Podcasts about crop sciences

In this episode of The Crop Science Podcast Show, Dr. Emerson Nafziger from the University of Illinois breaks down decades of nitrogen research. From the evolution of N rate guidelines to how soil health and hybrid genetics influence nitrogen use efficiency, this conversation unpacks the science behind smarter fertilization. Improving how we set nitrogen fertilizer rates for rainfed corn is a key focus. Discover why the MRTN model matters more than ever, and how shifting mindsets and better data can boost yields and environmental outcomes. Tune in now on all major platforms!"The nitrogen that comes from soil mineralization is the first nitrogen the plant sees, and its role is underestimated."Meet the guest: Dr. Emerson Nafziger is Professor Emeritus of Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, with degrees in agronomy from Ohio State, Purdue, and Illinois. His research has focused on nitrogen rate strategies and crop productivity. He co-developed the Maximum Return to Nitrogen (MRTN) model, which is widely used across the Midwest. His research spans N response trials, hybrid interactions, crop rotation effects, and yield stability.Liked this one? Don't stop now — Here's what we think you'll love!What you will learn:(00:00) Highlight(00:58) Introduction(02:08) Dr. Nafziger background(07:13) Soil nitrogen variability(10:28) Nitrogen rate strategies(13:08) Root development factors(26:58) MRTN historical changes(31:10) Closing thoughtsThe Crop Science Podcast Show is trusted and supported by the innovative companies:- S&W Seed Co.- KWS- CNH Reman

In this episode of The Crop Science Podcast Show, Joe Lawrence, from Cornell University, discusses the crucial role of forage management in dairy nutrition. He shares insights on optimizing corn silage, managing weather variability, and improving feed quality for maximum cattle efficiency. Learn how hybrid selection, harvest strategies, and nutrient management impact forage utilization on farms. Tune in now on all major platforms!"Weather, especially rainfall, has a bigger impact on fiber digestibility than hybrid selection, making management decisions crucial."Meet the guest: Joe Lawrence is a Senior Extension Associate in Dairy Forage Systems Management at Cornell University PRO-DAIRY. With over 20 years in the dairy industry, he specializes in optimizing forage quality and linking crop production to dairy nutrition. He holds a Master's degree in Soil and Crop Sciences from Cornell University and has extensive experience in agronomy and extension education.What you will learn:(00:00) Highlight(01:02) Introduction(03:36) Optimizing forage quality(07:10) Hybrid selection strategies(11:57) Impact of weather on silage(13:12) Managing dairy feed costs(21:39) Carbon footprint in dairy(24:50) Final three questionsThe Crop Science Podcast Show is trusted and supported by the innovative companies:- CNH Reman- KWS- S&W Seed Co.

Luke and Thad Bergschneider are from Central Illinois where Luke is a University of Illinois Soil Scientist and Researcher and Thad is the current National FFA President. The future of agriculture is in good hands! These bright, articulate, knowledgeable men are critical thinkers, who are exploring how they can be an asset to agriculture. Growing up on their family farm, these two have grown not just crops and livestock, but also a passion for the future of agriculture. Luke, a crop scientist and researcher at the University of Illinois, is dedicated to studying soil health, water quality, and nutrient cycles—bridging the gap between science and real-world farming. Meanwhile, Thad has taken a bold step into national leadership, serving as the National FFA President, advocating for agricultural education and inspiring the next generation of changemakers. From hands-on experience in the field to cutting-edge research and nationwide advocacy, these brothers are shaping the future of agriculture in their own unique ways. Luke and Thad Bergschneider, two of seven siblings, grew up immersed in agriculture on their family farm in Central Illinois. There they gained firsthand experience raising corn, soybeans, and cattle, along with forays into pigs, turkeys, and sheep. After high school Luke studied agronomy at Western Illinois University and then attended University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he received a MS in Crop Sciences. He now works with the UIUC Soils Lab supporting multiple on-farm research projects studying water quality and nutrient cycles while continuing to contribute part-time to the family farm. Thad, after joining Luke at UIUC for a semester, is now taking a gap year to serve as the National FFA President. In this role, he is dedicating his time to advocating for agriculture, promoting agricultural education, and supporting the next generation of leaders who will change the world. Got questions you want answered? Send them our way and we'll do our best to research and find answers. Know someone you think would be great on the AgEmerge stage or podcast? Send your questions or suggestions to kim@asn.farm we'd love to hear from you.

In this episode of The Crop Science Podcast Show, Dr. Liliane Silva from Clemson University explores strategies for optimizing forage-livestock systems. She highlights best practices for improving grazing systems, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and enhancing sustainability in animal production. Dr. Silva also shares insights on boosting soil health and ecosystem resilience. Tune in now!"Incorporating rhizoma peanut into grazing systems helps reduce nitrogen fertilizer use, improves forage quality, and leads to better animal performance."Meet the guest: Dr. Liliane Silva, an Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist at Clemson University, specializes in forage-livestock systems under the Animal and Veterinary Sciences Department. She holds a Ph.D. in Crop Sciences from the University of Florida, an M.S. in Pasture and Animal Sciences, and a B.S. in Agronomy from the University of Sao Paulo. Dr. Silva's research focuses on sustainable practices to enhance productivity and ecosystem resilience.What you will learn:(00:00) Highlight(01:13) Introduction(07:28) Grazing system research(11:01) Extending grazing seasons(16:58) Forage sustainability efforts(21:35) Greenhouse gas emission(24:03) Carbon markets & opportunities(25:48) Final three questionsThe Crop Science Podcast Show is trusted and supported by the innovative companies:- KWS- CNH Reman

