That swine manure sprayed on to fields adds valuable nutrients to the soil is well known. But what is not known is whether all that manure is bringing harmful bacteria with it. A new study looks at the levels of nutrients and bacteria in soils of fields that have been sprayed with manure for fifteen years or more. The research team tested soils inside and outside fields of five farms on twenty different soils types. Their results are reported in the September-October 2010 Journal of Environmental Quality.
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Accumulated soil organic carbon is an important factor in quality and productivity of soil, and maintaining or increasing soil organic carbon is an important goal of current crop and soil management. The current interest in removing crop residue to serve as a fuel source and the ongoing concern about the use of fertilizer, especially nitrogen, has increased the interest in research that addresses the effects of cropping system, residue removal, and nitrogen fertilizer rates on soil organic carbon.
An expansion of soybean production into areas where soybean has seldom, if ever, been grown presents a steep learning curve
Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS) in soybeans has been appearing this year in the Corn Belt and reports indicate that it appears it is widespread. Heavy rains and late-summer flooding is thought to be at least somewhat to blame for the widespread SDS pressures.
A new issue, November-December 2010, of 
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