When it comes to making tillage decisions on the farm, producers have several things to consider. Some of these come down to penciling out input costs, but some impacts are harder to quantify.

Jim Crawford is the superintendent of the University of Missouri Graves-Chapple Research Center in Atchison County. He says the research farm is virtually all no-till.

Since being introduced in 1985, the Conservation Reserve Program has been a mainstay of the farm bill. With a new bill being introduced in 2023, CRP could see some changes moving forward.

Jonathan Coppess, director of the Gardner Agriculture Policy Program at the University of Illinois, said lawmakers may have additional pressure to shift a few aspects of the program, particularly with a consistent decline in acres enrolled since the mid-2000s.

Kelly Nelson has been studying drainage in crop fields for decades. A research agronomist based at the University of Missouri Greenley Research Center at Novelty, Nelson works on the MU Drainage and Sub-Irrigation (MUDS) project.

This project involves installing drainage structures to remove excess water, but also collecting it for sub-irrigation later in the year when hotter, drier conditions generally settle in.

All farmers want to see soil health improve, but soil organic matter can be a tricky topic. Low organic matter often indicates the need for more nutrients, but a longer-term perspective is important.

Antonio Mallarino, soil specialist with Iowa State University Extension, said using organic matter is sometimes not the best test for soil fertility because of the variability of soil types and structure from field to field.

Before Joe Biden became president, there was no shortage of discussion about his farm policy, much of it centered on mandates related to climate.

The predictions were half right. In the nearly year and a half since taking office, the Biden administration has stressed climate issues in its conservation proposals. But it hasn’t stressed mandatory regulations, instead emphasizing voluntary efforts and incentives.

DES MOINES — Iowa water quality projects and programs will receive $5 million in federal funding over five years as part of new resources announced June 10 by state and federal officials.

The funding, from the federal infrastructure bill that was passed by Congress in November 2021, is being dedicated to 12 states involved with a federal task force that is designed to reduce pollutants that flow from the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico, killing sea and plant life in a “dead zone” there.