Hello there!In this episode of The Crop Science Podcast Show, Sally Jones-Diamond, from Colorado State University, explores rye and small grains research. She discusses the complexities of crop production in semi-arid regions, focusing on drought-tolerant crops, wheat production challenges, and the benefits of hybrid rye. Listen now!"Rye provides a great alternative to wheat, especially hybrid rye, which offers higher yields and excellent residue for erosion control."Meet the guests: Sally Jones-Diamond is the Director of the Crops Testing Program and an Extension Crop Production Specialist at Colorado State University's Department of Soil and Crop Sciences. Her research focuses on crop management in semi-arid eastern Colorado, particularly drought-tolerant crops. Her program conducts official variety trials for grain, oilseed, and forage crops, while also collaborating with commodity groups for agronomy studies. Outside of work, she manages a dryland farm with her husband.What you will learn:(00:00) Highlight(01:27) Introduction(04:05) Drought-resistant research(08:57) Wheat production challenges(12:39) Hybrid vs. traditional rye(14:37) Rye's drought resilience(18:19) Small grains research(22:41) Final three questionsThe Crop Science Podcast Show is trusted and supported by the innovative companies:- KWS- CNH Reman

As our guest predicts in this episode, “biologicals and biostimulants aren't going away anytime soon.” Dairy Stream host Joanna Guza and Dr. Connor Sible, postdoctoral research associate with the crop physiology lab in the Department of Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois, explains the basics with understanding biologicals and biostimulants. This episode is split into two parts with the first part covering biologicals and the second part covering biostimulants. We discuss the following topics below: Basic definition How it works What to do before adding a product Challenges How it fits into a farm input plan Other management practices to get the full economic benefit Special thanks to Pivot Bio for sponsoring this episode. About the guest: Dr. Connor Sible is a Postdoctoral Research Associate with the Crop Physiology Lab in the Department of Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois. Originally from northern Illinois, he received his degrees in Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois where his graduate studies focused on categorization and best management practices in the use of biologicals and biostimulants for row crops. His current research focuses on nutrient use efficiency of corn and soybean systems with specializations in residue management and nitrogen retention systems.  Resources: Department of Crop Sciences – Crop Physiology at the University of Illinois Connor's email: sible2@illinois.edu Getting the most out of biostimulants Role of Biologicals in Enhancing Nutrient Efficiency in Corn and Soybean This podcast is co-produced by the Dairy Business Association and Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative, sister organizations that fight for effective dairy policy in Wisconsin and Washington, D.C.  Become a sponsor, share an idea or feedback by emailing podcast@dairyforward.com. 

The Dairy Streamlet is a condensed version of a long Dairy Stream episode and covers the high-level points of the conversation. If this topic interest you, then listen to the full episode on Aug. 7. Dairy Stream host Joanna Guza and guest Dr. Connor Sible with the University of Illinois dive into the basics of understanding biologicals and biostimulants. We discuss the differences between them, prior management practices before implementation, challenges, additional practices needed to get the full economic benefit and the future of this technology. Special thanks to Pivot Bio for sponsoring this episode. About the guest: Dr. Connor Sible is a Postdoctoral Research Associate with the Crop Physiology Lab in the Department of Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois. Originally from northern Illinois, he received his degrees in Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois where his graduate studies focused on categorization and best management practices in the use of biologicals and biostimulants for row crops. His current research focuses on nutrient use efficiency of corn and soybean systems with specializations in residue management and nitrogen retention systems.  Resources: Department of Crop Sciences – Crop Physiology at the University of Illinois Connor's email: sible2@illinois.edu Getting the most out of biostimulants Role of Biologicals in Enhancing Nutrient Efficiency in Corn and Soybean This podcast is co-produced by the Dairy Business Association and Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative, sister organizations that fight for effective dairy policy in Wisconsin and Washington, D.C.  Become a sponsor, share an idea or feedback by emailing podcast@dairyforward.com. 

