Alison Robertson, Professor and Extension Field Crops Pathologist with Iowa State University discusses why cereal rye is a vector for diseases in corn, why timing of planting corn after cereal rye is very important, how pythium impacts corn yields, and more.

A research team including current and former ecologists from Colorado State University said soil biodiversity should be incorporated into the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, which include zero hunger, sustainable cities and communities, and protection of terrestrial ecosystems. The researchers also argue that soil biodiversity should also be incorporated into the next generation of Aichi Biodiversity Targets, a set of 20 conservation goals established in 2010 being revamped this year.

Country Crock, an Upfield brand, and No-till on the Plains, an agriculture educational non-profit, have partnered on a three-year program to support farmers with soil health education and cost-share to plant cover crops to improve soil health on fields.

As he has dozens of times since stumbling into the benefits of cover cropping and no-till farming nearly 50 years ago, Pennsylvania farmer Leroy Bupp set up his props for a talk on soil health at a large Chesapeake Bay conference. There were goofy moments, like calling out volunteers from the audience to replicate how worms breed. Read more in this article from the Chesapeake Bay Journal (Seven Valleys, PA).

David Kruger and Todd Boesen don’t know each other. But these two South Dakota farmers share a desire to test out practices on their farms. Read more in this article from the Aberdeen News (Aberdeen, SD).

Soil is an organic reservoir for carbon, but carbon is subject to loss, according to Mark Rasmussen, Director of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture with Iowa State University. Decades of conventional farming have depleted soil carbon levels. In this video, Rasmussen discusses the many forms of carbonate, what Iceland is doing to store carbon long-term in the soil, and more.

All healthy crops have to start somewhere. To be more specific — the ground. But hearty, high-yielding crops can’t just sprout in any patch of dirt. Read more in this article from the Omaha World-Herald.

Soil health, as defined by a team of researchers in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at New Mexico State University, is “the state of the soil being in sound physical, chemical, and biological condition, having the capability to sustain the growth and development of land plants.” Rajan Ghimire, a cropping systems agronomist at the Agricultural Science Center in Clovis, put it more simply: “Healthy soil leads to healthy human beings.”

Steven Hall is dedicated to exploring how farmers can get the most out of their soil. Hall, an assistant professor with the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology at Iowa State University, runs a biogeochemistry lab where students look at the different factors that can effect soil health. Read more in this article from the Lincoln Journal Star.

Interest in organic farming has grown in the past several years, and Pennsylvania cover crop expert Steve Groff discusses how strategic planning can make a big difference in outcomes. Groff talks about why weed control is the biggest challenge when it comes to no-tilling organic with cover crops.