The lifeblood of any farmer is the soil that provides their livelihood, so taking care of it has to be a top priority.

Each year in early December, World Soil Day is celebrated around the world. To celebrate this annual event, the World Association of Soil and Water Conservation has pulled together a list of 17 soil moisture management concepts that can help you make soil and water a much better source of life.

As the combines start rolling across the country farmers are focused on taking the crops off the land. However, it's a great time for farmers to also be thinking about planting cover crops to help them improve soil health.

The non-profit Soil Health Academy (SHA) has published detailed case studies examining the operational, production and profitability details of regenerative farming and ranching operations across the country.

If you pick up just about any farm publication there are typically several articles that talk about soil health. Many times, these articles talk about adding cover crops and livestock into cropping systems to improve the soil. Read more in this article from the Dodge City Daily Globe (Dodge City, KS).

Florida vegetable farmers who grow cover crops as a green manure between their cash crops anecdotally tout the health benefits, but a two-year study by University of Florida has provided the research to back it up. In a Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SSARE) On-Farm Research Grant, University of Florida soil health expert Jehangir (Jango) Bhadha shadowed the cover crop practices of eight farmers across the state to measure the benefits of using cover crops (mainly cow pea and sunn hemp) as a soil amendment and nutrient source for subsequent cash crops.