For alfalfa producers needing to renovate fields suffering from winterkill or looking to increase the quality and yield of this season’s hay crop, improved cover crop varieties are a viable solution. Take berseem clover, for example. The synergistic relationship between berseem clover and alfalfa make the legume an effective companion crop due to its rapid summer growth, notable nitrogen fixation and similar appearance.

Wondering how to do cover crops? Ohio State University Extension, in collaboration with the Midwest Cover Crops Council (MCCC), has produced cover crop “recipes” for two scenarios: Post corn, going to soybean and Post soybean, going to corn.

David Mowers, agronomic consultant for AIM for the Heartland and Nitrogen Pulse, talks about the past and upcoming growing seasons and the impact of cover crops in this Q&A from AgriNews.

Experts at Kansas State University Extension review important considerations and guidelines from terminating cover crops properly, including NRCS rules and challenges that can be posted by herbicide programs.

Maryland has become a model of cover crop adoption. Indeed, cover crops are now one of the most common, accessible agricultural strategies for improving soil health and water retention and preventing nitrogen pollution in water and erosion—to the benefit of both the environment and the farmer. Read more in this article from Civil Eats.

Jay Fuhrer, soil health specialist with the Natural Resource Conservation Service of the USDA, spoke about soil health. Fuhrer has identified five principles of soil health, and how they work to improve soil health and increase productivity. Fuhrer defined soil health is defined as “the continued capacity of soil to function as a vital living ecosystem that sustains plants, animals, and humans.” Read more in this article from Grainews.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will invest $56 million this year to help agricultural producers improve water quality in more than 300 high-priority watersheds across the country. USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is continuing two of its successful landscape-level water quality efforts, the Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative (MRBI) and National Water Quality Initiative (NWQI). Find out more in this article from Hoosier Ag Today.

Attendees included farm organizations, farmers, environmentalist groups, experts from Cornell University, the Department of Agriculture, plus representatives from the Soil Health Institute, New York Farm Bureau, Northeast Organic Farming Association, the New York State Vegetable Growers Association, and American Farmland Trust. Participants in the roundtable discussed their own efforts to improve soil health, as well as some of the barriers they’re facing. Find out more in this article from the Mid-Hudson News (Newburgh, NY).

An agricultural economist and an agronomist walk into a room … and a point-counterpoint debate ensues. “Cover crops are time-consuming and don’t provide economic returns,” the economist says, pointing to a survey of farmers not currently using cover crops. Find out how the agronomist responds in this article from KMALand.

The surfactants being used are chemically very similar to dishwashing soap and are listed in the same chemical group. But dishwashing soap is known to be toxic to plants, therefore chemical surfactants have been modified to be used frequently without the detrimental impact on grass. Find out more in this article from the Las Cruces Sun News (Las Cruces, NM).