An online tool called the "Cover Crop Chart" is helping U.S. farmers decide which cover crops to plant and is generating interest from growers in other countries.
USDA researchers say that winter rye crops seeded in no-till corn-soybean systems have the potential to reduce annual nitrate loss in field drainage by about 18 pounds per acre.
A team at the University of Missouri and USDA-ARS used yield data from more than 400 corn fields in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and Indiana to compare county soil maps with Environmental Response Unit (ERU) maps developed in collaboration with DuPont Pioneer.
No-till and biodiversity can preserve beneficial insect populations that naturally control crop pests, and possibly reduce insecticide usage, says a USDA expert.
The prevalent attitude that the only good bug is a dead bug is leading agriculture down a perilous road, says Jonathan Lundgren, an entomologist at the USDA-ARS laboratory in Brookings, S.D.
Cover crop roller-crimpers have several advantages over mowing, in that fewer trips are required to suppress the cover crop, less energy is used, residues persist longer and the residue is neatly laid in one direction, facilitating planting.
No-tillers who keep livestock might soon be able to plant a non-transgenically modified soybean variety that removes large amounts of soil-applied nitrogen. If the germplasm is further developed into a new cultivar, it could be used by animal producers to manage waste generated by their operations.
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On this episode of Conservation Ag Update, brought to you by Martin-Till, Brian and Darren Hefty, fourth-generation farmers and hosts of Ag PhD, share tips for treating tar spot in corn.
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