Maryland has become a model of cover crop adoption. Indeed, cover crops are now one of the most common, accessible agricultural strategies for improving soil health and water retention and preventing nitrogen pollution in water and erosion—to the benefit of both the environment and the farmer. Read more in this article from Civil Eats.

Jay Fuhrer, soil health specialist with the Natural Resource Conservation Service of the USDA, spoke about soil health. Fuhrer has identified five principles of soil health, and how they work to improve soil health and increase productivity. Fuhrer defined soil health is defined as “the continued capacity of soil to function as a vital living ecosystem that sustains plants, animals, and humans.” Read more in this article from Grainews.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will invest $56 million this year to help agricultural producers improve water quality in more than 300 high-priority watersheds across the country. USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is continuing two of its successful landscape-level water quality efforts, the Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative (MRBI) and National Water Quality Initiative (NWQI). Find out more in this article from Hoosier Ag Today.

Attendees included farm organizations, farmers, environmentalist groups, experts from Cornell University, the Department of Agriculture, plus representatives from the Soil Health Institute, New York Farm Bureau, Northeast Organic Farming Association, the New York State Vegetable Growers Association, and American Farmland Trust. Participants in the roundtable discussed their own efforts to improve soil health, as well as some of the barriers they’re facing. Find out more in this article from the Mid-Hudson News (Newburgh, NY).

An agricultural economist and an agronomist walk into a room … and a point-counterpoint debate ensues. “Cover crops are time-consuming and don’t provide economic returns,” the economist says, pointing to a survey of farmers not currently using cover crops. Find out how the agronomist responds in this article from KMALand.

The surfactants being used are chemically very similar to dishwashing soap and are listed in the same chemical group. But dishwashing soap is known to be toxic to plants, therefore chemical surfactants have been modified to be used frequently without the detrimental impact on grass. Find out more in this article from the Las Cruces Sun News (Las Cruces, NM).

Oats are the second most popular cover crop in Iowa, creating a significant market for oat seed. Though cover crop seed markets offer the advantages of a favorable price and local markets with little transport cost, growing oats for seed is more difficult than the other most popular cover crop, rye. Find out why in this article from Practical Farmers of Iowa.

Switching from a traditional tillage system to a no-till and cover crop program can result in major benefits, including increased return on investment. Evaluate the optimal crop plan for your farming system and look at the return on investment for the overall crop rotation of three or four crops. Find out more in this article from AgriNews.

The importance of soil health and its role in the future of sustainable agriculture has been a topic of much discussion. While specialty crop growers understand the importance of healthy soils, much of the research on the topic has been dedicated to row crops like corn, soybeans, wheat, and cotton. But that’s changing, and more emphasis is being placed on soil health in fruit and vegetable production. Read more in this article from Growing Produce.