Organic farmers can use a combination of cover crops and no-till methods to improve soil health, suppress weeds, and retain moisture, suggests a new report. Organic farmers have to make hard choices ...

For years, governments have channeled their support for agriculture through incentives that nudge you in directions they feel are beneficial, such as erosion control, clean water and wildlife habitat.

‘Prosperity,’ customer pressure help stir cover crop interest The ‘yo-yo’ principle of managing cover crops Is USDA overpromoting cover crops? This is the first part of a four-part series examining ...

Summer interseeding may be a good cover crop strategy for farmers with shorter growing seasons. So say the first-year results from a USDA-sponsored soil health demonstration project in northern Iowa.

When the Southern Cover Crops Council held its annual conference recently in Baton Rouge, I was fortunate to sit in on panel discussions with farmers and specialty crops (vegetables, fruits, nuts and ...

Everybody seems to be talking about cover crops. Rightfully so because, managed correctly, they can provide environmental benefits. Higher yield? Well, maybe, but probably not, at least in the near ...

Cover crops are plants that are planted to cover the soil to keep it in place and improve soil health. They can be intercropped with other crops or planted after harvesting. The crops are mainly grown ...

Tom Oder is a writer, editor, and communication expert who specializes in sustainability and the environment with a sweet spot for urban agriculture. There are varieties of cover crops for every ...

Winter pea, for example, has been shown to harm cottonseed germination and growth if the cotton is planted right after the cover crop's termination. Cereal rye as a cover crop before corn is also not ...

Only a fraction of conventional row crop farmers grow cover crops after harvest, but a new global analysis from the University of Illinois shows the practice can boost soil microbial abundance by 27%.

There's a lot more to the stuff most people consider just dirt. A healthy handful of soil has billions (yes, billions) of microorganisms in it, members of a truly humbling food web below our noses ...