Syngenta: https://www.syngenta.com/en[Soil Sense Podcast] Soil Health Assessment with Jordon Wade, Ph.D.FoA 364: Supporting Soil Health with Dr. Steve Rosenzweig and Dr. Abbey Wick [Soil Sense Crossover]Future of Agriculture 123: Nerding Out About Soil Health with Dr. Abbey Wick of North Dakota State UniversityFuture of Agriculture 162: Cannabis Inputs with Dr Colin Bell of Mammoth MicrobesReally excited this week to bring Dr. Matt Wallenstein onto the show. Matt is the Chief Soil Scientist for Syngenta Group, where he leads their efforts to enable farmers around the world to improve their productivity and profitability through science-based innovation through soil health. Part of that team is my good friend and co-host of the Soil Sense podcast Dr. Abbey Wick, who you've heard on this show in the past. As well as Dr. Jordan Wade, who was a guest on a very fascinating episode of Soil Sense a year or so ago that I'll have to link to in the show notes because it's a great one. Anyway, so Matt's putting together this dream team of soil scientists and I had to bring him on the show to figure out what I can about what they're up to. Prior to joining Syngenta in 2022, he was a professor and department head of Soil and Crop Sciences at Colorado State University. His research focused on how the soil microbiome interacts with plants and the environment. He also co-founded a startup called Growcentia, which commercialized a phosphorus solubilizing microbial consortia developed in his academic lab and went on to develop other biostimulants. A cool connection there is one of Matt's co-founders at Growcentia was actually on this show five years ago. I didn't know Matt at the time so that's more of a coincidence than anything else, but that's episode 165 if you want to find that deep track. Anyway, i'll drop you into today's conversation when Matt is telling me what attracted him to this position, even though he already had a startup and a thriving career at Colorado State when he decide to make the leap two years ago to Syngenta.

In this episode of The Crop Science Podcast Show, Dr. Romulo Lollato, an Associate Professor of Agronomy at Kansas State University, shares his invaluable insights into wheat production in the US, especially focusing on wheat crops' sustainability and yield potential. Dr. Lollato discusses the intricacies of wheat varieties, their adaptability to varying climates, and the influence of crop management practices on yield and environmental sustainability. Tune in on all major platforms to explore this enlightening discussion."The trait of plasticity in wheat is the ability of the variety to accommodate environmental conditions."Meet the guest: Dr. Romulo Lollato is an Associate Professor of Agronomy at Kansas State University, focusing on wheat and forage. He earned his B.S. in Agronomy from Londrina State University, Brazil, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Plant and Soil Sciences and Crop Sciences, respectively, from Oklahoma State University. Dr. Lollato is committed to enhancing wheat and forage research, particularly in Kansas and the Great Plains, and is an associate editor for the Agronomy Journal. His work addresses key challenges in crop production and sustainability. (00:00) Highlight(00:58) Introduction (05:38) Kansas wheat production specifics (12:33) Enhancing wheat yield potential (21:43) Sustainability in wheat production (26:45) Wheat variety improvements (31:58) Dr. Lollato's program and its international roots (40:13) Final three questionsThe Crop Science Podcast Show is trusted and supported by the innovative company:- KWSAre you ready to unleash the podcasting potential of your company? wisenetix.co/custom-podcast

Ahmed Labied – Morocco - At the opening reception of CannMed 23, there were all these people with green t-shirts that said Morocco. Trevor introduced himself and was told he had to talk to Ahmed Labied. Ahmed explained that in August 2023 there should be the first legal crop of cannabis coming off the field in Morocco and that they're organizing a cannabis conference in Morocco in November 2023.Texas A&M - Everything is bigger in Texas. These tall gentlemen from Texas A&M are all about hemp. Russell Jessup is an Associate Professor Texas A&M. Clayton Moore is a Student Researcher at Texas A&M in AgriLife Soil & Crop Sciences. David Baltensperger is a Professor and the Head of Soil & Crop Sciences at Texas A&M. Listen to hear what Texas A&M has been doing with hemp. Cathie Hiegel - Hear Cathie's winding road from cytotechnologist to writing the textbook, “A Microscopic View of Medicinal Cannabis”. It really is a very well referenced, easy to read text on Cannabis.Markus Roggen - Our Germany, American, Canadian chemist. Markus runs Delic labs at UBC in Vancouver, BC. Although it really has nothing to do with the high-powered chemistry his company does every day, Markus is a little obsessed with cannabis names. He found that every year when he gets new students, he has to re-explain cannabis nomenclature. He wondered if he could develop a new classification system for cannabis. Long time cannabis aficionados may hate this, but the rest of us might really like it.  Ahmed Labied - LinkedInClayton Moore -LinkedInDavid Baltensperger - LinkedInRussell Jessup - LinkedIn -his talk at CannMed 23 - YouTubeCathie Hiegel - websiteMarkus Roggen - LinkedIn - -his talk at CannMed 23 - YouTubeMusic by: CROSBY, STILLS & NASH - Marrakesh Express -YouTubeAdditional Music:Desiree Dorion desireedorion.comMarc Clement - Facebook, papers and so much more at: reefermed.ca

