While animal manure can be a valuable source of nutrients for plants and organic matter for the soil, it has some potential downsides, most notably that the nutrient ratio is fixed. Follow these tips from the University of Minnesota to minimize excess phosphorus build-up from manure.

Agricultural producers with crop insurance can now hay, graze or chop cover crops for silage, haylage or baleage at any time and still receive 100% of the prevented planting payment. Previously, cover crops could only be hayed, grazed or chopped after November 1, otherwise the prevented planting payment was reduced by 65%.

In case you missed them, here are the items that have garnered the most interest from farmers in the past month.

Some 4% of corn crops were reported silking, in line with the 4% reported silking in the same week last year. The 5-year average for corn silking in the week was 6%.

Targeted Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) signup opens in 10 states to help agricultural producers plan and implement voluntary conservation practices that sequester carbon, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the impacts of climate change on working lands.

For this episode of the No-Till Farmer podcast, brought to you by Montag Manufacturing, we chat with no-tillers Sheldon Luehmann of Lewiston, Minn., and Mike Unruh of Winona, Minn., as well as Lance Klessig, a Resource Specialist with the Winona County Soil & Water Conservation District.

Individual indicators on the health of the nation’s largest estuary had mixed results in 2020, but the report released by the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science found the overall bay-wide trend continues to improve over time, says the Associated Press.

Summer temperatures have arrived, with high temperatures reported in many states. If you're planning herbicide applications, here are some things from Kansas State University Extension to consider when applying herbicides during hot weather.

To irrigate for the greatest return, producers need to understand how crops respond to water, how crop rotation enhances water availability, and how changes in agronomic practices affect water needs, says Colorado State University Extension.