Humberto Blanco - Professor of Soil Science

Humberto Blanco

faculty

Professor Agronomy & Horticulture University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Work Keim Hall (KEIM) 367

Lincoln NE 68583-0915

Work 402-472-1510 On campus, dial 2-1510

hblanco2@unl.edu

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Faculty Bio

Figure 1. A view of all four treatments of a corn residue and cover crop experiment at the South Central Agricultural Laboratory near Clay Center. Top left is cereal rye with 60% corn residue removal; top right is cereal with corn residue. Bottom left is no cereal rye with 60% corn residue removal; bottom right is corn residue and no cover crop (control). — Figure 1. A view of all four treatments from a corn residue and cover crop experiment at the South Central Agricultural Laboratory near Clay Center. Top left is cereal rye with 60% corn residue removal; top right is cereal with corn residue. Bottom left is no cereal rye with 60% corn residue removal; bottom right is corn residue and no cover crop (control).

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.

Taking CO2 measurements in plots where residue has been baled

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.

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.

Figure 1. Aerial imagery was collected at bean emergence using a drone. All dark green rows correspond to plots with different rates of char (10, 20, 30, 40, and 60 tons/acre).

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.

Figure 1. Early-planted rye on the left and late-planted rye on the right in a research study at the Eastern Nebraska Research and Extension Center near Mead. — Figure 1. Early-planted rye on the left and late-planted rye on the right at in a research study at the Eastern Nebraska Research and Extension Center near Mead.

Cover Crop Productivity In Corn And Soybean Systems

September 7, 2017

University researchers share results from their study of cover crops planted pre- and post-harvest and in seed corn at three sites: Clay Center, Concord, and Mead.

Field trials comparing early and late planted rye cover crop

Implementation of Cover Crops in Corn and Soybean Systems in Nebraska

November 29, 2016

A short review of cover crop research conducted at four University of Nebraska research fields (two irrigated, two dryland) to study the feasibility and impact of winter cover cropping on soil quality, soil water, and crop yields in corn-soybean systems. Objectives were to quantify cover crop emergence, fall and spring biomass production, soil water changes, soil chemical and physical property changes, and crop yields.

Figure 1: Early-planted rye (left) and late-planted rye before corn at Concord, April 22, 2016.

Biomass Production of Winter Annual Cover Crops in Corn and Soybean

August 11, 2016

Rye was the leading biomass producer in the first two years of a four-year study exploring whether winter cover cropping in no-till corn and soybean systems in Nebraska can benefit soil quality despite their short growing season.