Ahmed Labied – Morocco - At the opening reception of CannMed 23, there were all these people with green t-shirts that said Morocco. Trevor introduced himself and was told he had to talk to Ahmed Labied. Ahmed explained that in August 2023 there should be the first legal crop of cannabis coming off the field in Morocco and that they're organizing a cannabis conference in Morocco in November 2023.Texas A&M - Everything is bigger in Texas. These tall gentlemen from Texas A&M are all about hemp. Russell Jessup is an Associate Professor Texas A&M. Clayton Moore is a Student Researcher at Texas A&M in AgriLife Soil & Crop Sciences. David Baltensperger is a Professor and the Head of Soil & Crop Sciences at Texas A&M. Listen to hear what Texas A&M has been doing with hemp. Cathie Hiegel - Hear Cathie's winding road from cytotechnologist to writing the textbook, “A Microscopic View of Medicinal Cannabis”. It really is a very well referenced, easy to read text on Cannabis.Markus Roggen - Our Germany, American, Canadian chemist. Markus runs Delic labs at UBC in Vancouver, BC. Although it really has nothing to do with the high-powered chemistry his company does every day, Markus is a little obsessed with cannabis names. He found that every year when he gets new students, he has to re-explain cannabis nomenclature. He wondered if he could develop a new classification system for cannabis. Long time cannabis aficionados may hate this, but the rest of us might really like it.  Ahmed Labied - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ahmed-labied-528b5028/Clayton Moore -LinkedInDavid Baltensperger - LinkedInRussell Jessup - LinkedIn -his talk at CannMed 23 - YouTubeCathie Hiegel - websiteMarkus Roggen - LinkedIn - -his talk at CannMed 23 - YouTube Music by: CROSBY, STILLS & NASH - Marrakesh Express - https://bit.ly/3CBZnFEAdditional Music:Desiree Dorion desireedorion.comMarc ClementTranscripts, papers and so much more at: reefermed.ca

Cover crops impact cropping systems in more ways than improving soil structure. Dr. Alyssa Essman, soon to be Assistant Professor with Horticulture and Crop Sciences specializing in weed science, continues to expand research on cover crops as they pertain to weed management. She discusses results from a recent project that looked at termination timing of […]

About 30 individuals converged on the Wilson County Expo and Community Center Feb. 22 to attend a workshop on watersheds and how to protect and improve them. The workshop was provided by the Texas A&M Agrilife Extension Service as part of its Texas Watershed Steward program. Michael Kuitu, who led the presentations, is an extension program specialist with Texas A&M University's Department of Soil & Crop Sciences. Kuitu began with a basic definition of a watershed as “an area of land that water flows across, through, or under on its way to a stream, river, lake, ocean, or other body...Article Link

Residuals. Herbicide carryover. Rotational intervals. Herbicide resistance. Trait considerations. Endangered Species Act criteria. All these factors need to be considered when planning for the 2023 planting season and beyond, especially regarding weed control. Join us on this episode of the Stine Seedcast as we discuss all of this and more with Dr. Aaron Hager — associate professor of weed science in the Department of Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois. Make sure you stay up to date on everything Stine by following us on all our social media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StineSeed Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stineseedco/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/StineSeed  

For this episode we have invited a special guest again: Martin. He is studying for two masters, Agribusiness and Crop Sciences, and is part of the student parliament. Martin and Deniz talk about exam preparation and their experiences with strategies to cope with all the learning material alongside the other commitments you have in life. What works and what probably doesn't work? How do I find the right strategy for me? What if I lose motivation? What is the right balance between learning and leisure time? And what's the deal with the two exam periods? Listen in and maybe you'll pick up a tip or two! :) | Come back for part II, where we ask the Examinations Office about registration and deregistration procedures, what to do if you get sick or realise you're not well prepared, what happens if you ever fail an exam, and everything else you need to know. | Three "Learn how to study" workshops coming up during summer semester of 2023! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/news4internationals/message

Dr. Donald Ort is is the Robert Emerson Professor in Plant Biology and Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois and Deputy Director of the RIPE (Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency) project. His research seeks to understand and improve plant growth and photosynthetic performance in changing environmental conditions, such as increasing CO2 temperature and drought. Don earned his bachelor's degree in biology from Wake Forest University and his doctorate in plant biochemistry from Michigan State University. He has served as the president of the American Society of Plant Biologists, the International Society of Photosynthesis Research, and the International Association of Plant Physiology. He also served as editor-in-chief of Plant Physiology and is an associate editor of Annual Review of Plant Biology. Don has received numerous awards and recognitions, including election to the National Academy of Sciences and being named one of Thomson Reuters' Most Influential Scientific Minds. He has published over 250 peer-reviewed papers in journals that include Science. In this episode we discuss Dr. Ort's research and how it impacts crop production. You can learn more about RIPE at https://ripe.illinois.edu/. Dr. Ort is also involved with the Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation (CABBI): https://cabbi.bio/ and Renewable Oil Generated with Ultra-productive Energycane (ROGUE): https://rogue.illinois.edu/.

