Cover crops

What I’ve Learned About Fall Strip-Till, Shanks, Nitrogen & Covers

Experienced strip-tillers share lessons learned about fertilizer placement, cover crop seeding methods & equipment adjustments

By Noah Newman posted on February 6, 2024 | Posted in Strip-Till Farming 101, Cover Crops, Nutrient Management

Larry Tombaugh from Streator, Ill., Paul Dubbels from Fergus Falls, Minn., and Jon Stevens from Rock Creek, Minn., each shared insights about their operation at the 2023 National Strip-Tillage Conference.

The Truth About Cover Crop Yield Drag

By Amanda Kautz posted on January 28, 2024 | Posted in Cover Crops

Source: Indiana Prairie Farmer

Ken Rulon farms with his family in Hamilton County, Ind., using a cover crop system. “You can’t put the transition years in the data,” Rulon says. “Everyone out here is looking at one year of data when this isn’t a one-year system.”

Technology Helps First-Time Strip-Tiller Implement Conservation Practices

January 15, 2024 | Posted in Cover Crops, Precision Agriculture, Soil Health

Source: Iowa Farmer Today

Mark Kingland, who farms nearly 1,800 acres throughout Winnebago County, Iowa, with his brother, Tom, seeded several hundred cover crop acres for the first time in fall 2023 and used his new drone to broadcast the seed.

Build Healthy, Resilient Soil Through Carbon Banking

By Maclaren Krueger posted on December 31, 2023 | Posted in Soil Health

Jodi DeJong-Hughes, a soil health and tillage educator with the University of Minnesota, says it's important to build up carbon organic matter in fields to maintain healthy, sustainable soils.

Strip-Till, Cover Crops Could Help Prevent Nutrient Runoff Due to Extreme Rainfall

December 26, 2023 | Posted in Cover Crops, Soil Health

Source: Phys.Org

Nutrient runoff from agricultural production is a significant source of water pollution in the U.S., and climate change that produces extreme weather events is likely to exacerbate the problem. A new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign looks at how extreme rainfall impacts runoff and suggests possible mitigation strategies.

Cover Crop Tips from Strip-Tillers & Researchers

Management strategies, termination times & seed mixtures are all important aspects of a successful plan

December 6, 2023 | Posted in Cover Crops, Soil Health

Source: Nebraska Farmer

“We strip-till everything,” says Don Batie, a farmer from Lexington, Neb. “We terminate the cover crop after planting. The cover crops help retain residue on the field and provide root action to repair the soil for the next year. We want growing plants between a dead cover crop.”

Agritechnica Panel Focuses on Effects of Extreme Weather on Agriculture

By Willie Vogt posted on November 30, 2023

Source: Farm Progress

Weeks of 100-plus-F temperatures in the West in 2023 made headlines in the U.S., but Europe had a super-heated summer, too. Likewise, flooding swamped farmers in the U.S. Northeast and in Germany over the summer. The rising severity of weather and climate impacts on the global food system became the focus of a panel held at Agritechnica 2023 in Hanover, Germany.

Cover Crops Scavenge Valuable Nutrients in Strip-Till System

Corn Belt strip-tiller says cover crops & strip-till complement each other “very well”

By Noah Newman posted on November 20, 2023 | Posted in Strip-Till Farming 101, Cover Crops

Cover crops help keep residue where you left it after a strip-till pass, while also providing benefits like breaking up soil compaction and nutrient cycling — but is adopting them the right call for your operation?

How to Get Paid to Stop Treating Your Soil Like Dirt

By Julia Gerlach posted on October 23, 2023 | Posted in Soil Health

It’s imperative that soil be protected and conserved as much as possible because the simple fact is that we no longer have the luxury of leaving our degraded soils in the dust as we go in search of new ground. We must take care of the soil if we have any hope that it will continue to provide for us.