Maize or corn (Zea mays) is becoming increasingly popular as a summer crop in irrigated cotton rotations. This is largely being driven by anecdotal grower evidence of yield improvements of up to 25 percent in cotton crops grown after maize compared to back-to-back cotton. Cotton growers believe that their soils are in better condition after a maize crop with higher amounts of organic matter observed compared with fields coming out of cotton or wheat. This improved soil structure is thought to be the main driver of the increased yields. Recent research has shown that maize provides more organic matter to upper layers of the soil and extracts less water at depth compared with cotton. It is thought that the following cotton crop can then benefit from increased water availability and better soil health. Another recent study showed that microbial biomass and root density are higher in cotton-based rotations that include maize compared with rotations with wheat or continuous cotton. Maize also provides a number of other benefits to cotton growers including reduced workload in the second half of the season compared with cotton, a refuge option