Benchmarking

“In a 2022 survey of 1,119 farmers across MN, NE, ND, and SD, only 15% used biofertilizers, but 88% of those users planned to keep using them and 20% of non-users wanted to try them within three years. Adopters tended to be younger, farm larger acreages, value workshops for learning, and already use cover crops, no-till, and soil nutrient testing — suggesting biofertilizers fit into a broader conservation package rather than standing alone.”

“A yield-correlated minimum soil dataset — total organic carbon, microbial biomass carbon, active carbon, total nitrogen and aggregate stability — tracked full-dataset soil quality scores closely (R² 0.53–0.93) and beat the usual PCA-selected indicator set. Pairing linear scoring that uses threshold limits with simple additive indexing kept soil quality index values within ±1% of the full dataset, giving farmers and advisers a cheaper, transferable way to rate soil quality across corn–soybean sites in Alabama, Indiana and Ohio.”

“Across 10 long-term Arkansas row-crop trials, soil health indicators (CO2 respiration, β-glucosidase, POXC, organic matter) and composite scores were highest in the top 0-5 cm and declined with depth, and were higher in summer and winter samples than in spring or fall (fall lowest). Cover crops and fertilized treatments scored better than winter fallow and unfertilized plots, so soil health monitoring needs standardized sampling depth and season to make valid comparisons.”

“Open imaging datasets of widely-grown corn lines give breeders and data scientists a shared benchmark for building faster, cheaper crop-improvement tools.”

“The natural background contribution from grasslands and forest lands is important to consider in research and management. To our knowledge, no study has compiled and analyzed this “reference” water quality from small natural grasslands and forests. Thus, our objective was to summarize nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and sediment loads in runoff fromthese referencewatersheds.Measured annual nutrient loadswere compiled from 13 grassland and nine forest reference sites across 12 North American regions.”

“Comparing the Soil Management Assessment Framework to the Haney Soil Health Test Across Managed Agroecosystems.”

“Molecular Characterization and Identification of Stubby Root Nematode Species from Multiple States in the United States.”

“The Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments (IMPROVE) network measures the chemical composition of atmospheric particulate matter at over 160 locations throughout the United States.”

“Spatial distribution of lead in soil in Sacramento, California, USA.”

“Predicting redoxsensitive contaminant concentrations in groundwater using random forest classification.”

“Eastern Hemlock Decline in Riparian Areas from Maine to Alabama.”

“The comparison of three environmental metrics for Cd, Cu, and Ni in the agricultural region of the Mid Continent of USA.”

“The comparison of three environmental metrics for Cr, Pb, and Zn in the agricultural region of the Mid-Continent of USA.”

“Croplands at sites with manuring and no-till recorded lower soil organic matter depletion from reference-site levels (28%) than sites under continued conventional management.”

“Examining the status of forest fire emission in 2020 and its connection to COVID-19 incidents in West Coast regions of the United States.”

“Quantifying regional methane emissions in the New Mexico Permian Basin with a comprehensive aerial survey.”