Multimedia Library

Over the last year, we've done our best to help our readers Think Different. From management practices to conservation to global competition to data management, we're striving to give you the best. Here's a recap of our favorite Think Different stories from the Late February, March and April issues.

The drought of 2012 in the Midwest was a continuation of a weather anomaly that began in 2010. The historical indicator of El Niño and La Niña is the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI). The index is based on the 90-day standardized deviation of atmospheric pressure between Tahiti and Darwin, Australia. The standardized difference reached 0.8 on July 22, 2010, signifying the beginning of a La Niña event (Figure 1). By Oct. 23, 2010, the event was clearly the second strongest event in the 100+ years of record keeping. The young but potent La Niña resulted in an abrupt change in weather on a planetary basis that included record flooding in Montana, North Dakota and adjacent Canada, and enormous amounts of water to drain into the Missouri river during 2011.

Do improved planting conditions following shallow vertical tillage result in higher crop yields? “Fine-textured soils and early planting are the two conditions where shallow vertical tillage may provide a yield benefit, compared to no-till,” says Mike Staton, Michigan State University Extension soybean agronomist,” in reference to studies from Michigan, Indiana and Canada.