Elwyn Taylor, Iowa State University climatologist, reported that 200-bushel corn needs 19 to 23 inches of water during the growing season. For 200-bushel corn at 75 degree F (soil temperature), corn needs 1-acre inch of water per week, doubling to 2 inches at 85 degrees F, and doubling again to 4 inches at 95 degrees F. Read more in this article from Ohio's Country Journal.

A common question when incorporating cover crops into a production system is, will the cover crop interfere with the performance of residual herbicides included with the burndown treatment? This article from Iowa State University Extension will discuss the fate of residual herbicides applied to crop residue and living cover crops, and how this may influence herbicide effectiveness.

The removal of crop residue can address some challenges with reduced-tillage systems, but doing so should be weighed against the potential impact on soil productivity, environmental consequences and food availability, says an Extension agent from Colorado.

Josh has been no-till farming for 15 years and he takes us through some of the fundamental benefits of no-tillage in this video sponsored by Monsanto.

A long-term study of no-till plots adjacent to conventional tillage plots on wheat farms in Washington and Idaho comes to some interesting conclusions about the dynamics of bacterial and fungal communities.

Penn State Extension explains why continuous no-till is your best defense against soil crusting and what to do if you’re experiencing crusting this season.