Cornell researchers have developed an innovative technique to track microbes and understand the various ways they process soil carbon, findings that add to our knowledge of how bacteria contribute to the global carbon cycle.
Soil microbes are living, working barometers of soil health. Farm management decisions affect these microscopic workhorses, but, until now, scientists didn't have a full picture of how crop rotation and tillage influence the soil microbiome, say researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
After harvest in the fall, farmers take the harvested crops to market or store them on their farm. They don't take the whole plant from the field, though. The leftover parts of the plant, like the stalk and leaves from corn, remain in the field. This debris is called crop residue. Read more in this article from Phys.org and the American Society of Agronomy.
Only a fraction of conventional row crop farmers grow cover crops after harvest, but a new global analysis from the University of Illinois shows the practice can boost soil microbial abundance and diversity but termination method and tillage regime can impact results.
One of the newest frontiers for scientific discovery, soil is offering new insights into the benefits of no-till farm management. A recent study by South Dakota State University, measuring 8 different enzymes, bacteria, fungi, organic carbon and nitrogen, found significant improvements in no-till fields compared to conventionally tilled fields.
Scientists have traditionally believed soil aggregates — clusters of soil particles — were the principal locations for stable carbon storage. Recent research from Michigan State University, however, shows that most stable carbon appears to be the result of microbes producing organic compounds that are then adsorbed onto soil mineral particles.
South Dakota State University Extension buried mens' white cotton briefs in different tillage systems and viewed their decompositions as a comparison in the soil microbiology levels.
No-tilling slopes as steep as 60% that receive as little as 12 inches of annual moisture and summer-time temperatures that frequently run over 100 degrees F., John Aeschliman has been successfully no-tilling in the Palouse area of eastern Washington for more than 40 years.
Get full access NOW to the most comprehensive, powerful and easy-to-use online resource for no-tillage practices. Just one good idea will pay for your subscription hundreds of times over.
On this episode of Conservation Ag Update, brought to you by Titan International, a big piece of equipment is unveiled at the Kinze Product Innovation Day in Williamsburg, Iowa.
We have engineered and developed the most advanced concave system that threshes all crops, eliminates rotor loss, improves grain quality, gives you a cleaner sample – all with one set of XPR concaves.
At Titan International, our product portfolio reflects our commitment to innovation and high-quality products. Titan International offers a full line of solution-focused wheel, tire, and undercarriage products for a wide variety of off-the-road equipment in agriculture, construction, forestry, mining, power sports, high-speed trailers, and outdoor power equipment segments. As one of the largest North American manufacturers, with a network of dealers all over the world, Titan is an industry leader that original equipment manufacturers and operators can count on for durable products and quality service.