Despite strong opposition from farm organizations to the original version of the federal government’s Clean Water Rule, the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers went ahead and released updated rules on May 27. While the 1972 Clean Water Act dealt mostly with larger rivers, lakes and bays, a major worry with the new rules is that farmers may now need government permits to deal with fairly simple matters such as on-farm ditches, ponds and even puddles.

Much of the research data over the past 20 years has suggested that switching from conventional tillage to no-till can sequester more soil-organic carbon. Yet there’s a growing concern among scientists that no-tilling corn and soybeans without cover crops, small grains and forages in the rotation may not be increasing soil organic-carbon stocks to earlier predicted levels.