This project evaluated agronomic, environmental, and economic benefits of enhanced cover cropping during organic transition. Trials were conducted at four Michigan locations with four treatments in a corn-soy-winter wheat rotation during the three-year transition period:
(1) No cover crops (NC).
(2) Standard cover crop: rye after corn harvest, red clover interseeded into wheat.
(3) A winter hardy mixture of ryegrass, crimson clover and canola interseeded into corn at the 7-leaf stage and planted after wheat harvest (WH).
(4) A mixture of oats, winter pea and radish (expected to winterkill) interseeded into corn and planted after wheat harvest (WK).
Soil organic matter, microbial biomass, carbon and nitrogen cycling, greenhouse gas emissions, and aggregates were compared among cover crop treatments across summit, slope, and depression within a rolling landscape.

Soil organic matter, microbial biomass, carbon and nitrogen cycling, greenhouse gas emissions, and aggregates were compared among cover crop treatments across summit, slope, and depression within a rolling landscape. After the first transition year (cornà cover), soil in the WH treatment had low nitrate-N (less leaching potential) yet higher N mineralization potential and a trend toward greater microbial biomass and aggregation than rye, WK, or NC. Cover crops did not affect soil moisture levels or N₂O emissions.

An additional study demonstrated that cover crop roots interact with soil fauna (earthworms, arthropods) to maintain soil pore structure dynamics, which play critical roles in soil functions.