Composting is taking diverse organic material and making a habitat for the microbes that will process the material. Jean Bonhotal, Director of Cornell Waste Management Institute in the Department of Soils and Crop Sciences explains that there are three necessary ingredients to make a great compost. First, the pile should start with carbon-like woodchips to help move air through. Second, add in wet waste like food or pomace. And third, top the pile with carbon. The most important factor in making compost is temperature. In fact, you do not need to turn piles. The organisms that break down compost generate temperatures that are about 90 to 150 degrees Fahrenheit. A great example of this is seen in mortality composting, used for livestock. These piles are created by layering 24 inches of woodchips, followed by the animal, and top with another 24 inches of wood chips. The animal will liquefy and then everything starts to mix as the microbes work. In 12 to 24 hours the pile will reach the desired 130 degrees Fahrenheit. While compost is not technically a fertilizer it has numerous benefits including imparting nutrients, pest resistance, helping with erosion control, and improving water holding capacity because it works like a sponge. Listen in to hear Jean's best advice on how to create great compost. References: 1/20/2023 REGISTER: Improving Soil Health with Compost & Vermiculture Tailgate 53: Producing Compost and Carbon Sequestration 106: What? Bury Charcoal in the Vineyard? 151: The Role of the Soil Microbiome in Soil Health 153: The Role of Nematodes in Soil Health Aerated Compost Tea Composting Handbook Compost Use for Improved Soil Poster Series Improving and Maintaining Compost Quality Niner Wine Estates SIP Certified Testing Composts Tipsheet: Compost Vineyard Team – Become a Member What Is Animal Mortality Composting? Get More Subscribe wherever you listen so you never miss an episode on the latest science and research with the Sustainable Winegrowing Podcast. Since 1994, Vineyard Team has been your resource for workshops and field demonstrations, research, and events dedicated to the stewardship of our natural resources. Learn more at www.vineyardteam.org.   Transcript Craig Macmillan  0:00  My guest today is Jean Bonhotal. She is Director of the Cornell Waste Management Institute. And he's also a Senior Extension Associate in the Integrative Plant Science Soil and Crop Science Section at Cornell University. And we're talking about compost today. Thanks for being here, Jean.   Jean Bonhotal  0:13  Thank you.   Craig Macmillan  0:14  I like to start with basics when we're talking about a topic. And sometimes it seems kind of silly, but it oftentimes shapes what we talk about. Let's start with a very basic definition. What exactly is compost.   Unknown Speaker  0:26  So I'm going to start with a definition before I get into composting, and that is what is organic, what is organic? When I'm using the term organic, this is what it will mean something that was once alive and is now dead, and needs to be managed. That comes with all different types of quality. But we are usually looking for clean feedstocks, that are organic in origin. So we don't want glass and plastic and other materials that really don't break down and have put a lot of plastic into our environment, because they break down into little tiny pieces, and they're still there. So I'll start with that. Composting is basically taking organic material, all different diverse, organic materials, preferably, and making a habitat for microbes, the microbes that are going to process these materials. When we're composting, we can do all of the work mechanically. But it doesn't really work that well because composting is a process. And if we set it up so that we have our carbon and nitrogen ratios, well balanced. And those are browns and greens, wet and dry materials. So those are the things that we need to balance, then we will have a proper habitat for the microbes to work in and they will thrive. The microbes are what make the heat in a compost. When we're composting very small volumes, we don't always have heat. And that's because we don't have the volume that we need for that composting to happen in commercial scale, we generally will have enough volume. So as long as we balance that carbon and nitrogen, we will have a very good compost that will actually work mostly by itself.   Craig Macmillan  2:29  So you need different kinds of microbes for taking action on different types of materials, whether they be high nitrogen or high carbon or whatever. Where did those bacteria and fungi, where do those come from?   Jean Bonhotal  2:40  They come from everywhere. They come from us breathing on the medium that we're putting in there they come from the air, their bio aerosolized is what we consider. So these things blow in, and we really don't have to inoculate most composts. The only reason we might need to inoculate a compost is because we've shut it down. Either we've put something in there that's too toxic for the organisms to work with, or we've made it too hot in that pile. The organisms that we're working with are thermophilic organisms, they generate temperatures that are about 90 to 150. And the actual range for thermophilic is more like 130. Those are the temperatures that we really like to reach 130 to 150 is really degrees Fahrenheit is really the temperatures that we want to heat want to reach.   Craig Macmillan  3:42  And that's because those are the ranges where these particular microbes are the most happy.   Jean Bonhotal  3:46  Yes, and the microbes are actually generating the heat. It's like putting 55th graders in a room you don't have to heat. They're giving off lots of energy and have to do anything else. They're doing the work and metabolizing all of that material.   We were talking about a range, what if we're not generating enough heat? What kinds of things happen then? Or what can we do to change that?   Well back up because that is dependent on size. So we have to have that volume and that and if we look at physics, that volume is three by three by three feet cubed. However, when we're working in cold climates, that is not large enough. So everything will freeze really, we have to have everything so perfect with that three by three by three cube that we're not likely to reach those temperatures. So it's really balancing the carbon and nitrogen the moisture. And because if like in arid climates where everything dries out horribly, we need to make sure there's enough moisture retained in that because these are aerobic organisms that are doing all the work. And we really need to make sure that they have that moisture, or else they can't really work. People think that worms make compost, and to an extent they do, there's vermicompost. And it's a different than thermophilic composting that I'm talking about. But Vermacomposting is done with epigeic worms. It's done in a 24 inch bed. So you're making that compost in kind of a shallow bed so that it won't heat up, because the worms are actually doing all of the work in that system. When worms come into a compost, or thermophilic compost, that's at the end of the process, they can't tolerate the heat in the thermophilic process. But they do like to process those organisms that are in there. So they will go in and actually process some of that material toward the end. And in some ways, you can tell that you have a more finished compost, because worms are actually able to thrive in there.   