Crop Rotation - Risks

Risks

Balancing the commitment to new crops or livestock with increased yield potentials and long term sustainability is the task of many farmers and agricultural scientists. With this research many new rotations have been developed and become widely accepted.

Risks of crop rotation include less overall profitability due to decreased acreage of the most valuable crop. Greater investment and lower relative efficiency in machinery used for different crops is also a possible outcome. More complex rotations require more crop species and livestock. This means the farmer must have additional skills and make more time and equipment investments initially. Also the more complex the system, the less flexible it becomes in terms of long term land management. Starting a rotation of a new crop may add profitability and farm resilience over time, but benefits are initially subject to being over-shadowed by volatile markets or high startup investments which can take time to overcome. Overall many farmers and agronomists agree finding a suitable rotation can benefit the overall productivity and sustainability of the farm.