Dec. 30, 2013 There is widespread concern about potential sulfur (S) deficiencies in corn and soybeans in the North Central region. Sulfur is relatively immobile within the plant, so symptoms usually appear in the new growth. Atmospheric deposition used to supply a considerable amount of plant available S (about 8 to 15 pounds per acre annually), but with the implementation of the Clean Air Act, this amount has significantly decreased.

Poultry litter can provide a significant and important supply of nutrients for crop production in areas where a supply of litter is available. Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma rank among the largest producers of poultry in the U.S.

USDAs Natural Resources Conservation Service is partnering with farmers to establish 20 edge-of-field monitoring stations that will measure the benefits of conservation systems, including cover crops, nutrient management and irrigation water management.

A Purdue University study shows that high-yielding, modern corn hybrids take up not only more nitrogen from soil but more micronutrients such as zinc, iron, manganese and copper. Nitrogen fertilizer rates also influence how much of these nutrients are stored in the grain at harvest.

Agronomists from Ohio State University's College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences have created a fact sheet designed to provide growers guidance on soil sampling to develop nutrient recommendations.

This article highlights revisions to Iowa State University (ISU) soil-test interpretations and application guidelines for phosphorus (P), potassium (K) and lime in an update of extension publication PM 1688 "A General Guide for Crop Nutrient and Limestone Recommendations in Iowa."

Environmental advocates in states along the Mississippi River have won a round toward a long-term goal of having federal standards created to regulate farmland runoff and other pollution blamed for the oxygen-depleted “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico, and problems in other bodies of water.

Although Iowa does not have a deadline for reducing its nitrate and phosphate levels of surface water, researchers urged farmers Wednesday to do their parts sooner, rather than later.