The new “Rooted Collection” from Wrangler Jeans are made from cotton grown on farms that use cover crops. Roian Atwood, Senior Director of Sustainability with Wrangler & Lee, talks about the opportunity for land stewardship in cotton systems, consumer pressure on corporate decision making, how grazing systems add value to natural systems, and more.

As interest and integration of cover crops accelerate, the industry has been challenged in its ability to provide easy to access, comprehensive information. Recently, cover crop application company GO SEED developed the Cover Crop Information Map to provide a free, centralized platform for knowledge exchange.

Researchers used the Canadian Light Source (CLS) at the University of Saskatchewan to look at where carbon ends up in soil and are contributing to an effort to mitigate the effects of drought for California farmers. Samantha Ying and Michael Schaefer, both from the Department of Environmental Sciences at University of California (UC) Riverside, are part of a team set on untangling the mystery of a practice upon which farmers have relied for centuries to reduce water use—cover crops. Read more in this article from Yorkton This Week (Yorkton, SK).

Advanced conservation practices are used on more than 50 percent of farmland across the nation. Conrad, MT, wheat farmer Ken Johnson explained how he works to reduce erosion on their family farm. Read more in this article from the Sidney Herald.

“I knew we were already doing good things for the environment and not getting recognized. And I wanted to reframe what we were doing, and get really serious and focused about what we were doing with carbon," says farmer Johnny Parker, Sandy Lake, Pennsylvania. Read more in this article from Lancaster Farming.

The world beneath our feet is very much alive. In a single teaspoon of soil, there is an estimated one billion microbes including bacteria, fungi, nematodes, protists and micro-animals. All of these microbes serve a purpose in the complex ecosystem underfoot. Read more in this article from the Sabetha Herald (Sabetha, KS).

Forty-five farms in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and North Dakota are headed into their second growing season working with General Mills on the adoption of “regenerative agriculture” practices as they grow oats for the multi-national food company. The three-year Regenerative Oat Pilot project, which involves more than 50 thousand acres, was launched last year as part of General Mills’ larger effort to have one million acres under regenerative agriculture practices in its supply chain by 2030. Read more in this article from Real Agriculture.

Michigan State University Extension Sustainable Agriculture Educator Dean Baas discusses why brassicas are an excellent cover crop species, including radish, turnip, rapeseed and mustard; what is unique about the root system of brassicas; why turnips are helpful for reducing soil compaction; and more.

Dealing with slugs can be a real nuisance for many growers. Dr. John Tooker, Penn State University, discusses how seed treatments influence predator populations in the field, how soybean yields respond when slugs are present in fields with both treated and untreated seed, why predator populations are important in your fields and more.

Self-titled “soil health farmer” Chad Christianson is not unlike other farmers when he says soil health practices have to “pay their way.” He realizes that rent is high and taxes are not cheap. Read more in this article from the Rock Island Dispatch-Argus.