Topsoil News
-
Cover crops can benefit hot, dry soils
The Southern High Plains of the United States have low annual rainfall. When it does rain, though, intense storms can cause severe soil erosion. Strong winds also strip away valuable topsoil. Usually grown during seasons when primary crops aren’t cultivated, cover crops can include legumes such as pea and hairy vetch, or grassy crops like oats and barley. Cover crops do more than just ...
-
AHDB develop soil health scorecard
The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) have developed a way to quantify the health of your soil. In 2016, AHDB and BBRO funded the five-year Soil Biology and Soil Health Partnership. With its focus on soil health, one ambition was to produce a toolkit to assist with its measurement and management. One of the first tasks was to review what could be measured and how practical ...
-
Soil microbes hold key to climate puzzle
Climate scientists puzzled by the traffic of carbon between soil and air may have to think more deeply about the role played by soil microbes − the planet’s smallest inhabitants. One research team has just found that soil microbes could actually lighten the colour of arid land soils, to reflect more light and bounce more radiation energy back into space. Another has identified an ...
-
Droughts may shrink wine cork industry
Climate change is threatening cork production in the forests of Spain and Portugal, making it more difficult to produce traditional wine bottle stoppers and putting an ancient and valuable industry at risk. A recent study by Portuguese researchers shows that cork − the thick bark of an oak tree species found mostly in the Iberian Peninsula − grows at a much slower rate during ...
-
First-light images from NASA’s soil moisture satellite revealed
Original story at MIT News As severe weather hazards continue to afflict parts of the country to historic extremes, Professor Dara Entekhabi of the MIT Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) and a team of NASA scientists provide an unprecedented resource to accurately observe moisture levels within the land for more precise prediction of weather and climate. On March 4, ...
-
UF/IFAS Extension helps North Florida dairies move into grazing using a perennial grass
North Florida dairy farmers are increasing their use of grazing and hay areas thanks to the hybrid, perennial, warm-season Tifton 85 bermudagrass, tested extensively by the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences’ Forage Extension and Research programs. Yoana Newman, an Extension Forage Specialist with the Agronomy department, described Tifton 85 as a ...
-
Greater focus on soil health needed to feed a hungry planet
More attention to the health and management of the planet's soils will be needed to meet the challenge of feeding a growing world population while coping with climate change and increased scarcity of natural resources, FAO Deputy Director-General Maria Helena Semedo today told a group of leading soil scientists and research organizations gathered at the UN agency's Rome headquarters to mark World ...
-
EDGE Trommel 622 Series officially launched at Hillhead
The newly available Trommel combines high production rates and ease of use in a cost effective machine. A unique feature of the 622 is it’s fuel and energy saving control system. The 622 range has a load sensing system that allows the machine to work harder or easier depending on its load. This allows huge savings in terms of operator fuel costs. The Trommel is ideal for topsoil, ...
-
Agricultural Bacteria: Blowing in the Wind
It was all too evident during the Dust Bowl what a disastrous impact wind can have on dry, unprotected topsoil. Now a new study has uncovered a less obvious, but still troubling, effect of wind: Not only can it carry away soil particles, but also the beneficial microbes that help build soil, detoxify contaminants, and recycle nutrients. Using a powerful DNA sequencing technique, called ...
-
Nitrogen fertiliser `could prevent locust swarms`
A surprising finding promises a cheap and environmentally friendly way of controlling locust swarms, a major plague that devastates crops around the world. Land erosion caused by heavy livestock grazing promotes locust swarms by lowering the nitrogen content in plants that locusts feed on, according to a study published in Science today (27 January). Conversely, the study also found that ...
By SciDev.Net
-
Deep ploughing reduces diversity and number of earthworms
Less invasive soil preparation methods in farming, such as harrowing, have a positive impact on the numbers, biomass, and species richness of earthworms, unlike conventional ploughing, according to new research. The long-term study compared the results of five different methods of soil preparation on agricultural land in Germany over a ten-year period. Earthworms play a major role in the ...
-
FAO urges farmers to join “Greener” revolution
Some 100 delegates from 36 countries meeting at FAO last week called on farmers to join the ongoing “Greener” revolution represented by a form of farming known as Conservation Agriculture. This farming system, CA for short, aims to help feed the world more sustainably by building up soil ecosystems and reducing unnecessary soil disturbance wherever possible. According to one study, some 20 ...
-
Organic and Environmentally Friendly Lowe Products Company, Inc.
Untitled Document From top-quality mulch to the richest soils, every product sold by Shepardstown, WV-based Lowe Products Company, Inc. is . Founded in 1972 by John and Betty Lowe, both former school teachers, Lowe Products can claim its place as one of the original pioneers of producing shredded hardwood mulch. ...
By Diamond Z
Need help finding the right suppliers? Try XPRT Sourcing. Let the XPRTs do the work for you