Corn

“Pairing 13C-labeled tracer incubations across sandy-to-loamy soils (17-67% sand) with Cycles model runs for continuous maize in Nebraska and Illinois shows that soil texture strongly controls whether added carbon is respired as CO2 or retained as soil organic matter, and that texture, precipitation and drying-rewetting frequency together with tillage regime (no-till vs. conventional) determine future soil carbon change. The dataset provides the respiration, soil carbon retention and simulated soil organic carbon and maize yield outputs behind those comparisons.”

“Wheat drilled into corn residue in northern Alabama yielded 23% more under some surface tillage (conventional, mulch, or light disk) than under no-till, and mulch tillage gave the best net return ($733/ha vs $468/ha for no-till). Fall N boosted early growth up to 25%, but splitting the remaining N between fall and spring gave no yield gain over a single application; 134 kg N/ha maximized no-till yield and returns, suggesting current N recommendations after corn may be too low.”

“County-level life cycle modeling shows Illinois maize has a carbon intensity 9%-12% below the US average of 251 g CO2e/kg, and maize grown within 56 km of ethanol plants is 14%-17% lower, driven by high yields and efficient fertilizer use. National average CI values understate the climate performance of high-yielding regions, and cover crops and conservation tillage shift scores differently from county to county.”

“Leaf-surface bacterial loads and communities shifted strongly by crop and season in Minnesota: corn carried the highest Methylobacterium and total bacterial loads (rising as plants senesced), while the overwintering cover crop pennycress had the lowest loads and most distinct community. Despite these differences, a small core of genera (Methylobacterium, Sphingomonas, Pseudomonas, Massilia) dominated all three crops, pointing to versatile strains that could be developed as plant growth promoters.”

“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.”

“Cutting irrigation to 50% of crop ET over six years in Utah barely changed soil organic matter or aggregate stability, though warmer Cedar City saw ACE protein drop from 1.57 to 1.41 g/kg and Vernal soil respiration was 28% higher under full irrigation. Cover cropping was the standout for infiltration, raising field-saturated hydraulic conductivity to 24.62 cm/h versus 5.55 (tilled) and 3.42 (no-till) cm/h.”

“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.”

“On a poorly drained no-till Wisconsin field, surface-applied composted or fresh dairy manure (81-102 kg total N/ha) did not match sidedressed urea at 90 kg N/ha for corn yield or nitrogen uptake, and left lower plant-available N in the top 10 cm. An interseeded annual ryegrass cover crop cost nothing in yield or N uptake and cut nitrate-N leachate concentrations by 1.7-4.9 times.”

“Over 3 years in the Corn Belt, a Kentucky bluegrass perennial groundcover cut flow-weighted nitrate-N in tile drainage by 20% with no corn yield penalty, while a high-biomass wide-row interseeded annual cover crop cut nitrate 22% but slashed grain yield 20%. All cover systems lowered nitrate during a wet-summer leaching flush.”

“Cover crops help suppress weed growth by making weeds smaller and weaker, although they may not reduce the total number of weeds. Fast-growing grass cover crops, such as cereal rye, provide better weed control than most mixed or broadleaf cover crops because they produce more biomass and form a thick mulch. Farmers should aim for a dense cover crop stand, use timely sowing and termination, and combine cover crops with herbicides or cultivation as part of an integrated weed management strategy for the best long-term results.”

“Across 26 on-farm Nebraska trials, foliar micronutrients rarely raised corn yield because soils were already sufficient — helping growers avoid unnecessary micronutrient spending.”

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

“A two-stage stochastic planning model for western Kansas irrigators under self-imposed 5-year pumping caps beat both actual farmer decisions (2013–2022) and average-rainfall deterministic planning, especially in dry years. Tighter pumping limits favor shifting from corn to sorghum and saving water in early years to spend later; stretching the allocation window past about 7 years adds little extra profit.”

“Mapping subsurface water pathways with ground-penetrating radar plus surface elevation explained corn and soybean yield variation far better than topography alone (error dropped from 23.7% to 15.3%, and to 10.0% when remote sensing was added). Even without costly subsurface surveys, adding surface flow accumulation cut error to 18.4%, making hydro-topographic zoning a practical basis for site-specific management.”

“Sensor-based N management cut nitrogen application by ~40 kg N/ha in corn with no yield loss across 57 Nebraska on-farm site-years (2015–2023). Benefits are greatest in moderate-to-high yield variability fields with coarser soils. Sensors showed no statistically significant gains in winter wheat. Profit probability exceeded 60% for corn across most price scenarios. Despite consistent evidence, only 11% of Nebraska producers currently use sensor-based approaches — indicating a technology transfer gap.”

“Closing wheel type and row unit down force can affect corn germination in notill production systems.”

“The LTAR Integrated Common Experiment at Upper Mississippi River BasinPlatteville.”

