EnvironmentThe Regional Conservation Partnership Program pairs federal money with private partners; the Iowa project alone aims to plant more than 300,000 acres of cover crops and cut nitrogen losses by about 3.3 million pounds.
CropsAs harvest winds down, DTN's View From the Cab farmers in Maryland and Minnesota say nature supplied much of their nitrogen this year, extra fertiliser paid little, and a drone-seeded cover crop failed in the dry.
AgrotechThe Conservation Technology Information Center is building a free online viewer that pools satellite-based estimates of cover crops and conservation tillage from five data providers, to be unveiled on 19 November.
OrganicNemlab consultant Sheila Storey says a balanced soil food web of fungi, bacteria and nematodes recycles nutrients, holds water and helps crops resist pests, and that six soil-health principles, not quick fixes, are what build it.
AgrotechOf 459 cover crop users in the 2026 National Cover Crop Survey, 2.8 percent seeded with their own drones and 13.5 percent hired a pilot; 75 percent named timing as the main benefit and 47 percent poor stands as the main challenge.
CropsAn Ohio conservation district technician sets out which cover crops suit which soil problem, from annual rye and oats to crimson clover, hairy vetch and winter peas that fix 70 to 90 pounds of nitrogen an acre.
VegetablesPurdue horticulture scientist Stephen Meyers says pumpkin fields are prepared in the fall on cover crops, and growers then face months of weeds, powdery mildew, bacterial spot and insects before harvest.
OrganicThe Duguids of Arnes, Manitoba, added cut-flower sunflowers to a regenerative grazing cover crop, so the same field now feeds their cattle and draws visitors to u-pick days.
CropsWith harvest running late across much of the US Corn Belt, agronomists say cover crop decisions have to be made field by field, and aerial seeding may work where drilling cannot.
CropsA Maryland farmer found less tar spot where fungicide went on with a high-clearance sprayer than by drone, while rain cost a Minnesota grower $25,000 in edible bean quality in one field.
AgribusinessThe Purdue University-CME Group Ag Economy Barometer fell from 135 to 123, and only 48% of farmers said the country was heading in the right direction, the lowest since the question was first asked in July 2025.
EnvironmentAbout 40 people from the EPA, the Fish and Wildlife Service, USDA, universities and farm groups spent three days in Minnesota and South Dakota looking at how conservation and spraying practice can protect listed species.
OrganicA North Carolina study found that enzyme activity, microbial biomass and microbial necromass can act as early proxies for soil carbon under cover crops and reduced tillage, years before carbon itself can be measured.
