More in Practices and Systems

Extreme weather finds even longtime no-tillers fighting washouts and erosion. Bill and Babetta Lucke of Persia, Iowa, 12-year no-till veterans, have a stellar soil-saving system, including terraced slopes and miles of grass waterways. “These things help a lot,” Bill says, but with torrential rains and the 2012 drought, “we still lose some soil.” Buffeted by weather extremes like so many Corn Belt farms, their 1,000 acres lie in the fertile loess hills of southwest Iowa....More

Farmers should consider the short- and long-term effects of fall tillage on their fields and not just the effects of the drought on this year's crop, says Tony Vyn, a Purdue Extension agronomist. Tillage loosens and rearranges soil aggregates with the intent of establishing a better foundation for crop seed placement and root growth, but the drought itself has already accomplished deep cracking and loosening of some soils....More

With this year’s drought conditions there is less residue than normal in many fields. In some, the crop was harvested as a forage or cut as silage, leaving very little residue at all. Without residue to absorb the energy of raindrop impact and keep the wind off the soil surface, soil erosion will be greater and surface crusting could be a problem. Also, without the water-conserving residue mulch, soil moisture losses by evaporation will be much higher....More

A young farmer from eastern Nebraska is pushing irrigation management to a new level of precision. Nick Emanuel, founder and president of CropMetrics, is a leader in variable rate irrigation management. The innovations he developed on his farm are helping growers match water application rates to soil type, conserving water and reducing yield variability. “He’s a small-town Nebraska boy who is making a global impact on water management,” says Dave Varner, a University of Nebraska Extension scientist in southeast Nebraska....More

A new field drainage technology could help reduce runoff from farm fields and reduce the risk of harmful algae blooms in Lake Erie and other Ohio lakes. The system, called an Inline Water Level Control Structure, is designed to keep water and nutrients, such as nitrates and phosphorus, on the land where crops can use them, Ohio State University's Farm Science Review organizers say....More

As you are in the combine cab, lamenting the yield loss that the drought stole from you, many folks will be thinking, “What is next?” A shortage of moisture for much of the growing season is one thing, but what are the ramifications of dry soils as we move forward. There are quite a few of those, and this is an incomplete list....More

Dave Legvold is soil savvy. When he picks up a new piece of ground, he initiates a standard transition process to decrease compaction and improve soil structure to build productivity. The Northfield, MN, farmer’s newest silty clay loam field had been poorly drained and conventionally tilled before this spring....More

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced the launch of a new National Water Quality Initiative committed to improving one to seven impaired watersheds in every U.S. state and territory. The 157 selected watersheds were identified with assistance from state agencies, key partners, and NRCS State Technical Committees. USDA's NRCS will make available at least $33 million in financial assistance to farmers, ranchers and forest landowners this year to implement conservation practices to help provide cleaner water for their neighbors and communities....More

Crop yield can be improved by ensuring adequate nutrient availability. But how should you place the fertilizer and what cropping system gives the best yields? Research conducted by University of Illinois Assistant Professor of Crop Sciences Fabián Fernández, Professor of Crop Sciences Emerson Nafziger and graduate student Bhupinder Farmaha looked at how tillage, and phosphorus and potassium placement and rates, affected the distribution of soybean roots and the levels of water and nutrients in the soil....More

Directing tile water through a grass buffer can significantly improve drainage water quality. This new conservation drainage practice, called a “saturated buffer,” removes nitrates from subsurface drainage water at low cost – without affecting farm field drainage....More

By installing small check dams within drainage ditches beside fields, research shows that growers can stop close to 30-50% of the nitrate nitrogen (N) from flowing downstream, according to Mississippi State University (MSU) studies....More