Articles by Julienne Isaacs

Strip-Till & Cover Crops Offer the ‘Best of Both Worlds’

The Isley family has improved water retention by planting annual ryegrass into standing corn and seeding annual ryegrass and rapeseed prior to strip-tilling.

By Julienne Isaacs posted on September 20, 2022 | Posted in Soil Health

In 2012, the Isley family took a firm dislike to using the word “dirt.” They had gone through a substantial drought and were working ground, watching it turn to powder.

Cover Crops Build Strong Orchards That Can Withstand Droughts

At the Petty Ranch in southern California, where it sometimes rains less than 5 inches per year, covers are an effective line of defense against dryness.

By Julienne Isaacs posted on July 26, 2021 | Posted in Soil Health

Lemons and avocados aren’t your typical cash crops accompanying cover crops. But Chris Sayer’s family successfully uses covers in their lemon and avocado orchards on Petty Ranch in Saticoy, Cal., which they’ve owned for 130 years.

‘Zone Approach’ with Cover Crops Boosts Sustainability at Vegetable Farm

On his Minnesota vegetable farm, Ryan Pesch uses cover crops to lighten and enrich heavy soil and improve production prospects.

By Julienne Isaacs posted on July 25, 2021 | Posted in Soil Health

Building soil nutrients is one of the major benefits of using cover crops, and it’s the benefit of choice for Ryan Pesch and his family. Pesch has used cover crops on his farm since he and his family started Lida Farm in 2004.

Cover Crops: The Final Piece of the Water Quality Puzzle

Growers share how widespread cover cropping has helped reduce water quality problems in Kansas’ Black Vermillion River watershed.

By Julienne Isaacs posted on July 24, 2021 | Posted in Soil Health

On a clear, late November day 60 years ago, 11-year-old Maurice Buessing was out getting the cows home from pasture on the family dairy operation near Baileyville, Kan.

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Ray McCormick’s Conservation Buffer

Earlier this week we paid another visit to this year’s Conservation Ag Operator Fellow, Ray McCormick in Vincennes, Ind., and one thing about Ray is that even when it’s the “off season,” he’s still thinking ahead for next season.

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