Wade Dooley has done plenty of official experiments with the Iowa Soybean Association, Practical Farmers of Iowa and other groups that conduct research and development in agriculture. But when the Marshall County, Iowa, grower decided to try seeding rye every single month, there was nothing official about it.

Carbon is like water and oxygen. Without it, there’s no life,” says Jerry Hatfield, a retired laboratory director for the Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service.