Craig Macmillan  6:07  Where did the worms come from?   Jean Bonhotal  6:09  Generally from the ground, if you're composting in a vessel, you're not going to have worms in there unless you had like warm eggs or something that were already in the medium, and hatched or something like that. So that's where those are coming from. So like indoor facilities generally wouldn't have an earthworm coming in and processing. And the epigeic worms are surface feeders, so they're coming up, they detect that something's up there to eat. And they'll just come to the surface, eat it, pull it down, up and down, you know, they can actually handle above 54 degrees, where a lot of worms dry out and die there. As they get if it gets too hot, and they get too dry.   Craig Macmillan  6:57  You had mentioned the right mix or blend the right kind of connection of different materials and other recipes that that work for certain practical applications are given certain materials, you want certain ratios, how does that work?   Jean Bonhotal  7:10  There are recipes out there. But basically, you have to look at everything as carbon and nitrogen. So if you're a vineyard that wants to compost, the pumice, all your all your promise while you're squeezing all that kind of material, then you're gonna have to look at that and figure out whether that's going to work by itself, just that promise. But you do have grape skins, and you have grape seeds in there. So the grape skins and the grape seeds actually can work together to create a good habitat and actually make things work or you have a pH of about four or five in those pressings. That's going to deter worms for a while it is going to deter some other organisms for a while, but things will start to get going. And that's how we tend to do that. If it's really sloppy and wet, it would be better to add a little bit more waste, but another waste, marry it with another waste, whether you have some manure or you know the if there are some animals on site, if you can mix in manure, or some shavings, or I don't usually like to put wood chips in because it makes a coarser compost for a vineyard. And we want generally want to find our compost.   Craig Macmillan  8:30  Which actually reminds me of something. There were two things that I had learned and that they may not be true when I was coming up and we're talking like 20 years ago. One was that you had to have manure as part of the mix, some kind of a manure there was one and then the second one was forget about using any kind of wood chip vines, anything like that, because they're not going to break down. And that's not going to work. So how is that accurate for either this ideas?   Jean Bonhotal  8:54  No, we have to use all of our carbon sources. Honestly, we do have to use all different carbon sources in different types of composting. I'll give you an example of facilities that by regulation, they're only allowed to compost leaf and yard waste. So they're not allowed to bring in food unless they have a permit to bring in food waste. So there's a lot of different rules that occur over municipalities. Some municipalities got the idea because they needed more nitrogen, there's a lot of carbon and your dry leaves and your woodchips and your woody waste. And I generally will say if I make a pile of sticks, which is all carbon, so all all different sticks and just put them in a pile. If I go back six months later, what is it going to be?   Craig Macmillan  9:42  Dried sticks?   Jean Bonhotal  9:43  A pile of sticks, because I don't have any real nitrogen there is nitrogen in there but I don't have enough in there to make that break down. So I do like to size reduce those chips, the woody waste and that's chipping off or grinding or something like that. And that will make things go better. If you need to compost just leaves, what the municipalities were doing was adding chemical fertilizer to them. Because the chemical fertilizer would bring the nitrogen in, you have to decide do you want to use the chemical nitrogen, the chemical fertilizer, or not in your process, but that will make it work because their carbon and their nitrogen, and we can do that.   Craig Macmillan  10:27  Do I need to do some analysis on these materials and figure out what I actually have and then make calculations from there.   Jean Bonhotal  10:33  So the ratios that we want to use are two to three to one. So I have a good picture of a bucket. And it could be any bucket, think of a cottage cheese container up to us eight yard bucket, I want one bucket of wet material, a very wet material. And then three buckets of very dry material. That's how we balance those ratios. But we are really some of it is like It's like making bread, we don't dump all the flour and all the water in at one time, we put in a little bit of time, because we need to balance out what that recipe actually needs. And the same thing happens in composting, the operators get very good at knowing, okay, that's really, really dry material. And that's really, really wet material. And I might even need to make because we can compost liquids, I might need to make a bowl to put that liquid in there or that really wet material in there so that it can stay in the pile. So I can use that moisture, mix it with the woody waste, and allow that to happen.   Craig Macmillan  11:42  This is beginning to get kind of intimidating. I was kind of hoping that I just would throw a bunch of stuff in a pile and walk away and come back and magically I now have compost.  Yeah, how do I figure this out, I guess we're gonna get my education?   