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.
CropsCover crops cost $42 to $120 an acre to establish, but South Dakota research found grazing them returned $17.23 an acre in the first year and $43.61 in the second, and EQIP can cover up to 75 percent of costs.
EnvironmentThe Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is funding five studies on how PFAS gets into fields, which crops take it up and how farmers can test for it cheaply.
CropsThe second edition of Cover Crops: Improving Soil Health, Stewardship and Profitability on the Farm adds new chapters and the experience of 12 farmers, and can be read free online.
CropsThe National Cover Crop Variety Testing Program compared commercial varieties of six fall-planted cover crops across 13 US sites; at the New York site cereal rye ND Gardner gave the most spring biomass.
AgrotechA USDA-funded project is collecting more than 13,000 soil samples from about 6,000 fields to rebuild the free SHAPE online tool so it gives farmers local soil-health benchmarks and practice recommendations.
