17 Ideas to Improve Your Cover Cropped Soils as a Source of Life

December 15, 2023 | Posted in Soil Health

Each year in early December, World Soil Day is celebrated around the world. To celebrate this annual event, the World Association of Soil and Water Conservation has pulled together a list of 17 soil moisture management concepts that can help you make soil and water a much better source of life.

Wayne Fredericks Better-protected-Soil.jpeg

How One Iowa Farmer Reduced His Fertilizer Usage by 30%

Fredericks, who farms just 15 miles south of the Minnesota state line in a very cold climate, points out that what worked for him might not be the best for every single farmer.

By Mackane Vogel posted on November 21, 2022 | Posted in Soil Health, Economics

Wayne Fredericks, a corn and soybean farmer from Osage, Iowa, has been no-tilling soybeans since 1991 and strip-tilling corn since 2001. But ever since he tried using cover crops in 2012, he has been able to reduce his use of fertilizer by 30%.

Prince Edward Island Farmers Rebuild Soil

January 8, 2021 | Posted in Soil Health

Source: CBC

Concerns about the state of the Island's soil, and its impact on the agriculture industry, prompted the province to begin monitoring organic matter levels in soil in 1998. The study included 600 sites, with samples being taken, analyzed and recorded about once every three years. Read more in this article from the CBC.

Faith in No-Till Brings Changes to Plains Farm

No-tiller Steve Pope is working with cover crops and interseeding on the family’s Oklahoma farm to improve crop diversity, reduce weed pressure and rebuild worn-out soils.

By John Dobberstein posted on June 11, 2015 | Posted in Seeding Practices, Soil Health

About a decade ago, the Pope family in western Oklahoma reached a point where the equipment they used for conventional tillage was worn out.

No-Till, Covers Provide Buffer for Higher Yields, Better Soils

Ohio no-tiller Jim Carter Jr. finds breaking from tillage and adding cereal rye and other covers improved corn and soybean yields, and greatly benefited his soils.

By Laura Barrera posted on July 1, 2014

Jim Carter Jr. recalls when he was in high school and looking at soil tests taken from his father’s farm in North Baltimore, Ohio.

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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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