Jean Bonhotal  11:58  So one of the ways we do small scale composting is we layer the materials in so we'll have a bin and we'll put carbon down at the bottom, make sure we have a good carbon layer because that's going to act as an air plenum on the bottom. So simple, just woodchips a pallet, something that's going to allow air to come in, then we'll put nitrogen or put in our wet waste, our food waste, our pumice, those materials, we're going to put carbon on top of that. So we never should be able to see what we're composting, it should always look like a pile of comp of compost. But I will talk a little bit about mortality composting and how we do that, because it really tells us how the whole thing is supposed to work. And what we do is we put down 24 inches of woodchips, then I'll put a cow in. And then I'll put 24 inches of woodchips over top of that, what happens in that is the cow starts to liquefy. And then it starts to mix with all of the material, all the all the microbes are starting to work. And everything starts mixing together in a very slow motion in 12 to 24 hours, I should have 130 degrees Fahrenheit in that pile. If I don't, then I've built it wrong. But generally even with we're composting right now with frozen animals, and we're able because of the size of our piles, we're able to do that, that heats up. So whatever the pile is, or the windrow is that heats up, and then the heat rises, and it actually convex around that that medium. So the organisms are getting all that and we don't have to do any turning. We don't have to turn at all. So we don't always turn and if I do that layering like I was talking about in a bin, if we layer it in a bin, then we will be able to do that and walk away and just let the rain and snow fall on it through the season. It'll be slower, but it will compost.   Craig Macmillan  14:11  So again, I had been under the impression that you always have to you have a regular schedule, you have to turn it to aerate it. And you also have to monitor the moisture. No you do not.   Jean Bonhotal  14:19  No. No. The only real tool that we use is temperature. We monitor temperatures in piles, we can tell everything that's going on in that pile is that making sure that it's working well or we need to add more water or we need to whatever we can tell that by temperature.   Craig Macmillan  14:39  If the temperature is getting too high. What do you do?   Jean Bonhotal  14:41  I do compost in arid places where our temperatures can get really high because our piles are too big. Okay, and then we really have to be careful because we can have spontaneous combustion. And our large ones I worked with some facilities in Idaho that around the Boise area, and they were in danger of combusting. And as they were like, what do we do? Well, if we add a lot of air real fast, we're going to be in trouble. If we add a lot of water real fast, we're going to be in trouble. So what we do is we, we will break those piles carefully, break those piles down, just deconstruct those, lay them in sheet, and then just make sure that they've cooled off, then we can build a pile again, but it can be a problem in hot and arid climates. And it can happen anywhere there are different manures like poultry manure will burn more easily than other manure because of the ammonia contents. Because of the just the nature of that material.   Craig Macmillan  15:45  What kind of temperatures are we talking about?   Jean Bonhotal  15:47  When we're getting over 170? I get nervous, especially if it's really hot, ambient temperature. We have to be careful about that.   Craig Macmillan  15:56  Excellent. Okay, that's useful. That's that we can keep that we can track that ourselves. Now, before we run out of time. We have time I just want to get to this topic, because I think there's a lot here. Now, oftentimes, compost is treated like a fertilizer, you say, oh, there's nutrients here. And we're doing it for that reason. But compost will do a lot of other things for you in terms of your soil.   Jean Bonhotal  16:18  Yes, and compost is not technically a fertilizer. So if I have a finished compost, it's not a fertilizer and doesn't follow the fertilizer rules. So there are rules that govern fertilizers and rules that cover compost, and so we have to be careful about that. So it does impart nutrients to our soil compost does impart nutrients to our soil, it helps with erosion control, it helps with water holding capacity, because compost acts like a sponge, and it will pull that moisture into the soil. And then the plants are able to use that when things get droughty. So we really want to use a lot of compost, if in my dreams, I would like to have three inches of compost spread on the whole terrestrial earth. Because I think we need it, it's the only way we can create or recreate our sustainable soils, our soils are very much bankrupt, we might put nutrients back on those soils, but we don't put the organic matter back on the soils, were able to take more of the corn crop. So less gets tilled in, and less of that organic matter is there so we don't have sustainable soils because of that. And compost can help us create and generate sustainable soils so that we don't have to do that. We don't have to constantly add fertilizer.   Craig Macmillan  17:49  Now that leads me to a couple of other things. So in terms of application in vineyards, it's very common to band compost right under the vines in the vine round and not in the middle. Some folks are experimenting with full on broadcasting across the whole surface, right and this has worked really well in range land contexts, which is interesting. And then there's a question about whether compost needs to be incorporated into the soil or does it need to be cultivated in what are your feelings about that for you know, a soil that's maybe a clay soil relatively dry.   Jean Bonhotal  18:23  I'll talk specifically for vineyards on this some vineyards will start their new plants their starts with like some vermiompost. And  vermicompost is a pretty popular product to use when we're putting our starts in. And these are like five year old vines that are just getting planted. And we really want these guys to go. So that will help with nutrients. It will help with soil aggregation, it will just make healthy soil. I have had a poster up before as because it says compost don't treat your soil like dirt. And that's really what we want to do. We want to compost we want to add compost so that we're not just dealing with mineral soils. And I think it's really important for us to be thinking about that way. So the adding a you know, an eight ounce cup of compost vermicompost into the holes is supposed to work very well. And a lot of people in California have actually experimented with that. From what I'm told. What their plant responses are, I haven't followed those. So I don't know. Broadcasting I've seen people more put it in the row middles so that they don't end up with a lot of bull wood in their vines because if they get the nutrients up against the vines at the wrong time, that can be problematic. So sometimes they'll even take immature compost and put that in the row middles. That keeps keeps grass down keeps weeds down, you'll still have some cover there. But then it slowly works its way into the vineyard.   Craig Macmillan  20:06  When you're referring to row middles you mean under the vine?   Jean Bonhotal  20:09  I mean, between the, the rows.   Craig Macmillan  20:11   Between the vines. Okay.   