Twenty-eight years of yield records from Michigan State University's Long-Term Ecological Research site at Kellogg Biological Station show regenerative management practices improve yield stability and farm resilience.

The analysis, published in Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment and reported by MSU, draws on continuous corn, soybean and wheat harvests from 1994 through 2022. It compares four management systems: conventional, no-till, low-input and organic.

The key finding: yields under regenerative systems were lower on average than conventional in some years, but far more stable. Conventional corn yields swung by roughly 50% between the best and worst years of the study period. Under biologically based management, that spread narrowed to about 30%.

"Yield stability is as important as yield magnitude," said Phil Robertson, MSU University Distinguished Professor and study co-author. "A farm that yields 10% less but predictably is often more profitable and more resilient than one that chases peak yields with high inputs."

The mechanism is water. No-till and cover-cropped systems built soil organic matter and improved infiltration, buffering drought years such as 2012 and 2012-...