How Agriculture Is Becoming More Resilient: New Study Highlights the Benefits of Crop Diversification in Arable Farming

 

23.06.2026

​

Which farming strategies can help agricultural operations better manage yield risks caused by climate change and fluctuating prices in the agricultural product market? A new study by ZALF published in the journal Agricultural Systems uses model calculations to show that farms can significantly reduce their income risk by adopting more diverse farming methods. These methods include cultivating smaller plots and strip cropping or implementing more diverse crop rotations. A distinctive feature of the study is that, in addition to production risks, it also takes into account the growing influence of market risks on agricultural income, which is often overlooked.

Agriculture is heavily dependent on the weather. Extreme weather events, such as droughts and heavy rains, can cause farms to earn less or even incur losses. At the same time, agricultural incomes also depend on developments in the global market, such as fluctuating grain or fertilizer prices. The study shows that farmers who grow only a few crops face the highest risk in terms of both climate and price developments.

The study examined nine representative arable farms in eastern Germany that varied in characteristics. The farms studied are located in the Märkisch-Oderland and Oder-Spree districts in Brandenburg. This region is one of the driest areas in Germany and is therefore particularly susceptible to climate-related risks, such as drought. Three different diversification strategies were compared for these farms using established cultivation methods. The focus of the diversified strategies was the integration of soybeans.

The width of the strips in strip cropping is based on the typical working width of many agricultural machines. This means the farm does not need to purchase additional equipment.

These diversification strategies are compared with narrow crop rotations consisting primarily of grains, rapeseed, and silage corn. Unlike the diversified systems, these do not grow legumes, such as soybeans.

The result: Risks are better distributed among diversified cropping systems. If one crop grows poorly, other crops can compensate for this.

Strip cropping offers great opportunities, but also presents challenges

Diversification consistently reduced economic risk compared to narrow crop rotations and monocultures. Subdivision into subplots and strip cropping have a greater effect than temporal diversification. Dividing fields into smaller plots significantly reduced risk, sometimes by more than 200 euros per hectare when measured against potential losses in difficult years. At the same time, expected income remained stable.

Strip cropping reduced economic risk but, unlike subfield division, was associated with income losses. It requires more labor and is therefore not economically viable on all land because machinery cannot work as quickly and must turn more often. This results in more field margins that can be used less efficiently, yet simultaneously provide ecological benefits, such as promoting biodiversity.
The study therefore tested a novel premium in its model calculations, one that does not currently exist. Area-based subsidies from the current EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP 2023 - 2027) were replaced by a hypothetical field perimeter subsidy that could be paid out to farms from EU funds based on the length of field margins. The aim would thus be to promote smaller field structures. This payment would come from EU funds, so it would not impact the national budget. With a field perimeter subsidy of 1.50 euros per 100 meters of field edge length, strip cropping incomes could remain stable for all farms, while significantly decreasing economic risk.
“Our results show that spatial diversity in the field, that is, planting different crops simultaneously, is an effective means of countering climate risks because each crop reacts differently to drought or heat. This is also an effective strategy against market risks. For example, if the price of wheat falls, a farm with diversified cropping practices can offset this loss by generating income through the soybean harvest. It is important to create policy frameworks that promote such cropping practices,” says ZALF researcher Dr. Hannah v. Czettritz, lead author of the study.

Why the results are important for society

The study makes it clear that agriculture must place greater emphasis on diversity in the future. By 2050, the global population will grow, increasing the demand for food. At the same time, climate risks and geopolitical uncertainties are on the rise. Growing a diverse range of crops is one strategy that can help stabilize harvests and ensure food security.

This study is unique in that it considers not only climate-related crop failures, but also price fluctuations of agricultural products in the market. The researchers used the MODAM (Multi-Objective Decision Support Tool for Agro-ecosystem Management) bioeconomic farm model. This computer model integrates crop yield fluctuations and market price simulations for plants and fertilizers prices. For the study, the researcher analyzed various combinations of weather, prices, and cropping systems over a 30-year period.
However, the researchers point out limitations. For instance, the model does not account for extreme weather events or the distribution of the additional labor required throughout the year. Additionally, other land uses, such as livestock farming or biogas, were not included in the modeling.

The results show that policy measures play an important role. Support programs, such as the tested field perimeter subsidy program, which was tested as an incentive for smaller field units, could help farmers implement new cropping systems. In the long term, more diverse cropping systems could reduce income risk for farms and strengthen the environment and biodiversity. However, further studies are needed to address practical issues, such as costs, labor requirements, and technical solutions like automated machinery.

Note on the text:
This is a summary of the original text generated using artificial intelligence (Mistral-large-3): Czettritz, H. J. V. et al. (2026): Diversification and policy options for risk management in arable farming. Agricultural Systems 234, 104677.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2026.104677, published Open Access under the CC BY 4.0 license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
The text has been carefully reviewed and revised in accordance with ZALF’s AI guidelines.

Project partners:

Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF)

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU)

Funding note:
This project was funded by the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) as part of the integrated priority project “Cropping system diversification to increase the resilience of farming systems (divCROP) 2021–2024” as well as within the framework of the project “Agricultural systems of the future_2: DAKIS2 – Digital knowledge and information processing in agriculture - professional, subproject A; FKZ: 031B1524A.”

Further Information:

• Study: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2026.104677