Growing Returns

Selected tag(s): flood

Why one Kansas farmer is leading a soil health revolution

By Sara Kroopf / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: September 28, 2015

Kansas farmer Gail Fuller

Soil health wasn’t always this sexy. The United Nations has named 2015 the International Year of the Soils, the National Corn Growers Association created the Soil Health Partnership, and the Telegraph newspaper is claiming that we can only ignore the soil crisis for so long, and that “just a handspan of topsoil lies between us and oblivion.”

But Kansas farmer Gail Fuller has been at the forefront of soil health measures since the early 1980s. Just last month, he hosted the fourth annual “Fuller Field School,” a soil health workshop that was attended by growers from across the globe.

I asked Gail, who operates a diversified 1,000 acre farm in Emporia, Kansas, to tell me why soil health is so important for our food system, and why other growers should get on board. Read More »

Posted in ecosystems, sustainable agriculture / Also tagged agriculture, agronomist, conservation tillage, cover crops, drought, erosion, farmers, farms, fertilizer pollution, growers, kansas, no-till, soil health, soil management, sustainability | Comments are closed

How cover crops can help growers beat droughts and floods

By Maggie Monast / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: July 22, 2015

Cover crops can include grasses like cereal rye.

Corn is trying to fight this summer’s extreme weather, and unfortunately, the weather is winning.

There are serious floods in the Midwest, devastating droughts in California, and brutal heat waves along the eastern seaboard. Ohio for example had a record June rainfall of 11 inches, which stunted corn roots and prevented many growers from planting any corn crops. In Northwest Ohio alone, 100,000 acres were left unplanted. At the same time, places in my home state of North Carolina experienced a June heat wave during the critical corn pollination period, significantly damaging corn yields.

These extreme weather events leave many farmers searching for ways to make the best of a challenging growing season. Although June’s weather was the opposite in Ohio and North Carolina, cover crops offer a proven solution to deal with both conditions. Read More »

Posted in ecosystems, fertilizer, sustainable agriculture, western water / Also tagged agriculture, California agriculture, California drought, cash crop, climate change, conservation, Conservation Technology Information Center, corn, cover crop, crops, drought, farm, farmer, food, nitrogen, North Carolina, nutrient, Ohio, pollination, soil, Soil Health Partnership, soy, soybean, soybeans, SUSTAIN, sustainable, Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education, sustainable grain, United Suppliers MB Gro Program, water use, yields | Comments are closed