With soil moisture conditions extremely low, especially at subsurface levels, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) agronomist Jason Miller of Pierre suggested that producers in South Dakota eliminate any unnecessary tillage whatsoever.

Last fall, with funding provided through the Illinois Council for Best Management Practices (C-BMP), GROWMARK, C-BMP, and the University of Illinois initiated the N-Watch soil sampling program to see how much inorganic N remained in the soil following the drought of 2012.

When it comes to no-till planting, the key is to minimize the soil and residue disturbance.

With temperatures in the Midwest about 20 degrees below normal at the beginning of spring people will soon start to consider the weather impact on spring planting.

It was the one thing that was on the mind of most everyone at the 2013 annual outlook conference of the U.S. Agriculture Department.

The latest NOAA drought outlook predicts that dry weather is expected to persist and even expand in parts of the central U.S., while some improvement is expected further east in the Corn Belt.

Conditions in the U.S., the biggest wheat exporter, are improving after snowstorms increased soil moisture following the worst drought since the 1930s Dust Bowl, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

What are the implications of the 2012 drought for nutrient management in 2013?