To be eligible to receive many USDA benefits, including loans and federal crop insurance premium subsidies, growers must comply with requirements for highly erodible lands and wetlands.

Seeing topsoil and fertilizer washed away by a heavy spring downpour is an unsettling sight for farmers.

Clare Kurz describes how he uses wheat as a cover crop in his strip-till system to save his sandy soils in Palmer, Neb., from eroding after soybean harvest.

Cover crops can be excellent systems to capture excess nutrients and reduce the risk of erosion over the winter months.

Talking with strip-tillers, I've come to expect a variety of reasons for why they decide to adopt the practice. Some say it's to minimize erosion, while others want a more targeted approach to fertilizer application.

Seven years after switching from conventional tillage to strip-till, Nebraska farmer Mark Kimmel says he’s sold on the practice because it saves time, fuel and soil.

Currently in West Texas, we are in one of the worst droughts since the 1930's and 1950's. We are now entering the third year of this drought. Recently, I did some research on the drought of the 1930's and 1950's. In my hometown of Plainview, Texas (average annual rainfall = 20.17 inches), our rainfall for 2011 and 2012 was 5.63 and 10.48 inches respectively. In comparison, the two lowest years of precipitation during the 1930's was 10.16 and 13.75 inches in 1933-1934 and for the 1950's was 11.29 and 10.39 inches in 1953-54.

Currently in West Texas, we are in one of the worst droughts since the 1930's and 1950's. We are now entering the third year of this drought. Recently, I did some research on the drought of the 1930's and 1950's. In my hometown of Plainview, Texas (average annual rainfall = 20.17 inches), our rainfall for 2011 and 2012 was 5.63 and 10.48 inches respectively. In comparison, the two lowest years of precipitation during the 1930's was 10.16 and 13.75 inches in 1933-1934 and for the 1950's was 11.29 and 10.39 inches in 1953-54.

Engineered to produce the bacterial toxin, Bt, "Bt corn" resists attack by corn rootworm, a pest that feeds on roots and can cause annual losses of up to $1 billion, but besides merely protecting against these losses, the Bt trait has also boosted corn yields, in some cases beyond normal expectations.