**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** THE INTENSIVE CORN-SOYBEAN ROTATION SYSTEM IN THE U.S. MIDWEST FACES INCREASING RISKS IN MAINTAINING HIGH CROP YIELD AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY, ESPECIALLY UNDER A CHANGING CLIMATE AND MANAGEMENT INTENSIFICATION. COVER CROPS HAVE BEEN PROPOSED AS A STRAIGHTFORWARD AND PROMISING ADAPTATION TO FIT IN THE CURRENT SYSTEM IN THE U.S. MIDWEST AND INCREASE ITS RESILIENCE AND SUSTAINABILITY. HOWEVER, THE CURRENT STATE OF COVER CROP KNOWLEDGE REMAINS LIMITED AND LOCALIZED, AND ADOPTION BY FARMERS HAS BEEN SLOW, QUANTIFYING THESE OUTCOMES ACROSS DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTS AND PRACTICES REMAINS A MAJOR CHALLENGE. KEY LIMITATIONS IN THE CURRENT COVER CROP RESEARCH INCLUDE: (1) LACK OF COVER CROP STUDIES AT COMMERCIAL FIELDS ACROSS LARGE SPATIAL AREAS; (2) COVER CROP MEASUREMENTS (PLANT AND SOIL) ARE SEVERELY LACKING, AND NEW SENSING TECHNOLOGY (E.G. AIRBORNE HYPERSPECTRAL SENSING) HAS NOT BEEN USED FOR SCALABLE COVER CROP STUDIES; (3) MODELING COVER CROP PROCESSES FOR NUTRIENT RETENTION AND SOIL CARBON CHANGE IS STILL IN ITS EARLY STAGE; AND (4) INTEGRATING REALISTIC COVER CROP MODELING RESULTS WITH ECONOMIC ANALYSIS IS NOT AVAILABLE TO PROVIDE MEANINGFUL GUIDANCE FOR FARMER'S DECISION.TO ADDRESS THESE CRITICAL GAPS, WE PROPOSE TO USE A COMPREHENSIVE AND INTEGRATED APPROACH TO ASSESS COVER CROPS AT COMMERCIAL FARMLANDS FOR THE CENTRAL CORN BELT. SPECIFICALLY, THROUGH OUR COLLABORATORS AND PARTNER, WE HAVE IDENTIFIED MORE THAN TWO HUNDREDCOMMERCIAL FARMLANDS THAT WILL GROW COVER CROPS ACROSS ILLINOIS. WE WILL USE MULTI-SCALE AIRBORNE-SATELLITE SENSING (INCLUDING AIRBORNE HYPERSPECTRAL SENSING AND SATELLITE FUSION DATA) AND FIELD PLANT ANDSOIL SAMPLES TO MEASURE COVER CROP DYNAMICS AT THESE COMMERCIAL FARMLANDS, SUPPLEMENTED BY THREE FIELD TRIAL EXPERIMENTS IN NORTHERN, CENTRAL, AND SOUTH ILLINOIS. WE WILL THEN USE THE COLLECTED DATA TO IMPLEMENT AND VALIDATE A PROCESS-BASED MODEL (ECOSYS) AT THE FIELD LEVEL FOR THESE COMMERCIAL FARMLANDS TO MODEL BIOGEOCHEMISTRY AND CROP GROWTH. USING THIS MODEL, WE WILL THEN ASSESS OPTIMAL MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES OF GROWING COVER CROPS IN THE CURRENT CORN-SOYBEAN ROTATION SYSTEM, FROM THREE MANAGEMENT ASPECTS (COVER CROP TYPES, PLANTING TIME, TERMINATION TIME) IN CURRENT CLIMATE CONDITIONS AND FUTURE CLIMATE SCENARIOS, FOR THE THREE MAJOR CORN-BELT STATES (I.E. ILLINOIS, IOWA AND INDIANA). BASED ON THESE SCENARIOS, WE WILL CONDUCT FURTHER ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF COVER CROP ADOPTION, INCORPORATING DIFFERENT SCENARIOS OF CROP INSURANCE AND EMERGING CARBON MARKET PAYMENT. THE RESULTS WILL BE DISSEMINATED TO BROAD AUDIENCES, INCLUDING FARMERS AND POLICYMAKERS, THROUGH FIELD DAYS, WEBINARS, AND ONLINE FORUMS (E.G. FARMDOC), WHICH WILL ALSO BE USED TO INCORPORATE FARMER FEEDBACK AND EXPERIENCE INTO THE RESEARCH EFFORTS. NEW LEARNING MODULES AND CURRICULUM WILL BE DESIGNED FOR 4-H YOUTH AND UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN ORDER TO TRAIN THE FUTURE WORKFORCE. TO HELP ENSURE THE RELEVANCE OF THE RESEARCH EFFORTS AND FUNCTIONALITY OF THE OUTREACH BUILT FROM IT, A BROAD ADVISORY GROUP (INCLUDING FARMER COMMUNITY, PRIVATE INDUSTRY, AND GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVES) WILL PROVIDE GUIDANCE AND EXPAND CHANNELS FOR DISSEMINATING RESEARCH OUTCOMES.