Soil sustainability - Articles - Page 2

Balancing grazing needs and soil health at Choiniere Family Farm

November 17, 2023

Nestled in the hills of northwestern Vermont just a few miles south of the Canadian border, Choiniere Family Farm carries on a legacy of learning, growing and trying new things.

Le rôle de la luzerne dans l’agriculture durable

La luzerne est une culture impressionnante dont la contribution à la réalisation des objectifs de durabilité est largement passée inaperçue.

May 1, 2023

Emily Meccage

Au cours des dernières années, nous avons assisté à une recrudescence des pratiques agricoles durables et des recherches connexes, principalement en raison de l’intérêt accru pour l’amélioration de la santé des sols, le recyclage des nutriments et la séquestration du carbone.

Soil health: Principles before practices

Producers looking to improve their grazing grounds should keep soil health principles at the heart of any improvements they make.

March 31, 2023

Jenny Pluhar

Soil health is our objective. If it isn’t, it dang sure should be. Always.

Fall signals time to revitalize soil health

Without the right below-ground environment and structure, soil can’t support maximum plant performance of today’s high-yielding crop genetics.

October 18, 2022

Carl Bruice and Greg Binford

Fall soil assessments and sampling can provide insights into soil health so growers can work with an expert to devise a plan that revitalizes the soil microbiome.

Genetics open the door, management determines how far

Soil compaction impacts root depth and available water. It can severely limit available nutrients.

October 18, 2022

Thomas Kilcer

Soil compaction impacts root depth and available water. It can severely limit available nutrients.

SUMMARY

Proactively avoiding the nutrient depletion of forage fields

Nutrient depletion, especially in the current state of world affairs, is becoming a major issue. As we look to fulfill a major part of animal nutrition within the acreage available, consider what inputs will give the soil its longest, most productive lifespan.

August 29, 2022

Scott Fleming

The fertility of samples arriving at soil analysis laboratories throughout the nation has been dropping. Many theories exist about why this is occurring. With rising input prices, are growers not keeping up with maintenance applications?

Biochar: How soil can store more carbon

February 28, 2022

Heather Smith Thomas

Biochar is a supercharcoal made by heating any residual biomass – for example, corncobs, husks or stalks, potato or soy residues, grass hay, rice or wheat straw, woody forestry residues, etc. – with little or no oxygen.

The curveball of PFAS

January 31, 2022

Dustin Sawyer

Hold on to your hats, folks: There’s another thing we need to be worried about. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are one of the more recent environmental concerns to crop up in agriculture.

Alfalfa’s role in sustainable agriculture

January 31, 2022

Emily Meccage

In recent years, there has been a resurgence in sustainable farming practices and related research, driven mostly by increased interest in improving soil health, nutrient recycling and carbon sequestration.