cover crops

Deb Gangwish inspects soil on her farm near Shelton, Neb.

National
Science
Environment

A Grass-Roots Movement For Healthy Soil Spreads Among Farmers

5:20pm April 09, 2018

by Dan Charles

America's farmers are digging soil like never before. A movement for "regenerative agriculture" is dedicated to building healthier soil and could even lead to a new eco-label on food.

Green shoots of cereal rye, a popular cover crop, emerge in a field where corn was recently harvested in Iowa. The grass will go dormant in winter, then resume growing in the spring. Less than three percent of corn fields in the state have cover crops.

National
Science
Economy
Environment

How To Make Farmers Love Cover Crops? Pay Them

6:39pm March 16, 2017

by Dan Charles

New satellite images reveal that few Midwestern farmers are planting pollution-preventing "cover crops." In Maryland, though, farmers are doing it, thanks to hefty subsidies.