Takeaways
- Most soil properties were significantly responsive to tillage plus cover crops, and tillage along with cover crops and crop diversity.
- No-till increased soil total nitrogen, organic matter, organic sulfur, magnesium, calcium, cation exchange capacity and stored soil water compared to conventional tillage in lower Mississippi Delta research.
- Results from a Canadian study encourage use of sustainable agricultural practices that preserve microbial diversity, which is essential for maintaining ecosystem services and soil health.
- A 5-year straw mulch regime or straw mulch combined with a low nitrogen application rate and a reduced straw application rate can reduce nitrogen runoff while avoiding the stimulation of NH3 volatilization and N2O emissions.
Integrated soil health management influences soil properties: Insights from a U.S. Midwest study.
Garg, A., Kwakye, S., Cates, A., Peterson, H., Labine, K., Olson, G. & Sharma, V. 2025. Geoderma. 455. Article 117214.
Cornell Conservation Agriculture Group (soilhealth.org)'s insight:
This study was done in the U.S, upper Midwest over 3 years. There were 15 field pairs with one using conventional (CM) and the other soil health management (SH) (reduced tillage, cover crops and crop diversity). They assessed these plots by looking at soil organic matter pools, microbial indicators and a physical indicator. Wet aggregate stability improved in the SH plots compared to the CM ones. Results showed that most soil properties were significantly responsive to two management combinations, 1) tillage x cover crops, and 2) tillage x cover crops x crop diversity. Microbial indicators along with potentially mineralizable nitrogen (PMN) exhibited the strongest increases in the SH plots.
Furrow Irrigated Long-Term No-Till and Conventional-Till Soil Evaluation in the Mid-South USA.
Mubvumba, P., Tyler, H.L., Anapalli, S.S., Pinnamaneni, S.R. &Reddy, K.N. 2025. Air Soil and Water Research. 18. Article 11786221251320712.
Cornell Conservation Agriculture Group (soilhealth.org)'s insight:
This paper looks at land in the Lower Mississippi Delta where 70% of the land is furrow irrigated and where NT and bed planting issues hinder NT adoption. Ridge making and furrow maintenance are crucial in this area. This paper looked at the impact of adopting long-term NT compared to conventional tillage (the traditional system). NT increased soil total nitrogen, organic matter, organic sulfur, magnesium, calcium, cation exchange capacity, and stored soil water compared to CT during 4 years of soybean production following 11 years under corn. CT resulted in loss of nutrients as a result of disturbing the soil surface. CT also developed a thick plow pan at 10cm depth. I wonder if they should think of having permanent NT beds with residue retention that is practiced successfully in other parts of the World.
Cross-Effect Between Cover Crops and Glyphosate-Based Herbicide Application on Microbiote Communities in Field Crops Soils.
Brillon, J.B., Lucotte, M., Giusti, B., Tremblay, G. & Moingt, M. 2025. Agriculture-Basel. 15 (4) Article 432.
Cornell Conservation Agriculture Group (soilhealth.org)'s insight:
This paper from Canada looks at application rates of Glyphosate (GBH) to terminate cover crops and how this influences soil microbial communities. They used 3 GBH application rates in corn, soybean and wheat fields grown with direct seeding (NT) with and without cover crops. Results showed that DS+CC did not significantly impact microbial richness compared to DS, but did alter specific abundance among prokaryotes and eukaryotes but that the three crops significantly influenced the composition of eukaryotic communities in 2018 and 2019, but not prokaryotic communities. They conclude that the study calls for sustainable agricultural practices that preserve microbial diversity, which is essential for maintaining ecosystem services and soil health.
Responses of soil reactive nitrogen losses and nitrogen pools to straw mulching.
Zhang, K., Peng, H., Xu, B. & Sha, Z. 2025. Soil and Tillage Research. 250. Article 106499.
Cornell Conservation Agriculture Group (soilhealth.org)'s insight:
This paper analyzed the effects straw mulch (SM) on NH3 and N20 emissions and leaching and runoff N losses versus non-mulching. Results showed that soil N20 emissions increased with SM but N leaching and runoff was reduced compared to no mulch. Soil nitrate, dissolved organic N, and microbial biomass N increased significantly after SM adoption. A long-term SM regime (duration>5 years) or SM combined with a low N application rate or straw application rate can reduce N runoff while avoiding the stimulation of NH3 volatilization and N2O emissions.
