Outreach and research on soil health in Minnesota. With @MinnesotaWater and @UMNswac
St Paul, MN
Joined January 2019
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Want to build agronomic skills around cover crops in a fun, cohort-based class? Join the 2026-27 Cover Crop Academy, designed for ag professionals in the public and private sector. Over 11 months, you'll build a network and do a little research too: extension.umn.edu/courses-an…
MNSoilHealth retweeted
Just 1 week away! The Soil Mgt Summit/DIRT will be in Fargo Jan 14-15! We have 30 booths w/products, services, & program $$ to help farmers improve their soil and bottom line. Scholarships available from our generous sponsors.
Visit z.umn.edu/SMS-DIRT for more info.
@UMNExt
MNSoilHealth retweeted
The 21st @UMNExt SMS, now w/#NDSU (yesss!), has helped farmers put #CoverCrops, #ReducedTillage, and #SoilHealth practices into action. Join us Jan 14-15 in Fargo.
10 farmer scholarships still available! 30 vendors will be there.
z.umn.edu/SMS-DIRT
@MNSoybean @mncorn
With plenty of N, corn after rye cover crops yields just fine
New in A&EL: A 12-site-year study from Alexandra Huddell and colleagues challenges assumptions about corn yield after cereal rye.
Interestingly, the total N rate mattered more than timing, and when N was sufficient, rye biomass rarely reduced yield.
Read: doi.org/10.1002/ael2.70041
ALT Corn yield (kg/ha) by cereal rye biomass level with no nitrogen (N) fertilizer applied (a) versus the high N rate (b) and different levels of cereal rye biomass (kg/ha) (divided into quintiles). Corn yield penalties were observed in high cereal rye biomass levels with no N added. When sufficient N was applied, corn yield penalties occurred only for mid rye biomass levels but otherwise did not.
MNSoilHealth retweeted
The U of M uses the Maximum Return to N (MRTN) method to help corn growers pick an N fertilizer rate. It uses a database of results from research trials around MN then factors in the price of corn & the price of N to find the most profitable N rate for MN corn growers.
NEW BLOG POST: z.umn.edu/at2o With high nitrogen fertilizer prices and low corn prices, can you decrease your nitrogen rate for 2026? @UMNExt @UMNswac #MNag
Curious about when drainage pays? In different tillage scenarios? And how much N to put on? And whether the CI will be low enough for a price premium?
Come to Wells MN for a field day Sept 9:
extension.umn.edu/event/how-…
MNSoilHealth retweeted
NEW BLOG POST: z.umn.edu/amsj Cover crops 2025: What should you plant? #CoverCrops #Soilhealth #MNag @NRCS_MN
the real story will come out when they add today's totals- @UMN_SROC is up to 9" since yesterday morning
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Cool example of researchers actually adapting their treatments over time to meet cover crop goals.
🌱Can we fine-tune #CoverCrops?
Hosler et al. show that swapping species & adjusting seed rates transform mixtures for better ecological services:
🌾Original: 81% grass, 5% brassica, 14% legume
☘️Adjusted: 25% grass, 10% brassica, 65% legume
Read more: doi.org/10.1002/ael2.70029
ALT Stacked area plots depicting community composition over time. The x-axis shows four time points at which the community for each mixture was measured: initial seeding (percentage of total live seed planted), stand counts (percentage of seedling density), fall biomass, and spring biomass. Species are plotted at the mean percentage of the community they represented at each of these time points, across all years.
oof these rainfalls are getting pretty high. Fingers crossed for some dry-out time for crops to keep growing
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Register for the Field School for Ag Professionals!
We have some great #covercrop plots including: planting soybeans into mature wheat, PREemerge herbicides on different cover crop species, and effects of soil health on cash crop productivity.
blog-crop-news.extension.umn…
eep, got some hard rains yesterday. Hopefully some of those fields had #covercrops residue to protect them from soil loss
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MNSoilHealth retweeted
If you are wanting to see planting green in action, this field day tomorrow is for you. No rain come overnight so the planter will be able to run.
Down in Waseca last week- signs that much of the rain we got mid-May didn't go into the ground in the heavily tilled system.
MNSoilHealth retweeted
Goodhue SWCD and UMN Extension are hosting a Planting Green Field Event tomorrow, May 29, 9:00 AM-11:30 AM!
Hear from local farmers and ask questions about the dos and don'ts of planting a cash crop into a cover crop.
Beef sticks, donuts, coffee, and great info included!
ALT Flyer for the Planting green event in goodhue county at Ed McNamara’s farm. Featured activities and equipment on display.
ALT Photo of planting green. Planting into green cover crops and planting for green dollar signs!
It's so important to get the seed placement right when you're planting into a living cover crop. Come see live planting demos and chat about equipment at Waseca or Goodhue May 29. @UMN_SROC @baileytangen
extension.umn.edu/event/plan…
extension.umn.edu/event/plan…
It's so important to get the seed placement right when you're planting into a living cover crop. Come see live planting demos and chat about equipment at Waseca or Goodhue May 29. @UMN_SROC @baileytangen
extension.umn.edu/event/plan…
extension.umn.edu/event/plan…
MNSoilHealth retweeted
Drastic reduction in #waterhemp seedling density at crop planting time (May 14, 2025) in @gchudzik1’s cereal rye #covercrop treatments at the Rock County Farm (Janesville, WI)!
No-till (no cover crop): 63 waterhemp seedlings per sq ft
No-till with high-biomass cereal rye cover crop (~36 inches tall rye): 0.25 waterhemp seedlings per sq ft
252-fold difference in #waterhemp seedling density on May 14, 2025.
High-biomass cereal rye cover crops can provide tremendous early-season weed suppression, especially in challenging springs for chemical weed control like this one. @WISoyCheckoff
