soil pH News
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Soil gives away soybean pathogen’s presence
New research reveals that soil pH is a useful guide for farmers and agronomists to detect and manage soybean cyst nematode, a devastating soybean pathogen. The investigation uncovered a relationship between high soil pH, which is already outside the ideal growing conditions for soybean, and high populations of cyst nematodes. Scientists from Iowa State University and University of ...
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Producing strawberries in high-pH soil at high elevations
Fruit and vegetable production in high-elevation areas can be a difficult enterprise. Variable weather and soil conditions typical of these regions, such as the southwestern United States, present multiple challenges for growers. "High frequency and intensity of late spring frosts in semiarid climates have made fruit production challenging," explained Shengrui Yao, corresponding author of a study ...
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USSEC Provides Trade and Technical Servicing to Shrimp Producers in Peru
USSEC provided technical support to commercial shrimp growers in Peru by holding multiple discussions with a feedmill representative and fish and shrimp producers about modifying diet formulations for fish and shrimp by incorporating more soybean meal derived from U.S.-grown soybeans. Visits to fish and shrimp farms and facilities by USSEC consultants Dr. John Hargreaves and Jairo Amezquita ...
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Free Soil Testing For Accurate Fertiliser Application
With the growing season nearly upon us, Welsh farmers are being given an opportunity to discover the benefits of soil analysis through a number of free soil testing workshops at Farming Connect. Regular soil testing enables farmers to adopt a targeted approach to fertiliser use, thus providing significant cost savings, according to Lisa Roberts of Farming Connect. Soil analysis also identifies ...
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Identifying factors in Atrazine’s reduced weed control
Invasive broadleaf weeds can destroy corn crops and fallow fields. Farmers use the chemical atrazine in herbicides to protect their plants. Despite atrazine’s controversial environmental impacts, it can provide long term residual control of many weed species. However, the loss of atrazine’s effectiveness has been a challenge for farmers in northeastern Colorado. In a collaborative ...
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Microbes play important role in soil’s nitrogen cycle
Under our feet, in the soil, is a wealth of microbial activity. Just like humans have different metabolisms and food choices, so do those microbes. In fact, microbes play an important role in making nutrients available to plants. A recent review paper from Xinda Lu and his team looks at different roles that various soil microbes have in soil’s nitrogen cycle. Lu is a researcher at ...
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Grassy field margins enhance soil biodiversity
Grass strips at field margins are almost as valuable as hedgerows in encouraging diversity of soil creatures, according to new research. Six metre wide margin strips increase the number and variety of species such as earthworms, woodlice and beetles, and may act as corridors between isolated habitats. The study analysed the presence of invertebrates of three main feeding types - soil ingesters ...
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Rhododendrons and how to use Oenosan
Transplanting Rhododendrons and Oenosan The name rhododendron is related to the antique Greek language ??δον (rhódon) = “rose”; δ?νδρον (dendron) = “tree”. It produces beautiful long lasting flowers providing that you select the correct soil and environment. Plant your ‘rhodo’ ...
By Oenosan
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Delta-T Devices soil sensors used by Rothamsted Research for the world`s oldest continuously-running agricultural field experiment
Rothamsted Research is the longest-running agricultural research institute in the world, with a history dating back to the middle of the 19th century. Sir John Bennet Lawes, an archetypal Victorian scientist, entrepreneur and benefactor, became interested in agricultural science after leaving Oxford University. On assuming responsibility for the family estate at Rothamsted (Harpenden, ...
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Effective Calcium Application
Calcium is a key component in many crop nutrition programmes. Providing sufficient levels of calcium strengthens and stabilises cell walls, helping crops build natural resistance to pests and common disorders such as Internal Rust Spot in potatoes, Cavity Spot in carrots and Tip Burn in lettuce. In addition to cell wall structure, its role in root development and nutrient utilisation makes ...
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EU call for regulation of wood ash fertilisers
Wood ash may not be an ideal fertiliser for the forest after all, according to new research, which found high natural levels of toxic trace elements in wood ash. In addition, the study showed that adding wood ash could affect the forest soils in such a way that toxic elements are more rapidly released into the receiving waters. Wood ash is a by-product of wood burning which is classed as a form ...
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Borage plant frost protected by Oenosan
Borage plant frost protected by Oenosan Borage or Borago officinalis is an annual flowering plant. Borage is a herb native to the mediterranean region but nowadays it is found all over Europe from Denmark to the south of France. Its a self seeding plant and the leaves are edible. The plant has many useful characteristics and therefore it’s commercial ...
By Oenosan
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Mow Your Pastures to See Greener Grass, and Other Pasture Improvement Tips
Livestock producers who want a simple way to improve their pastures may want to consider using a tool similar to what most homeowners use to keep their neighbors happy — a mower, only bigger. Not only does mowing keep pastures looking nice, it also helps remove weeds, said Chris Penrose, an Ohio State University Extension educator. OSU Extension is the outreach arm of the College of Food, ...
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Iron deficiency in soil threatens soybean production
An expansion of soybean production into areas where soybean has seldom, if ever, been grown can be problematic for some farmers. Soils having high pH values and large amounts of calcium and/or magnesium carbonate are notoriously iron deficient. Iron deficient soils in the North Central United States are estimated to reduce soy bean production by 12.5 million bushels every year. John Wiersma, a ...
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Rejuvenating arid badlands: from barren slopes to living forest in 80 years
A reforestation project has revitalised its surroundings just 80 years after its inception. In the late 1920s, the Saldaña badlands in northern Spain were a barren region, with a thin layer of intensely weathered soil, and only 5% vegetation cover. Now that cover has increased dramatically to 87%, the soil quality is improving, and the water flow in the area has stabilised, bringing ...
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Floods wash away Pakistan`s crop research efforts
The recent Pakistan floods have caused substantial damage to the country's crop research, washing away new seed varieties and test crops planted in the fields, and damaging buildings and equipment, leaving the country's research institutes in disrepair. So far, the floods have killed more than 2,000 people and affected a further 21 million, killed 200,000 livestock and destroyed 4.25 million ...
By SciDev.Net
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Using Biochar as an Ingredient for Compost Making
Where did 2017 go? Now that we are well into the New Year of 2018, this is the year I hope to be making even higher quality compost to spruce up my garden this spring. This article will be dedicated to the use of biochar as a “carbon” source for making the highest quality compost consisting of all the nutrients plants require and teaming them up with beneficial microbes (bacteria ...
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