Legacy phosphorus: Management and regional conservation
This month, we focus on managing legacy phosphorus (P) with two articles. One article discusses how legacy P impacts crop production, soil tests, and long-term sustainability of fertilizer practices across U.S. cropland, emphasizing the 4R nutrient stewardship framework. The other addresses the environmental and water quality impacts of legacy P in the Lake Erie watershed and emphasizes regional conservation strategies and collaborative, adaptive management.
Societies support PFAS recommendations
Representing the research perspective, the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America have joined 16 other agricultural organizations in a PFAS and Agriculture Working Group to develop the nation’s first comprehensive set of federal recommendations to address PFAS contamination of agricultural land. The recommendations call upon Congress and the executive branch to take pragmatic steps to address PFAS in order to protect farmers and their families, keep farms and ranches in business, maintain a safe national food supply, and safeguard our nation’s farmland for future generations.
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Sheep grazing impacts on soil health and pasture quality at Northeast solar sites
As solar energy development gains traction, there is a growing conflict in land use between solar site installations and farming in communities across the Northeastern U.S. One way to address this is by adapting agrivoltaics, a dual-use land strategy that combines agricultural and solar energy production. Solar grazing, which involves vegetation management with the use of livestock, has been a growing industry in the past decade This study evaluated the effects of sheep grazing on soil health and pasture quality at 28 grazed and three non-grazed solar sites across the Northeastern U.S. Earn 1 CEU in Sustainability by reading this article and taking the quiz.
Planting date and seeding rate impacted hybrid winter rye grain yield across U.S. regions
Farmers have shown renewed interest in incorporating small grains, such as rye, in their crop rotations, with the goal to harvest them for grain. Niche food-grade marketing opportunities for rye grain are growing due to distilling and milling industries. For farmers to integrate hybrid winter rye into their cropping systems, they need basic agronomic information on optimum planting dates and seeding rates. This experiment set out to determine the influence of planting date and seeding rate on winter hybrid rye grain yield in four states (Kentucky, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Minnesota).
Earn 1.5 CEUs in Crop Management by reading this article and taking the quiz.
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ICCA Board approves new strategic plan
A new five-year strategic plan was approved by the International Certified Crop Adviser (ICCA) Board during a meeting in Denver, CO August 19-21, 2025. The plan is the culmination of a six-month process that involved a task force composed of local CCA board members and administrators, the ICCA Executive Committee, and staff. The plan, which will commence in 2026, is intended to reflect the CCA program’s vision for how it will meet the challenges ahead and outlines how time, energy, and resources will be used.
Understanding green stem in soybeans
Green stem is a term that describes abnormal patterns of maturation in soybean, where the seeds and pods mature fully even though the stems stay green. A new diagnostic guide describes the symptoms of green stem, field conditions that may increase green stem risk, and management options for fields with widespread green stem occurrence.
Earn 1 CEU in Crop Management by reading the article and then taking the quiz.
Potato pest monitoring in the Columbia Basin: Data-driven tools for smarter IPM
A long-established potato pest-monitoring network in the Columbia Basin is providing historical data and in-the-field “truth-testing” for a new internet-based Potato Decision Aid System. These programs can inform efforts to establish and enhance pest monitoring networks in other crops. Earn 0.5 CEUs in Integrated Pest Management by reading the article and taking the quiz.
PFAS and agriculture: What we’ve learned in Maine
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination on farms is increasingly in the news. These man-made chemicals, which have been in production since the 1940s, are now ubiquitous in our environment and linked to several human health risks. PFAS may be found at farms due to contaminated air, water, and soil amendments (like biosolids) and enter the food chain. Maine is one of the leaders in responding to PFAS contamination in agriculture. In this article, we provide background on the issue, describe Maine’s experience and response, highlight ongoing research in the state, and provide recommendations for advising farmers concerned about contamination. Earn 1 CEU in Soil & Water Management by reading this article and taking the quiz.
Soil fertility, fertilizers, and crop nutrition: Past, present, and future
Society has made (and will be making) significant demands on agriculture in the not-to-distant future. Meeting future sustainability goals and environmental regulations while simultaneously continuing to meet requirements for food, feed, fuel, and fiber requires a firm understanding of how “we” have collectively arrived at our current status as it relates to our fertility principles and beliefs as well as the processes that address them. This series intends to describe crop nutrition and fertilizers from where we have been to where the authors believe that we will likely need to be prepared to go if we are to support world demands into the foreseeable future.
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