Crop rotation and cover crop integration can improve the resilience of your corn, soybean or cotton fields and unlock numerous soil health benefits. These positive outcomes are possible in part because of nutrient cycling, which is the movement of nutrients inside of and between biotic features (such as crops) and abiotic ones (such as soil).1
Winter is the perfect time to step back and compare the advantages and disadvantages of crop rotation. When it’s cold out, you might have a little more downtime to study nutrient cycling examples and consider how to increase organic matter in soil. Doing so can improve your yield performance and operational stability next season and beyond.
Here are some examples of nutrient cycles that can benefit your productivity and profitability, starting in the spring.
Why are nutrient cycles important?
Rotating crops utilizes different nutrients from the soil, promoting better nutrient cycling and availability compared to planting the same crop continuously. For example, research shows that soil nitrogen availability is enhanced when planting alfalfa, corn, oats and soybeans compared to continuous corn.2 And a legume cover crop can provide substantial nitrogen to the next crop planted in that field through nitrogen fixation.
How does crop rotation deliver soil health benefits?
There are several ways crop rotation can provide several key in-field benefits, including better soil health.
Balances residue breakdown and organic matter
One potential crop-rotation advantage is the ability to feed your soil with organic matter from the residue of corn, soybeans and cotton. Corn is a high-residue crop, while soybeans and cotton are low-residue crops. Leaving residue on the soil surface can feed your soil microbes and accelerate residue decomposition.
Over time, this process can build stable soil organic carbon. A four-year rotation of corn, soybeans, wheat and oats combined with no-till has proven especially good at boosting soil carbon with gains in soil structure and also in bulk density.3
In cotton, rotation with corn or wheat can be beneficial, as can incorporation of cover crops such as balansa clover, crimson clover or sunn hemp.4
Be aware that a two-crop rotation of corn and soybeans can also come with risks, as soil organic matter can actually fall over time without proper planning.5 This occurs because soil microbes enjoy a feast of nitrogen-heavy soybean residue one season and then struggle to find enough to eat the next season amid corn residue, which contains far less nitrogen.
When this happens, microbes can begin eating older organic matter to satisfy their appetites. One way to break this potentially negative cycle is to incorporate oats or rye into a corn-soy rotation, which allows you to get the soil benefits of rotation while replenishing organic matter.
Enhances soil structure
Another benefit of crop rotation is enhanced soil structure. Diverse rotations improve soil porosity, which refers to the relative number of gaps inside your soil that allow water to move through it and give roots room to grow.
Crop rotation also boosts aggregate stability, which means your soil can bind together and hold despite the effects of water and wind, thereby resisting erosion and ensuring a good seed bed for next season’s crop.
Disrupts pest cycles
By rotating crops, you can naturally break up persistent disease, pest habitat and pest life cycles such as those of soybean cyst nematode (SCN) or corn rootworm. In part, that’s because you are reducing your reliance on single-crop management strategies, chemicals and other inputs. Rotating non-host crops such as wheat into an existing corn or soybean rotation is especially effective with pests that have a narrow range of hosts and a lengthy life cycle, and which tend to stick with the same fields year after year.6 It also invites a wider range of species that feed on the pests you’re trying to combat.
Optimizes nutrient cycling and availability
Crop rotation combined with soil testing and amendments can also ensure your crop has the right nutrition at the right time. This limits unnecessary nutrient runoff and offsets the need for overapplication of fertilizers.
Experts are available to help you make your crop rotation decisions. Reach out to your seed retailer, a nearby extension office agent or a seed company professional like your regional BASF representative.
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Endnotes
- Garcia, Carlos, and Liliane Silva. “Nutrient Cycling and Carbon Accumulation in Forage-Livestock Systems.” Livestock and Forages, Clemson University, 18 June 2024,https://blogs.clemson.edu/livestock/nutrient-cycling-and-carbon-accumulation-in-forage-livestock-systems/. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.
- Al-Kaisi, Mahdi. “Value of Crop Rotation in Nitrogen Management.” Integrated Crop Management, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, 23 Apr. 2001,https://crops.extension.iastate.edu/encyclopedia/value-crop-rotation-nitrogen-management. Accessed 10 Oct. 2026.
- Wang, Tong, et al. “Farm Practices That Improve Soil Health: Crop Rotations and No-Till.” SDSU Extension, South Dakota State University, updated 3 Mar. 2025,https://extension.sdstate.edu/farm-practices-improve-soil-health-crop-rotations-and-no-till. Accessed 28 Sept. 2026.
- Causarano, Hector J., et al. “Potential for Soil Carbon Sequestration in Cotton Production Systems of the Southeastern USA.” Final report to Cotton Incorporated, Jan. 2005, p. 11. USDA Agricultural Research Service,https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/60100500/csr/ResearchPubs/reeves/causarano_05b.pdf. Accessed 28 Sept. 2026.
- “Corn and Soybean Rotation Could Pose Long-Term Tradeoffs for Soil Health.” News Service, Iowa State University, 2 Oct. 2019,https://www.news.iastate.edu/news/corn-and-soybean-rotation-could-pose-long-term-tradeoffs-soil-health. Accessed 28 Sept. 2026.
- Elmquist, Dane, et al. “Adding Wheat to a Corn-Soybean Rotation to Enhance Pest Management.” Crops and Soils, University of Wisconsin–Madison Division of Extension, updated 15 Aug. 2025,https://cropsandsoils.extension.wisc.edu/articles/adding-wheat-to-a-corn-soybean-rotation-to-enhance-pest-management/. Accessed 10 Oct. 2026.
