Healthy gardens across the United States depend on one simple ingredient that often gets overlooked—loose, living soil that ...

Before you put your garden to bed, consider giving it a winter blanket—aka, a cover crop. Sowed in the fall, these cold-hardy plants work hard to improve soil throughout winter by decreasing ...

Managing wet spring soils isn’t just about avoiding ruts—it’s about protecting the biological and physical foundation of crop production and yields. Each spring, farmers look at calendars that say ...

To maintain soil that produces successful crops, it helps to give it a rest now and then.That's what cover crops are all about. They prevent erosion, retain moisture, suppress weeds, reduce compaction ...

Government incentives, spurred by climate change fears, will likely nudge you toward reduced tillage programs and cover crops in the near future. On-farm tests conducted by Farm Journal field ...

From mild winters to heavier equipment, farmers face several uncontrollable factors, adding layers to the soil compaction problem. “Our winters have been milder, and snowfall has been lighter in ...

Even when harvest wraps up and the bins are full, the work isn’t done. The choices you make after harvest can make or break next year’s crop, especially when it comes to soil management. Well-managed ...

Cover crops have once again become a popular tool to assist producers with improving their overall crop productivity, soil health, and water quality.

Cover crops play an important role in protecting the soil and water when cash crops like corn or soybean are not actively growing. The National Conservation Service promoted the use of cover crops ...

Why clay struggles: Clay soil’s fine particles clump tightly, causing drainage issues, compaction, and oxygen loss for roots, making plant growth harder. How to improve: Amend with compost, aged ...

When cover crops became a hot topic a few years ago, I tried to relabel them as “forage-covers” because they are multiuse ...

Shahnnen and Alex Head take a soil-first approach to their White Salmon, Washington, vineyard, a philosophy that has led them ...