WOOLSTOCK, Iowa -For six months of the year much of Iowa's soil is bare, which can result in erosion and leaching of nitrogen and phosphorus, said Sarah Carlson, research and policy director for ...

ONEIDA - For the members of Ohe·láku, a co-op of Oneida Nation families growing their traditional white corn together, what started as an experiment has become a success story. A few years ago, they ...

Cover crops play an important role in protecting the soil and water when cash crops like corn or soybean are not actively growing. The National Conservation Service promoted the use of cover crops ...

No one knows who first invented the idea of using cover crops to protect soil in agriculture fields, but by 6000 B.C. farmers ...

No-till planting of sweet corn into a killed winter rye cover crop has the potential to provide soil health benefits such as reduced compaction, improved soil water holding capacity, reduced ...

How will future climate change affect nitrogen loss, and will cover crops still be effective in removing nitrogen from drainage water? A new study investigating near- and far-term climate change in ...

Yichao Rui, assistant professor of agronomy, inspects soil in a cornfield at Purdue University's Water Quality Field Station. Rui leads a study investigating the viability of using kura clover as a ...

In the heartland of American agriculture, a time-honored belief has prevailed for generations: High-yielding corn requires ample fertilizer. For years, corn-belt farmers like Jay Young accepted this ...

Wondering how and when to terminate your cover crop? Perhaps planting green is right for you. This practice involves planting your corn or soybean crop directly into a cover crop like cereal rye or ...

The likelihood of seeing a benefit from planting a cover crop, however, is closely related to the amount of biomass produced by the cover crop. Cereal rye has been one of the most, if not the most, ...

Farmers used to plant "cover crops" to rejuvenate fields in the off season. As those were replaced with chemicals, the soil of America's farms suffered. Bringing back the old practice has surprising ...