Category Archives: Soil Health

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18Oct/23

Bioenergy crop Miscanthus x giganteus acts as an ecosystem engineer to increase bacterial diversity and soil organic matter on marginal land

October 18, 2023Soil Health2023, agriculture, crops, digital cafe, extension, farmers, farming, research, science, soil health, soil health webinar, soil health webinars, soils, state of the science, webinar, webinar seriesLeslie Johnson

In this edition of the Digital Café series, we hear from Dr. Zac Freedman, Assistant Professor of Soil Microbiology and O.N. Allen Professor of Soil Microbiology at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. This presentation was originally broadcast on Wednesday, October 18, 2023.

20Sep/23

Detangling Fact from Fiction: The Impact of Manure on Soil Health in the Semi-Arid West

September 20, 2023Manure, Soil Health2023, agriculture, digital cafe, extension, farming, manure, manure and soil health, manure benefits, research, soil health, soil health webinar, soil health webinars, state of the science, webinar, webinar seriesLeslie Johnson

In this edition of the Digital Café series, we hear from Dr. Linda Schott, Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist in Nutrient and Waste Management at the University of Idaho. Dr. Schott shares data from several projects about the impact of manure/compost on soil health properties including POxC, infiltration, aggregate stability, etc. This presentation was originally broadcast on Wednesday, September 20, 2023.

19Jul/23

State of the Soils: A soil health assessment across Washington’s diverse soils and systems

July 19, 2023Soil Health2023, agriculture, digital cafe, extension, research, science, soil, soil health, soil health webinar, soils, state of the science, webinar, webinar seriesLeslie Johnson

This edition of the Soil Health Nexus Digital Café series featured Dr. Deirdre Griffin LaHue, Assistant Professor of Soil Health and Sustainable Soil Management at Washington State University. Dr. LaHue discusses the Washington State of the Soils Assessment Project and the Washington Soil Health Initiative, preliminary findings, challenges, and next steps. This presentation was originally broadcast on Wednesday, July 19, 2023.

21Jun/23

Grazing, Cover Crops, and Soil Health

June 21, 2023Soil Health2023, agriculture, cover crops, crops, digital cafe, extension, farmers, grazing, soil, soil health webinar, webinar, webinar seriesLeslie Johnson

This Digital Cafe features Augustine Obour, Associate Professor of Soil Science at Kansas State University, who discusses Kansas State University’s research efforts using cover crops as forage to provide immediate economic benefits to farmers and quantifying the impacts of utilizing cover crops for forage on soil health and crop yields in semiarid dryland systems. This presentation was originally broadcast on Wednesday, June 21, 2023.

28Apr/23

New Whitepaper Explores the Connection between Soil Health and Water Quality

April 28, 2023Soil Health2023, farming, science, soil, soil health, soils, state of the science, toolbox, water, water qualityLeslie Johnson

The Soil Health Nexus is excited to debut two new resources on the Soil Health Toolbox! Two Soil Health Nexus members, Francisco Arriaga, Associate Professor and Extension Specialist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Anna Cates, Assistant Professor and State Soil Health Specialist at the University of Minnesota, recently published a long-awaited whitepaper exploring the connection between soil health and water quality.

19Apr/23

Top 10 Impacts of Cover Crops for Soil Health

April 19, 2023Soil Health2023, agriculture, cover crops, digital cafe, on-farm research, research, science, soil health, soil health webinar, soil health webinars, soils, state of the science, webinar, webinar seriesLeslie Johnson

This Digital Café features Dr. Rob Myers, Director of the University of Missouri Center for Regenerative Agriculture and also Regional Director of Extension Programs for NCR-SARE, discussed several of the key ways that cover crops can improve soil health. These factors include nutrient cycling, soil organic matter, rainfall infiltration, addressing soil compaction, aggregate stability and impacts on earthworms, mycorrhizal fungi, and other aspects of soil biology. This presentation was originally broadcast on Wednesday, April 19, 2023.

15Mar/23

Lessons learned from on-farm cover crop research in Nebraska

March 15, 2023Soil Health2023, agriculture, cover crops, digital cafe, extension, farmers, farming, nebraska, on-farm research, research, science, soil, soil health webinar, soil health webinars, soils, state of the science, webinar, webinar seriesLeslie Johnson

In this Digital Cafe, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Assistant Professor Andrea Basche and PhD graduate student Fernanda Krupek share results from five-year on-farm experiments conducted through a partnership program with Nebraska NRCS and the Nebraska On-Farm Research Network. This includes findings on how cover crops impact soil properties, nutrient cycling, weed communities and best practices for sampling at the farm scale. This presentation was originally broadcast on Wednesday, March 15, 2023.

15Feb/23

Baseline Assessment of the Soil Health in Ohio

February 15, 2023Soil Health2023, baseline, baseline testing, digital cafe, research, science, soil, soil health, soil health testing, soil health webinar, soil health webinars, soil tilth, soils, state of the science, webinar, webinar seriesLeslie Johnson

A key part of soil health assessments is understanding how soil health indicators vary by soil type. This Digital Café features Christine Sprunger, Assistant Professor of Soil Health at Michigan State University, who outlines a baseline soil health assessment that was conducted in Ohio. The talk also outlines goals for conducting future baseline assessments across the state of Michigan. This presentation was originally broadcast on Wednesday, February 15, 2023.

18Jan/23

Prairies and Landscape Change: Notes from the Underground

January 18, 2023Soil Health2023, digital cafe, landscapes, prairie, prairie strips, research, science, soil, soil health webinar, soil health webinars, state of the science, water quality, webinar series, webinarsLeslie Johnson

Restoring prairie from cropland has well-known benefits to soil health – at least to the soil directly underneath the prairie. In this presentation, Dr. Marshall McDaniel, Associate Professor at Iowa State University, shared how might prairie strips, or contour plantings of native prairie species embedded in row crop fields, affect the surrounding soil and crops. This presentation was originally broadcast on Wednesday, January 18, 2023.

16Nov/22

Cover Crop Profitability

November 16, 2022Soil Health2022, agriculture, cover crops, digital cafe, extension, farmers, profitability, soil health, soil health webinar, soil health webinars, webinar, webinar seriesLeslie Johnson

How long does it take for cover crops to become profitable? In this presentation, Dr. Rob Myers of University of Missouri shared insights on how different management scenarios can impact the time it takes for cover crops to provide a positive economic return, based on data from the SARE/CTIC national cover crop survey.This presentation was originally broadcast on Wednesday, November 16, 2022.