Tag Archives: research

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.

21Sep/22

Soil Health Practices and Water Behavior and Efforts to Quantify Soil Function

September 21, 2022Soil Health2022, agriculture, digital cafe, extension, farming, research, soil, soil health, soil health webinar, soils, state of the science, webinar, webinar seriesLeslie Johnson

Soil health is defined in terms of soil function, and some of the most important functions are related to water-holding and water infiltration. Farmers and policy-makers both care about these properties, but they can be elusive to measure. In this edition of the Soil Health Digital Café, Dr. Anna Cates, University of Minnesota Soil Health Specialist, discusses on-farm efforts to quantify changes in soil function with soil health practice adoption, including soil organic matter pools, soil aggregates, and water infiltration. This presentation was originally broadcast on Wednesday, September 21, 2022.

18May/22

Understanding Adoption of Agricultural Conservation Practices

May 18, 2022Soil Health2022, adoption of practices, agriculture, conservation, digital cafe, farmers, farming, research, science, soil health, soil health webinar, soil health webinars, water quality, webinar, webinar seriesLeslie Johnson

The April edition of the Digital Cafe series featured Linda Prokopy, Professor and Department Head in Horticulture and Landscape Architecture at Purdue University. Linda is a Professor and Department Head of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture at Purdue University and directs the Indiana Water Resources Research Center. Linda also leads the Natural Resources Social Science Lab (NRSS) that examines how human interactions with the environment impact natural resources. In this webinar, Linda summarizes decades of research examining what motivates adoption of conservation practices in agriculture. This presentation was originally broadcast on Wednesday, May 18, 2022.

20Dec/21

Soil Stability Maps to Improve Management for Soil Health and Carbon Markets

December 20, 2021Soil Health2021, agriculture, carbon, digital cafe, farmers, research, satellite images, science, soil health, soil health webinar, soil health webinars, soil maps, state of the science, webinar, webinar seriesLeslie Johnson

As part of the Soil Health Nexus Digital Cafe Series, Dr. Bruno Basso from the Michican State University present “Soil Stability Maps to Improve Management for Soil Health and Carbon Markets”. This presentation was originally broadcast on December 15, 2021.

22Nov/21

Can We Quantify Soil Biological Activity Without a Lab?

November 22, 2021Manure, Soil Health2021, animal manure management, carbon degradation, digital cafe, extension, farmers, manure, manure and soil health, manure application, manure benefits, nebraska, on-farm research, organic matter, research, science, soil, soil amendments, soil health webinars, soil your undies, state of the scienceLeslie Johnson

As part of the Soil Health Nexus Digital Cafe Series, Dr. Amy Schmidt and Karla Melgar from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln present “Can We Quantify Soil Biological Activity Without a Lab?”. This presentation was originally broadcast on November 17, 2021.

20Oct/21

Soil Carbon Storage in Agricultural Fields

October 20, 2021Soil Health2021, digital cafe, farming, manure and soil health, research, science, soil, soil health, soil health webinar, soils, state of the science, webinar, webinar seriesLeslie Johnson

As part of the Soil Health Nexus Digital Cafe Series, Alexandra (Sasha) Kravchenko, Professor in the Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences at Michigan State University presents ” Soil Carbon Storage in Agricultural Fields”. This presentation was originally broadcast on October 20, 2021.

24Mar/21

Evaluating soil health and soil carbon dynamics in Midwestern cropping systems

March 24, 2021Manure2021, agregates, agriculture, digital cafe, farmers, farming, Iowa, research, science, soil health, soil health webinar, soil testing, soils, state of the science, webinar, webinar seriesLeslie Johnson

As part of the Soil Health Nexus Digital Cafe Series, Brian Dougherty of Iowa State University, presents “Evaluating soil health and soil carbon dynamics in Midwestern cropping systems”. This presentation was originally broadcast on March 24, 2021.