Soil Health

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Ryan Class Field

Cover Crop Challenge Lets Students Compete and Grow

By Krisy Gashler / July 9, 2025

Cornell AES manages farms and greenhouses that support research but are also unique teaching resources for over 40 courses. This is the sixth story in a series about on-farm teaching;…

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Two farmers in yellow safety vests, one wearing a blue shirt and the other a gray shirt, stand in a lush green cornfield under a partly cloudy sky. They are holding tools related to manure management and surrounded by equipment. Dense greenery and trees are in the background.

Farmers and Researchers Tackle Manure Management Together

By Madeline Hanscom / April 14, 2025

These collaborations help use understand how manure application affects yield and soil health over time. The Nutrient Management Spear Program (NMSP) team conducts on-farm research to help farmers optimize their manure management…

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Tomato Plot After Tillage Photo 2

Natural Senescence: Integrating Tools into Gardening as We Age

By Lee Rinehart / July 3, 2024

A gardener will likely confront the necessary evils of power tools as their body experiences aging, but there are workable solutions for overcoming this ethical and practical gardening challenge.   …

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Beef Pasture Grazing Photo 2

Should I Fertilize My Beef Pastures?

By Rich Taber / July 3, 2024

In part 17 of our “What’s Your Beef?” series on raising cattle on small farms, we discuss grazing conditions for beef cattle and other classes of grazing livestock.    My…

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A canopy of cherry trees, subcanopy of raspberries, and groundcover of dandelion and chives in Unadilla Community Farm’s food forest.

Breaking Ground with Dynamic Accumulators

By Greta Zarro / July 20, 2020

New research helps to support the popular permaculture practice.   Since the term was first introduced in the 1980s, the use of dynamic accumulators on the permaculture homestead has become…

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ryan maher reduced tillage image 4 cropped field day

In the News: Deep Dive into Compost

By Kelsie Raucher / March 13, 2020

Reduced tillage practices and weed suppression management are common goals of small-scale organic farmers.   A lesser-known method is deep-composting, which was presented by the Reduced Tillage Project and a…

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Reduced Tillage Logo 1

In the News: How We Help NYS Farmers Implement Reduced Tillage Systems

By Anna Birn / December 16, 2019

Sweeping problems under the rug usually leads to larger problems in the future, unless of course, the problem is weeds and the rug is tarps. Tarping fields as a weed…

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two worms fall sfq invasive worms

Invasive Worms Threaten Forest Health

By Paul Hetzler / October 7, 2019

A new and significant threat to forests, Asian earthworms, have cleverly disguised themselves — as earthworms. If you’re tired of hearing about new invasive forest pests, I’m with you. Seems…

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Conference Spotlight: SFP Presenting in Early 2019

By Kelsie Raucher / December 3, 2018

The Cornell Small Farms Program will be attending several conferences in early 2019. From presentations of our research to special events, you can connect with the our team and fellow…

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Local Farms Trial Tarping for Reduced Tillage Research

By Haley Rylander / October 15, 2018

As the growing season winds down, Haley Rylander, a masters student working with the reduced tillage project of the Cornell Small Farms Program, has been visiting with farmers who have…

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