Definition of crop rotation
: the practice of growing different crops in succession on the same land chiefly to preserve the productive capacity of the soil
Examples of crop rotation in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web Regenerative agriculture dates back at least to biblical times, when the ancients practiced rudimentary crop rotation by letting their fields lie fallow in order to keep the soil rich with nutrients.
—
Sheila Marikar, Fortune, "Allbirds is stepping up for the planet—by treading lightly on it," 21 Sep. 2020 Dobson’s team grows hemp as part of a dynamic crop rotation alongside grains that supply flour to local bakeries, livestock feed for dairy farms, and rye and hops for brewers and distillers.
—
Maria Geyman, Vogue, "How Mushrooms Could Help Solve the Beauty Industry’s Waste Problem," 14 Aug. 2020 The foundation of a revised system would be adopting regenerative farming methods that integrate multiple soil-building practices, such as no-till, cover crops and diverse crop rotations to restore health to land.
—
David R. Montgomery, The Conversation, "It’s time to rethink the disrupted US food system from the ground up," 5 June 2020 Increase biodiversity Add crop rotations such as lentils, hard winter wheat and non-GMO corn, which generate natural nutrient replacement.
—
Matthew Wadiak, Quartz, "In the age of farm-to-table, only a small fraction of US farmers are profitable," 15 Oct. 2019 Better farming and grazing practices — like crop rotation and organic fertilizer use — that can restore soil health are also imperative for creating a more resilient agricultural supply chain that can support global business.
—
Grant Reid For Cnn Business Perspectives, CNN, "Mars CEO: Business leaders must help fight the climate crisis," 13 Jan. 2020 Methods include cover cropping, crop rotation and animal management.
—
Susan Selasky, Detroit Free Press, "6 food and drink trends to watch for in 2020," 9 Jan. 2020 Russell makes the case that more farmers need to embrace practices like extended crop rotation, conservation tillage, which means farmers would rarely or never till soil, and keeping the soil covered with winter and perennial crops.
—
Adam Brewster, CBS News, "Can farmers sow their way out of climate change?," 5 Nov. 2019 In the United States—which, notably, is the second largest carbon emitter in the world—24% of farmers use diverse crop rotations already.
—
David Perry, Quartz, "Farmers could help solve the climate crisis—we just don’t invest in them," 25 Oct. 2019
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'crop rotation.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Keep scrolling for more
Comments on crop rotation
What made you want to look up crop rotation? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Test Your Vocabulary
Namesakes Word Quiz
- Which of the following is a fruit named after a Moroccan seaport?
Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?
TAKE THE QUIZ
Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.
TAKE THE QUIZLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridgedWords at Play
Ask the Editors
Word Games
Share crop rotation
Time Traveler for crop rotation
The first known use of crop rotation was in 1909
See more words from the same year