Posts tagged with: cover crops
Repeated, intensive tillage degrades soil structure and creates compacted layers than can restrict plant roots. Strip tillage targets soil disturbance to the planting zone and can help retain surface residue, preserve soil moisture, build soil structure, and reduce erosion. This approach can give vegetables a good start by warming soils, forming a good seedbed, stimulating…
Read MoreCover crops present a myriad of benefits to farmers in terms of soil health, weed suppression, improved water availability, and much more. The millions of acres of cover crops currently planted throughout the country are proof that they are becoming more and more attractive to growers in the United States. It is established that cover…
Read MoreGrapevine grower finds conservation success with high tunnels, irrigation, and cover crops. In an industry where winemakers are celebrated, their names etched upon the bottles of wine, it’s the farmers who nurture and grow the contents in that bottle who are the real heroes. And, the Farmer family of Vermont is committed to caring for…
Read MoreThe following article is an excerpt from the factsheet “Building Healthy Pasture Soils” available in full at www.ATTRA.org and can be downloaded as a free PDF at the website, along with many other guides and resources. Let’s consider the agricultural practices that help build healthy soil. In essence, we want to increase aggregation, contribute soil organic matter, increase biodiversity,…
Read MoreCan you name fifteen uses for cover crops? Thomas Bjorkman, an associate professor of horticulture at Cornell University, can. And he’s using this list of “management goals”—including weed reduction, erosion prevention, soil aggregate stability, increased organic matter, and disease and pest suppression—to diagnose which cover crops will most benefit farmers’ productivity levels. Thomas’s online decision…
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