“Nitrate leaching into groundwater as a result of high N fertilizer rates to annual crops presents human health risks and high costs associated with water treatment. Intermediate wheatgrass is a low-input crop has the potential to produce profitable grain and biomass yields while reducing nitrate.”

“Classical and genomic prediction of synthetic openpollinated sweet corn performance in organic environments.”

“Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Ground Level Area Sources in Dairy and Cattle Feedyard Operations.”

“Collection of all USATODAY.com coverage of Biologging technologies: new tools for conservation.”

“Lactobionate, a byproduct of cheese production, can be used as a soil amendment in winter wheat and corn production.”

“Across 15 North Dakota nitrogen-rate sites, red and red edge NDVI predicted corn yield equally well at V6, but at the later V12 stage red edge NDVI outperformed red NDVI because red readings saturate once the canopy closes. For growers using GreenSeeker or Crop Circle sensors to guide in-season N, red edge is the better choice for late-season sidedress decisions.”

“A COI DNA barcoding survey of Pratylenchus species in the Great Plains Region of North America.”

“Are American black bears in an agricultural landscape being sustained by crops?.”

“Boosting soil health and crop nutrients with locally sourced biochar and compost in Sacramento urban agriculture.”

“Field-evolved resistance by western corn rootworm to multiple Bt toxins in transgenic maize.”

“Study on Nitrogen Concentration of Corn Hybrids in South Dakota.”

“Prevalence of thermoduric bacteria and spores on 10 Midwest dairy farms.”

“Land-use change in the Northern Great Plains is altering the landscape in ways that are seemingly less conducive to beekeeping.”

“A modified surface energy balance algorithm for land (MSEBAL) based on a trapezoidal framework.”

“The collapse of the home mortgage system has left working- and middle-class Americans buried alive in the wreckage, but there may yet be a silver lining.”

“Soiltest biological activity with the flush of CO 2: VI. Economics of optimized nitrogen inputs for corn.”

“Prairie strips improve biodiversity and delivery of multiple ecosystem services from corn–soybean croplands.”

“Relationship of inseason soil nitrogen concentration with corn yield and potential nitrogen losses.”

“Predicting crop yields and soil N dynamics in the US Corn Belt.”

“Farmer identities influence wildlife habitat management practices in the US Corn Belt.”

“Linking economic and social factors to peak flows in an agricultural watershed using socio-hydrologic modeling.”

“A pilot study quantified environmental contamination in nearby houses from residual pesticides by measuring dust and air (indoor/outdoor) concentrations of neonicotinoids and fungicides.”

“Surface Resistance Controls Differences in Evapotranspiration Between Croplands and Prairies in U.S. Corn Belt Sites.”

“Bird community response to field-level integration of prairie strips.”

“Springtime bird use of agricultural landscapes examined by using autonomous recording units.”

“Phosphorus availability and leaching losses in annual and perennial cropping systems in an upper US Midwest landscape.”

“Wheat cover can impose a corn yield penalty (−12.6% in 2018). N timing matters under wet springs: in 2019, delayed/sidedress N improved NUE and yield vs more at-plant N. MRTN tools should account for cereal cover crops via N credit/adjustment.”

“Cropland soil nitrogen oxide emissions vary with dairy manure incorporation methods.”

“Ammonia emissions and corn yield response from injected versus surfaceapplied liquidseparated anaerobic digestate.”

“Manure injection may offer greater agri-environmental benefits on the whole over surface application.”

“The economics of anaerobic digestion systems in Iowa.”

“Long-term biosolids applications improve key soil health functions for semi-arid dryland systems.”

“Field experiments were conducted at three locations in Indiana to assess weed suppression by cereal rye and residual herbicide premixes in no-till corn.”

“Longterm impacts of drain spacing, crop management, and weather on nitrate leaching to subsurface drains.”

“Ammonia volatilization, nitrous oxide emissions, and corn yields as influenced by nitrogen placement and enhanced efficiency fertilizers.”

“The effect of a white clover living mulch on nutrient cycling in a cotton production system in the Georgia Piedmont.”

“An experiment conducted at the University of Wisconsin's Arlington Agricultural Research Station from 2021 to 2022 examined both pre and postcorn planting management strategies of a red clover living mulch on clover growth, weed biomass, corn plant population, and grain yield.”

“Modeling of tile-drained corn–soybean fields in Iowa (validated to within 6% for corn and 13% for soybean yields) showed drainage boosts soil oxygen in wet springs, which spurs deeper rooting that later buffers summer drought, raising yields about 6% — but it also increases subsurface flow and inorganic nitrogen leaching.”

“Applying coal combustion residue as a carbon amendment (3.3–19.7 Mg C/ha) in a western Nebraska dry bean–maize–sugarbeet rotation gave no consistent yield benefit over three years, with only weak yield trends (p = 0.07–0.22) in some crop-years. It did not reduce herbicide effectiveness on weeds, though one mid-rate treatment cut maize yield where saflufenacil + dimethenamid-p was applied.”