cover crop

American  

noun

1. a crop, usually a legume, planted to keep nutrients from leaching, soil from eroding, and land from weeding over, as during the winter.

---

cover crop British  

noun

1. a crop planted between main crops to prevent leaching or soil erosion or to provide green manure

---

Etymology

Origin of cover crop

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

“We want to rely on natural chemicals in the soil, like from our cover crop, which jump-starts that natural nutrient capacity of the soil.”

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 22, 2025

Darby has spent 20 years working with Vermont farmers to grow cover crop rye.

From Salon • Jan. 18, 2024

Elmore seeds cover crops by plane before harvesting his cash crop, but cover crop growth has been spotty, not worth the $40-per-acre cost.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 2, 2023

Swiss-headquartered agrichemicals and seeds group Syngenta began offering a cover crop seed mixture in Spain this year.

From Reuters • Sep. 14, 2023

The legumes fulfil the three requisites of the cover crop: protection, humus, and the storing of nitrogen.

From The Fat of the Land The Story of an American Farm by Streeter, John Williams