Field Trial

“Across 24 Oregon tall fescue seed fields (stands 2-20 years), total SOC stocks were unchanged by stand age or straw management, but older stands stored more total field-level carbon from greater root inputs and straw retention boosted the labile (particulate) carbon fraction in topsoil along with microbial biomass and respiration. These grass seed fields held less topsoil carbon than nearby natural grasslands but more than arable crop fields, so keeping stands longer and retaining straw supports soil biology even without measurable SOC gains.”

“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.”

“Machine learning models built from agronomic, drone, and environmental data predicted sorghum grain quality traits accurately enough to cut lab testing — crude protein R²=0.90, amylose R²=0.92-0.99, starch R²=0.80, with lysine-from-protein weakest at R²=0.64. Grain composition shifted measurably with year and management (precision N, cover crops, no-till), and leaf temperature and stomatal conductance had strong non-linear links to amylose.”

“Sunn hemp grew as a viable warm-season forage/cover crop in Maine, yielding 4296 kg DM/ha in a normal year but only 1099 kg DM/ha under 2025 drought; drought actually raised the share of nitrogen fixed from the air (52% vs 34%) and boosted crude protein and digestibility. Cut at 60 days for high-quality feed or 90 days for maximum cover crop biomass (though lignin rises and digestibility drops), and choose 'Crescent Sunn' or 'Loei' over 'Red Mini'.”

“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.”

“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.”

“Cereal rye alone or in a mix with crimson clover and hairy vetch pushed back the critical timing for weed removal in soybean by about 2 weeks compared to winter fallow, and shrank the critical weed-control window (2019: 0 wk for rye alone and 4.8 wk for the mix vs. 5.1 wk fallow; 2020: 0.1 and 1.4 wk vs. 2.6 wk). Single-species cereal rye gave the strongest early-season weed suppression, giving growers more flexibility in timing herbicide or other weed control passes.”

“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.”

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

“No soybean variety tested in Pennsylvania was immune to soybean vein necrosis virus, and the variety Channel3917R2x attracted the most thrips, making it the preferred host. Thrips feeding alone, and especially combined with virus infection, cut soybean growth and photosynthetic performance and altered seed protein, oil, fiber, and carbohydrate content.”

“A University of Nebraska-built cable-and-sensor robot measures entire corn fields in fine detail, compressing years of hand data-collection in breeding and agronomy trials into a single season.”

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

“This study focused on assessing the influence of the riparian habitat on physical instream habitats in trout streams in southeastern Minnesota, USA.”

“Conservation Tillage and Nitrogen Management for Sugarbeet Production.”

“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.”

“FLEA CONTROL ON PRAIRIE DOGS (CYNOMYS SPP.) WITH FIPRONIL BAIT PELLETS: POTENTIAL PLAGUE MITIGATION TOOL FOR RAPID FIELD APPLICATION AND WILDLIFE CONSERVATION.”

“Quantifying changes in total and pyrogenic carbon stocks across fire severity gradients in California mixed-conifer forest.”

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

“Using Waste Ceramic Dust in Stabilization of Clay Soils.”

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

“The presence, size and importance of bacterial communities on plant leaf surfaces are widely appreciated. However, information is scarce regarding their composition and how it changes along geographical and seasonal scales.”

“The need for sustainable agricultural practices to meet the food, feed, and fuel demands of a growing global population while reducing detrimental environmental impacts has driven research in multifaceted approaches to agricultural sustainability. Perennial cropping systems and microbial biofertilizer supplements are two emerging strategies to increase agricultural sustainability that are studied in tandem in this study.”

“Invasion of Acacia mangium in Amazonian savannas following planting for forestry.”

“Woody plant encroachment enhances soil infiltration of a semiarid karst savanna.”

“Registration of ‘Sierra’ Chickpea.”

“Estimating Field-Level Perennial Bioenergy Grass Biomass Yields Using the Normalized Difference Red-Edge Index and Linear Regression Analysis for Central Virginia, USA.”

“Foliar sprays of eight plant-derived protein hydrolysates on tomato generally increased digital biomass, with two products (A and I) significantly improving relative growth rate and overall growth performance, though chlorophyll fluorescence showed no photosynthetic differences. Metabolomics indicated the biostimulants worked by reprogramming ethylene-precursor, polyamine, and ROS-signaling pathways, and the phenotyping-plus-metabolomics combination proved an efficient way to screen new biostimulant candidates.”

“Timing of a single urea application (224 kg N/ha) strongly changed gas losses: fertilizer-derived N2O was under 0.05% of applied N across all six application dates — far below the IPCC 1% default — with fertilizer raising N2O rates above unfertilized soil only in early fall and early summer. The biggest combined N2O + ammonia losses came in cool, wet early-spring soils (>60% water-filled pore space), so matching application date to soil temperature and moisture can cut nitrogen losses.”

“In HLB-infected 'Ray Ruby' grapefruit in Florida, packing 975 trees/ha instead of 300 cut canopy volume per tree by 33% but raised fruit yield per hectare 160% and solids yield 190%, with slightly more acidic, higher-soluble-solids fruit. Controlled-release fertilizer blends with extra micronutrients and less potassium grew bigger canopies but did not improve yield — in fact yield per hectare dropped 24% in the first season — so micronutrient-boosted CRF is not a reliable fix for HLB in grapefruit.”

“In HLB-infected 'Ray Ruby' grapefruit, planting at 975 trees/ha (double-row high density) gave the highest fruit and solids yield per hectare despite smaller trees and lower yield per tree, with slightly more acidic, higher-soluble-solids fruit. Extra soil or foliar B/Mn/Zn (up to 6x recommended rates) raised leaf nutrient levels but did not improve yield or reduce bacterial titer — foliar micronutrients actually coincided with lower yield and photosynthesis in one year.”

“Nitrous oxide emissions are driven by environmental conditions rather than nitrogen application methods in a perennial hayfield.”

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

“Seasonal effects of granivory on broadcast seeding restoration in degraded semiarid grassland.”

“Indaziflam is a promising herbicide for conservation purposes in areas where the invasive species seed bank needs to be depleted with as little disturbance to biocrusts as possible.”

“Earlier fall precipitation and low severity fire impacts on cheatgrass and sagebrush establishment in the Great Basin.”

“An indepth field validation of “DUSST”: A novel lowmaintenance soiling measurement device.”

“Evaluating growth, biomass and cannabinoid profiles of floral hemp varieties under different planting dates in organic soils of Florida.”

“Microbiome of Field Grown Hemp Reveals Potential Microbial Interactions With Root and Rhizosphere Soil.”

“A propane-fueled in-field heat treatment to reduce Cercospora beticola survival in plant residue and improve CLS management in sugarbeet.”

“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.”

“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.”