Present and looming challenges of water supply, climate change, air quality and the long-term fertility and sustainability of California's agricultural soils compel farmers, researchers and the private sector to pursue creative soil management innovations that harmonize with the biological foundations of resource use efficiency, says guest blogger Jeff Mitchell of the University of California.

With Earth Day fresh on our minds, rather than planting trees, here’s something you can do to save our planet that will help farmers be more profitable as well.

Fewer dairies with more cattle per operation puts the Midwest’s Driftless Area on a path toward greater soil erosion.

Messages from the mainstream media suggest that herbicides, insecticides and synthetic fertilizers are doing grave damage to the environment. But a survey of scientific literature shows that damage is minimal and short-lived while damage from tillage is much more severe.

With the passing of National Ag Day last week, we celebrate what’s been done to improve the sustainability of farming operations, but look ahead to what we must do to preserve and protect food security for future generations.

When it comes to adopting no-till and cover crops, data from a recent Iowa State University survey shows significant differences between owned and rented cropland.

Growers in the Northern High Plains of Texas are turning to cotton plantings in hopes of reducing their watering needs and possibly extending the life of the Ogallala aquifer. There’s one tool that should be used on all these new acres that could make this endeavor more profitable.

Recent studies defending the use of occasional tillage are interesting reads but leave a lot of questions and problems with this approach that are left unaddressed. Read on to see why you should keep the tillage equipment in your shed.

In explaining why his no-tilled fields looked so much better than those of his neighbors across the road that were extensively tilled, Roberto Peiretti indicated it was because he had simply “done nothing” while others worked their ground.