Wayne Volkl, co-owner of SWJ Consulting, says no-tillers need to focus on fungi, the most efficient piece of the biological puzzle, when building their soil biology.

The study, recently published in the journal Biology, investigated how bacteria in non-photosynthetic leaf cells of seed plants can naturally provide nitrogen to plants. Currently, inorganic nitrogen fertilizers, such as ammonia or nitrate, are commonly applied to soils, damaging soils, and causing nitrogen runoff that contaminates streams, rivers, and other water bodies.

The partnership is intended to allow both companies to find solutions in nutrient use efficiency and biocontrols space.

The unique partnership between root-dwelling microbes and the plants they inhabit can reduce drought stress, according to research recently presented at the virtual 2020 ASA-CSSA-SSSA annual meeting.

No-till practices don’t just save labor, fuel and machinery costs, but benefit the mysterious biological world beneath the soil surface that can have a big impact on plant health and yields.