Anna Morrow, a Purdue Extension educator, has joined the Midwest Cover Crops Council (MCCC) as program manager. In her new role, that began on July 1, 2016 as as staff member in Purdue University’s Department of Agronomy, Morrow will assist MCCC in meeting its goals of facilitating widespread adoption of cover crops across the Midwest for purposes of soil health, … Read More
Buffer Crops Good Soil Runoff Strategy
University of Missouri researchers, focused on reducing soil and nutrient loss and runoff from agricultural fields, have found that using buffers between crops and trees both reduces soil runoff and maintains good growing conditions. Runoff, when fertilizer and pesticides are washed downstream, has been in the news lately as linked to “dead” areas in the Gulf of Mexico where high … Read More
Dukes Honored with John Deere Gold Medal Award
Michael Dukes has been honored with the 2016 John Deere Gold Medal award. Dukes is the director of the Center for Landscape Conservation and Ecology at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. He has received national recognition for his expertise in irrigation and water conservation. The award is given by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological … Read More
Paper Highlights Ongoing Soil Health and Sustainability
Sustainability is a hot topic in agriculture, but if its meaning is nebulous measuring its progress is even more so. What exactly can be done to support this important cause? Field to Market: The Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture has attempted to answer that question in a new paper, Exploring Opportunities to Advance Soil Health: The Role of Commodity Crop Supply … Read More
Heliae Registers PhycoTerra Soil Amendment
Heliae Development LLC has just successfully registered its new PhycoTerra™ soil amendment for use on specialty crops. PhycoTerra™ is a first in class, unique agricultural product. At the core of PhycoTerra™ is Heliae’s proprietary stabilized mixotrophic microalgal cultures. The company utilizes a unique pasteurization process to stabilize the microalgae while maintaining its many positive attributes that contribute to healthy plants and the … Read More
Summer Events and Contests for Corn Growers
A series of field days are being offered throughout Illinois this summer, allowing interested Illinois farmers an opportunity to learn more about progressive agricultural practices and ways to improve the health of their soil. The series, sponsored by Soil Health Partnership, will showcase how changing nutrient management and tillage strategies, along with cover crop adoption, can create lasting economic and … Read More
To Improve Soil, Know Your Soil
Cornell University is now offering farmers a tool to better understand their soil; one that goes beyond the average test. The in-depth knowledge provided by this assessment gives growers tools to make management decisions that improve soil health. “The Cornell Assessment of Soil Health is really a framework that’s based on measuring a number of indicators of soil health—physical, chemical … Read More
GPS Designed by Farmers
What happens when farmers design a GPS system? You get an accurate system that also improves input accuracy and minimizes impact on the soil. That’s what “Real Time Kinematics” from Argi-Tech East offers, thanks to the work of growers like Robert Salmon of the U.K. who helped create a program that can guide farm machinery along controlled traffic systems. Robert … Read More
Soil Health Institute Announces New COO
Sheldon R. Jones is joining Soil Health Institute as their new Chief Operating Officer. Jones’ new responsibilities will include working closely with Wayne Honeycutt, Ph.D., president and CEO, and Steven Shafer, Ph.D., chief scientific officer to continue the institution’s mission of safeguarding and enhancing the vitality and productivity of the soil. “Agriculture is who I am, what I do, and … Read More
Farm Visits to Focus on Soil Health
The California Farm Demonstration Network (CFDN) will be showcasing long-term goals for health soil during their May and June farm visits. The visits will highlight farmers using cover crops, conservation tillage and other soil health practices. Growers will discuss their soil management systems and experiences using them. The Natural Resources Conservation Service, UC Cooperative Extension and Resource Conservation Districts, among … Read More