Rooted in Resilience

Good soil health can help crops withstand weather extremes and improve yields.

- Adrienne Held Agronomy Executive Editor [e-mail]

In 2025, farmers have experienced a barrage of extreme weather, from severe flooding in the Southeast, to dust storms that battered fields in the Midwest. Amid these challenges, farmers have found resilience in maintaining yields through their soils' health.

Clint Orr has spent the past two decades moving from conventional tillage toward no-till and strip-till with cover crops on every acre of his central Indiana farm. While Orr isn't chasing record yields, his focus on regenerative practices has made his operation more weather resistant. "We've increased water infiltration and organic matter," he said. "We don't know what the weather is going to deal us, but we tend to be a lot more resilient."

A Living System

What began as a strategy to reduce erosion and break up compaction through cover crop roots has evolved into a holistic approach to soil health, Orr said. He equates it to switching from a chemistry experiment to a biology experiment.

Building soil health starts with fostering a more active microbial community, especially by reducing tillage and increasing the presence of living roots through cover crops, explained Rob Myers, director of the Center for Regenerative Agriculture at the University of Missouri. These practices stimulate beneficial microbes such as mycorrhizal fungi, which help plants access water and nutrients and improve soil structure. Combined with no-till, cover crops enhance rainfall infiltration, reduce evaporation, and improve pore space and organic matter.

"A key part of resiliency for yield is being able to moderate between excessively wet periods and excessively dry periods," Myers said.

Weathering the Drought