The cost of skipping crop rotation is being tested in Iowa

Zoom in: Crop rotation keeps the soil healthier and yields better crops, with ag experts traditionally encouraging it.

• Iowa farmers typically alternate between corn and soybeans.

Yes, but: Soybean-on-soybean systems are common in places outside the U.S., per ISU. The Iowa soybean industry wants to explore whether the practice could also work here.

Follow the money: Demand for soybean oil is expected to surge in the coming years to ramp up production of renewable diesel, which means repeated plantings may make financial sense, per ISU.

• Prices in September were around $10.50 per bushel, roughly 30% more than in the same period last year, according to Trading Economics, a business that forecasts financial markets.

Driving the news: The study launched last year and is paid for by the Iowa Soybean Research Center, which is a collaboration between ISU and the Iowa Soybean Association.

• Researchers are using test sites near Ames and Sutherland to determine how factors like row widths and cover crops help protect production and soil health in place of rotation.

What we're watching: In the first year, continuous plots were just as productive as rotated crops.

• But over time, prior research suggests yield will decrease, ISU agronomy professor Sotirios Archontoulis told the news service.

What's next: Archontoulis hopes to extend the three-year project to better review long-term factors.