Soil Health
All Soil Health Content
Swine Manure for Spring Planting
Did you know that swine manure is a valuable fertilizer that offers many benefits? Learn how it can be used to promote healthy plant growth, improve soil fertility, and reduce the need for synthetic fertilizers.
“Snirt” and How To Minimize It
Blowing soils, dust storms and “snirt” (snow with dirt on it) are frequent challenges during dry, windy winters. Learn some soil health principles to limit erosion and minimize snirt on field edges this planting season.
Cover Crop Considerations for 2020
Producers across South Dakota are harvesting small grains. These crops provide an excellent window for adding a cover crop into your rotation.
What Makes Up a Healthy Soil?
Healthy soil has strong soil structure that stays together whether it’s wet or dry. Learn about the many components that combine to make soil healthy.
Managing Soil for Carbon Storage
Did you know that adopting soil health principles can lead to increased soil carbon concentrations? Learn about some recent studies in South Dakota that evaluated the potential of land management activities to increase soil carbon.
Inter-Seeding Cover Crops into Soybean
Recent studies have investigated the soil health and yield impacts of inter-seeding various cover crops into soybean plantings.
Inter-Seeding Cover Crops into Corn
Many producers are interested in incorporating cover crops into their cropping systems. Recent research investigated the effects of inter-seeding cover crops into corn on biomass production, grain yields, and other ecosystem services.
Thinking Cover Crops? Winter Rye Between Corn and Soybean
Although the 2021 growing season in has been impacted by widespread drought and record-high temperatures, recent rain events have brought planting cover crops back into the conversation.
Crop Residue, Cover Crops Impact on Soil Health Parameters
Interest in no-till and cover crops has been on the rise among South Dakota crop producers. In 2019, half of South Dakota crop ground was under no-till management and about 900,000 acres were planted to cover crops.
Cover Crops After Small Grains
In last few years, interest in using cover crops has been increasing tremendously among crop and livestock producers in South Dakota. Growing cover crops following small grain is gaining more attention due to feasibility in cover crops species selection and also the time of the year where cover crops receive longer growing and establishing time than following row crops.