Cover Crops and Carbon Sequestration: Benefits to the Producer and the Planet March 11, 2019
This student study of a four-year research project found cover crops may significantly improve soil aggregation and particulate organic matter concentration in the short-term, which suggests the potential for cover crops storing soil carbon in the long term.
How Does Cover Crop Planting Date Affect Soil’s Susceptibility to Water Erosion? March 11, 2019
This Nebraska student study of how cover crops planted pre- and post-harvest affected soil erodibility found that the amount of water-stable aggregates and biomass production increased with pre-harvest planting.
Cover Crop Grazing: Impacts on Soils and Crop Yields January 22, 2019
Results from a three-year study in rainfed and irrigated no-till cropping systems in Nebraska suggest that moderate cattle grazing of cover crops may not negatively impact soil properties and crop production.
Cover Crops Benefit Nebraska Agroecosystems In Many Ways January 9, 2019
Across Nebraska, the use of cover crops is increasing. Most commonly, winter cover crops are planted during the fallow period between corn or soybean harvest and the next crop. However, other windows for cover cropping exist in Nebraska.
Cover Crop and Crop Residue Management: How Does it Affect Soil Water in the Short and Long Term? August 13, 2018
How you manage your soil today impacts its productivity tomorrow. This article focuses on how plant residue management and cover crop use affect water infiltration and plant available water.
Cover Crop and CO2 Emissions February 26, 2018
Do cover crops affect CO2 emissions from the soil and if so, under what conditions? These were among the questions addressed by university researchers monitoring CO2 emissions from cereal rye cover crops in irrigated and dryland no-till continuous corn treatments.
Corn Residue Removal and CO2 Emissions February 26, 2018
University research looking at CO2 emissions from two types of residue removal (baling and grazing) compared with a control treatment found little day-to-day impact; however, when looking at cumulative data for the whole year, grazing did appear to affect cumulative CO2 emissions in irrigated crop-livestock systems. This data represents the first year of this study.
Coal Combustion Residue: A Potential Soil Amendment February 22, 2018
University of Nebraska researchers applied char, a by-product of sugar beet processing, at three sites to study its effect on soil properties.