Urea price just jumped 50%, and field corn is at only $4.30. Under what conditions will it pay to plant an N-fixing #covercrop instead this spring? Is that idea too radical?

When testing living mulch as a #covercrop system, the default expectation has to be that the cover crop will compete too much with the main crop and that pest pressure will be higher. If the new system is an exception, the burden of proof is high if one is to be taken seriously.

Virtual Field Day: Cover Crop and Manure Timing to Maximize Water Quality and Corn Yield Iowa Learning Farms (ILF), in partnership with the Iowa Nutrient Research Center, will host a virtual field day on Thursday, Mar. 12, at 1 p.m. CT. The event, which is available at no cost, will feature a live…

Biofuels are another driver. Corn, soy, canola, and sugarcane all are being increasingly used to power vehicles instead of people. This is a shockingly inefficient use of land; EVs can go *300x* farther powered by a hectare of solar panels vs a hectare of crops! 10/

📖New Resource - Cover Crops Guide🌱 The UK’s first accessible, independent, farmer-led and scientifically supported farmers’ guide on #CoverCropping from AHDB is now available via Agricology's resources page. ➡️ agricology.co.uk/resource/cov... Founded by @angusgowthorpe.bsky.social

How do you breed tomatoes with both the disease resistance organic production requires and the superior flavor organic consumers expect? Three experienced breeders will describe their approach in this eOrganic webinar on March 24 eorganic.org/node/36450 Jim Myers, Julie Dawson and Jared Zystro

Two keys to #covercrop success are #faststart and #nogaps. This grower met the first by using a planter for seeding when other methods had failed. But the covercrop does not suppress weeds in the wide gaps between rows. That managent goal is met with herbicides. www.farmprogress.com/cover-crops/...

The Cornell AgriTech Summer Scholars program is back! It is a paid research undergraduate research internship at one of the worlds premier horticulture institutions. We are now accepting applications for a new cohort of excellent undergraduates for summer 2026. cals.cornell.edu/cornell-agri...

Impressive work by Oleksandr Zhuikov et al on improving sustainability of production despite the Khakovka field site being on the front line of a hot war. doi.org/10.15421/012... They achieved better NUE, WUE and climate resilience by leveraging biological processes in the soil.

New Research: Keller et al PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... Subsoil compaction worsens when intervals between compaction events are shorter than soil structure recovery times #Covercrops can reduce recovery times when managed for that goal. Roots make holes and can make soil column support weight.

Jeff Liebert & colleagues looked at adoption of #covercrops among NY and CA vegetable farmers. 13% of cover crop users thought it used a lot of labor, but 26% of non users thought so. Can extension about low-labor approaches increase adoption? link.springer.com/article/10.1...

This research adds important understanding of the nitrogen cycle to reduce nitrate leaching. Root growth and plant decomposition influence risk. We know the functional models, but need to fill in parameter values for many production systems. Especially to get max value from #covercrops.

New research shows that, unfortunately, Palmer amaranth is not sensitive to rye allelopathy. Competition remains the mode of action for this useful #covercrop for managing this bad weed. Read it in Weed Science - www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

UMass Amherst Biology is recruiting a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the area of Plant Physiology. Deadline Nov 1. Please spread the word and apply! careers.massachusetts.edu/mob/en-us/jo...

ASHS is committed to promoting and encouraging national and international interest in scientific research and education in all branches of horticulture and plant science. Join ASHS today! https://ow.ly/i2HY50VcRvo

At 1:12 "Dedicating land to biofuels is actually worse for the climate than burning fossil fuels." He goes on...supplying 25% of aviation energy with soybased "sustainable aviation fuel" requires clearing an area about the size of India. Do physiologists and agronomists know how crazy this is?

Roller-crimped rye is good cover-crop management for soybeans, but it severely inhibits other crops. Be wary trying it with vegetables or sunflowers. Here is an example of what to expect. youtu.be/ge2xFuwgATs

💥NEW in NATURE GEOSCIENCE💥 Soil carbon sequestration by long-term #nitrogen & #phosphorus fertilization doi.org/10.1038/s415... rdcu.be/eFzmh Increase of C #sequestration by N and P #fertilization in the world-longest 180-year fertilization experiment in Rothamsted #soil #agriculture #CO2

I like that most of the recommended management actions are already standard practice on many farms. Therefore increased adoption is possible in the near term--with the right incentives.

Finding beneficial management is a high research priority! "Cover crops’ effects on nitrous oxide [is] unclear, with variances ranging from increases to decreases in emissions. Research is needed to determine the conditions under which cover crop varieties lead to different direction..."

"A global meta-analysis found that cover crops reduce nitrate leaching from croplands by an average of 69 percent, with the greatest benefits observed on increasingly sandier soils and from non-leguminous cover crops ." In the US Northeast, this requires planting *now* so the roots reach the N.

Here is a nice story on the company at the heart of the Northeast US buckwheat world. It is not just a #covercrop! www.lancasterfarming.com/farming-news...

This looks a lot like a #covercrop story!

A wet spring put many prevented-planting acres into buckwheat in Yates County. When do you #killontime? Terminate #covercrop now and collect insurance or wait till harvest and collect $620 a ton from the mill in town? A triticale winter cover can follow either option.

