We have been receiving reports since corn harvest began this fall about an unusual phenomenon: yields of the outside 8 to 24 rows on the south or west edges of corn fields show lower or much lower yields than corn farther into the field.

CropLife Foundation (CLF) released “The Role of Seed Treatment in Modern U.S. Crop Production,� an in-depth report detailing the uses of seed treatments, primarily fungicides and insecticides, and the resulting benefits for growers, consumers and the environment. The report highlights the role of modern seed treatments in producing healthier, more uniform crops; increasing crop value; and allowing growers to plant earlier in the season, all while reducing potential environmental exposure through an increasingly precise application method.

The National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) and the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) will host an important national webinar on Jan. 23, 2014, to discuss the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) recent efforts to assure greater uniformity and clarity on its policy related to farmers who currently grow cover crops or may grow them in the future.

In the minds of many, a freshly tilled field is picturesque — clean and ready for the next planting. But according to a soil health expert, what looks good to the eye, isn’t always good for the soil — or a farmer’s bottom line.

Farm Foundation, NFP and The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation announced the launch of a new initiative designed to bring attention to the critical role of soil health in the challenge of feeding 9 billion people by 2050.

Corn that contains proteins that protect it from insect damage has been grown in the U.S. since the mid-1990s.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is opening the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) for new enrollments for federal fiscal year 2014.

In a publication brought to the public’s attention by news release from the University of Illinois several weeks ago, S.A. Khan, Richard Mulvaney and a colleague in the Department of Natural Resource and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois challenged a number of basic tenets of soil fertility, especially practices related to use of potassium (K) fertilizer.

The number of cover crop acres has increased dramatically over the past five years in Iowa — from less than 10,000 acres in 2009 to about 300,000 acres this fall.

The Bremmer family has raised cattle and produced crops in northwestern Illinois for more than a century.