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The Agronomists, Ep 153: Forage research and spring management with Bart Lardner and Christine O’Reilly

Real Agriculture

Legumes, such as alfalfa, trefoil, and sainfoin, are a great feed source, are excellent for soil health and play a role in sequestering carbon in the soil. According to emerging research by Dr. Bart Lardner, legumes in the bovine diet also lowers methane emissions, one of the components being measured in an on-going research project.

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Will I Really Benefit from Grazing My Cover Crop?

UnderstandingAg

If done right, it should always be building fertility, not extracting it. Concentrations of minerals in cereal rye forage at several developmental stages when harvested at a 4-inch height. Nutrient removal is a function of not only nutrient concentration but also forage yield. are on a per ton of dry matter basis for the forage.

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How to Improve Long-Term Soil Health on Your Farm

Farmbrite

Healthy soil can mean increased yields (and profits) as well as fewer inputs like fertilizer or pesticides. Regardless of the approach, implementing crop rotation is crucial for maintaining soil fertility, minimizing pest and disease issues, and ensuring sustainable agriculture practices. What are the benefits of healthy soil?

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Can Taller Cover Crops Help Clean the Water in Farm Country?

Civil Eats

The tall forage stands out in southeastern Minnesota’s corn and soybean fields, which this time of year have been reduced to stubble poking through the snow. It works as both a cover crop and forage for the cattle, and it’s helping Bedtka build up organic matter in his soil. That’s where the sorghum-sudangrass comes in.

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When Not Farming is the Best Use of Land

Modern Farmer

The GLSAs provide vegetative cover for foraging, roosting and nesting wildlife including raptors, wading birds, songbirds, pollinating insects and small mammals such as moles and mice. “We He credits this with the deep-rooted grasses aerating the soil and the added nutrients deposited from the manure of the grazing animals.

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PFAS Shut Maine Farms Down. Now, Some Are Rebounding.

Civil Eats

The biosolids created as sewage breaks down can be used as fertilizer on farmland, a practice that the Environmental Protection Agency still touts as “beneficial,” even though spreading these highly toxic chemicals across farmland allows the compounds to leach into the groundwater, contaminate crops grown on the land, and affect grazing animals.

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Inflation Reduction Act Conservation Dollars Are a Vital Bulwark Against Climate Change

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

That means that when there is a heavy rainstorm, the soil will keep absorbing it even while less fertile soils let the rain (and associated nutrients) wash off into nearby bodies of water. Such practices can also reduce nitrous oxide emissions, in part by reducing the need to apply synthetic fertilizers.