A buckwheat #covercrop is great for soil aggregation. Those fine roots reach the whole soil volume and secrete mucopolysaccharides. This plant is but five weeks old and ready for termination. These will decompose fast. A great value in a short time.

www.cogr.edu/statement-co... The Executive Order 'Improving Oversight of Federal Grantmaking' would be more accurately entitled ‘Politicizing Oversight of Federal Grantmaking.’ It sidelines scientific merit in federal research grant decisions by putting political appointees and partisans in charge

We find that #covercrops of tillage radish and some forage turnips perforate hard soil layers well in the fall when the layers are pliable. Strong gravitropism is an essential trait for this management goal.

Cornell #soilhealth field day today in Seneca Falls. #NRCS' soil pit shows that zone tillage provides deep rooting even with a challenging clay subsoil. #covercrops maintain percolation pores and channels in the non-crop season.

I saw a lot of interesting cover-crop work at #ashs2025 American Society for Horticultural Science in New Orleans. Thanks to all the presenters! Three plant science conferences this week! The others are #plantbio2025 in Milwaukee and #botany2025 in Palm Springs.

Herbarium director position opening at Oregon State University ‪@osu-herbarium.bsky.social‬ Great opportunity for herbarium- and field-trained botanists at any rank. bpp.oregonstate.edu/bpp/about/op...

A new report from @USDA_ERS on cover crop adoption ers.usda.gov/publications... shows that cover crop adoption is increasing in regions where there is enough water. Table 6. % of farms using both conservation and #covercrops

More automation is a required for future vegetable production. But the performance requirement to enter the market at all is so high that it takes a big R&D budget to get anywhere in the ballpark.

Cover crops do important things, including building soil organic matter. But the potential contribution to carbon sequestration is negligible.

#killontime. For buckwheat, “on time” is 35 days after planting. Maximum weed suppression, most complete kill, rapid decomposition. That has been the adamant research-based recommendation from Cornell since 2010. Covercrop.org

Certain cover crops improve infiltration and internal drainage. This cornfield, despite drain tile and 2% slope, suffered from poor drainage this wet spring. No KHB4J. The right cover crop would return more value than corn, especially if the next crop is grapes.

Filling open ground in late June and July with a buckwheat cover crop pays off. Buckwheat on the left, "bare ground" on the right. Lambsquarters grows well on vegetable farms! A good buckwheat stand results in zero weed seed rain. #killontime for no buckwheat seed rain either.

Cover Crop Performance with Weather Variability Please join us for the Iowa Learning Farms webinar at noon CDT, Wednesday, June 18, featuring Grace Emperatriz Pacheco Jiron, former M.S. student and Vesh R. Thapa, postdoctoral research associate, Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, University…

This paper shows why cover-crop users need to Kill on Time. Buckwheat cover crops must be terminated at flowering (35 days). Letting the stand go nearly to seed-harvest causes undesirable effects, and loses the distinctinctive benefits of a buckwheat over crop. www.mdpi.com/3360178

Is burning food and feed crops good for water quality, wildlife habitat, or addressing inequalities in rural communities? No. But is it at least good for the climate? Also no. 🧪

June is in full swing, and so is the growing season. Check out upcoming field days, helpful resources on cover crops, #soilhealth characterization, and biochar, plus learn about veteran scholarships. Get all the details in our latest newsletter mailchi.mp/5b6349af4cb7...

Agroscope is a nice place to work in 🇨🇭, with real impact on agriculture. Nice promo video here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8ue... And... we have an open post-doc position 😉

HortScience, HortTechnology, and JASHS now accept graphical abstracts. Sarah White and Germán Sandoya will share examples and tips for creating a graphical abstract at #ASHS2025. July 29- 2:45 pm and July 31- 12 pm in New Orleans. journals.ashs.org/page/authors... #plantscience #horticulture

House FY26 approps has this to say about #covercrops at USDA ARS. "The Committee continues to recognize the importance of research and outreach related to cover crops and soil health and provides no less than the fiscal year 2025 level for these purposes." Thanks for the endorsement of that work!

This is an amazing book to read. Humbold's fame was so great, even in the US, that for the 1869 centennial of his birth, the celebration in the provincial town of Syracuse NY included a parade fo 15,000 participants!

Presidential budget is out. Here's NSF. Biggest cut, by amount, is $1 billion, or 66.8%, from MPS (Physics & Math directorate). nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/files/00-NSF...

There are lots of benefits to cover cropping before planting orchards and vineyards. Research is needed on local optimization and effect on local management priorities. I suspect profitability could come years sooner from lower managment costs if optimized.

Sounds like a good field day. There is global interest in innovatios that work well. This is Fraser Farm in Yorkshire Britain, not the Fraser Delta in British Columbia.

Apply Now for Cover Crop Essentials Course Apply now to join the Midwest Cover Crops Council 2025 cohort for Cover Crop Essentials, a multi-state, online course on all things cover crops! Designed for early career ag educators in the Midwest, including Extension, ag industry professionals, NRCS…

Researchers based in the USA...who wish to move to Europe will be able to...apply for up to €2 million beyond the usual maximum grant amount to set up a laboratory or research team.

There is still quite a lot to learn about cover crops in potato production to meet he soil-health requirements of this hi-performance production. A research opportunity! I like seeing the adoption of buckwheat--mainly for wireworm suppression, but it also makes the soil more friable for hilling.