentage); comparison of monoculture versus diverse rotation systems

Outcomes reported

The study measured maize yields across long-term datasets spanning diverse precipitation conditions, examining how crop-rotation diversity affected yields in both favourable and unfavourable (drought) growing years. It assessed yield stability and resilience using multilevel regression analyses.

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