Abstract Combining regenerative agriculture (RA) practices, such as cover cropping and no‐till, is increasingly promoted as a strategy to enhance soil health and climate resilience. However, their long‐term impacts on crop yield and yield stability remain uncertain. In this study, we assessed how RA practices influence sub‐field spatial variability of crop yield. We use yield stability zone categories (high, medium, low, or unstable) across 10 commercial farm fields in Michigan over a long period of time, 6–9 years before RA were implemented and 9–10 years after RA were implemented. We found that RA practices did not statistically impact maize ( Zea mays L.; +9%) or soybean ( Glycine max (L.) Merr.; –3%) yields, but RA increased whole field yield stability (decrease of CV from 27% to 17%) and the proportion of high‐yielding zones within the fields (+28%) due to the conversion of a substantial portion (21%) of prior unstable yielding areas of the field. Our results suggest that combining RA practices, such as no‐till and cover crops, can improve crop productivity and yield stability through the conversion of unstable zones into more stable areas of crop production, benefiting long‐term soil health and broader environmental goals in the Upper US Midwest.
VanAgen et al. (Sun,) studied this question.