Jean Bonhotal  20:12  Yeah, I've seen that done a lot in New York, where people are using it that way. And sometimes we'll use an immature compost because that we call it a killer compost, which we shouldn't, but it kills the area, and it won't encourage the growth in the row middles. And it keeps it a little bit away from the vine for a little while, then by the next season, that's all integrated into that soil system.   Craig Macmillan  20:39  Fascinating. Fascinating. Now, what do you think about banding underneath the vine?   Jean Bonhotal  20:43  By banding, you mean just putting it right against the wood?   Craig Macmillan  20:48  Generally, just underneath the vine, not in the middle, the strategy there, I think is I'm trying to get a higher concentration, if you will, and I want to put it where the vine roots are going to be in. So they're going to be predominantly in the vine row, not not exclusively, but they're gonna be that's where the highest concentration of roots is going to be. So the idea is, hey, if I'm going to put five tons per acre on, let me put it on in a narrow band, like 18 inches, as opposed to, you know, eight feet, you know, in terms of in terms of width, it sounds like you're kind of more interested, if you would kind of recommend, you know, putting it in the middle as opposed to under the vine.   Jean Bonhotal  21:21  I don't have enough experience with grapes to recommend. So I'm not going to make that recommendation. This is what I'm seeing in the vineyard, the way the growers are choosing to actually experiment and see what is getting the nutrients to the plant at the right time. So what strategy is, is working best. Using the vermicompost in the hole that's been very productive using some of the row middles. I'm not sure about banding I have no experience with that. So I don't want to speak on that. I'm more of the compost production cleaning up the best person. You know, what, when we get the calls, this pile over here, stinks by the neighbor, then I step in and and try to get everything more productive.   Craig Macmillan  22:13  That makes sense that makes tons of sense. One other application that I do think you can speak to is erosion control. What role can compost have an erosion control.   Jean Bonhotal  22:22  We do a lot of work with compost, and I'm gonna share with you some posters that will give you simple compost use instructions. We work in agriculture, we work in erosion control, we work in urban garden gardens and farms. So there's all different possibilities with all different compost and every compost, even the compost that aren't the quality that we want for our vineyard. Every compost has a potential use, even if it's just daily covering a landfill, so that we've taken those metals or those that toxicity out of the environment, and at least concentrated it in smaller places so that maybe it can be recovered at some point when we figure that kind of stuff out.   Craig Macmillan  23:07  And the way this is working is that the compost is binding this soil somehow or is it reducing the impact of the raindrops or what's the mechanism.   Jean Bonhotal  23:17  We do both compost blankets and compost socks and erosion control. So the compost blankets we have blower trucks that can spray compost, it's a big big hose, we spray compost onto a hillside, when we put that blanket down. When the rain comes if the rain comes in, it hits the soil, it hits the soil and it makes mud and that mud starts running down the hill. And that's erosion. When it hits the compost, the compost acts like a sponge. And that sponge will just keep sucking in that moisture. And then slowly release it like a sponge will. And so the plants can use it better and it doesn't create those rivulets and the erosion that other things do.   Craig Macmillan  24:10  What kinds of rates per acre per square yard or what are we talking about?   Jean Bonhotal  24:15  For it depends on per crop. When we put a blanket down, we'll put in out about a inch blanket. So that's a visual, and we want to make sure that it's well covered I'd put one or two inches down easily, because that will start incooperating. Remember I told you about those worms? The worms will come up and start processing some of that material. And that'll only be incorporated in the soil in that way. So we don't actually incorporate we will seed put the blanket down and then we might hydro seed on top of that blanket. And that'll create cover some kind of cover crop whether it depends on our goals. We'll put whatever cover crop we might put red clover on our roadside we might put, you know, depends on where we are what we're putting in, but usually a low grow local plant. So we don't want to take you know, a plant from New York and put it in California, it's not going to produce the same way. We want to make sure that we are in the right conditions. We have the right plantings and all that and Soil and Water Conservation Districts which are all over the country. They give you guidance on what should go on to slopes. What should go into row middles, it depends on the plants though, and cooperative extension does a lot of that, what application do we need for what crop. One of the things that we are finding with soil blends and stuff when we're trying to bring in topsoil topsoil has lots of different definitions, a lot of times it's sand. Because we can't get topsoil, it's very difficult, we've used up a lot of our topsoil, and we don't have that rich earth to bring to someplace else to put that topsoil down. So we're working right now on grow tests to look at what percentage of compost should be mixed with the mineral soil, or with close to mineral soil or with the soil existing soil. And one of the things that we're finding is that we can really use in most for most crops, and for soil sustainability to build those soils, we can use about 50% compost in all of those, and we're getting really good results with crops. It does depend whether we're growing cabbages or grapes, or we really need those soils to be more sustainable. If our soils are sustainable, they'll increase the water holding capacity, you know, through the compost application, but they also help with pest resistance. So we'll have more pest resistance, because we have healthy soils, we have more competitors that are actually able to take things out instead of working in a chemical system where okay, the cut worms came in, and the cut worms are really happy to be working in. There's nothing telling them not to. And similarly with powdery mildews and some of the other diseases, we seem to have better results with having a healthy soil. So not just dust that we've added fertilizer to.   Craig Macmillan  27:32  Sure. And that makes total sense of any there are a lot of folks that are looking at this kind of a holistic plant science, plant physiology approach, which is what you're talking about. And there's a lot of exciting things going on and talking about compost being a part of it is really cool, basically at aout of advice or what one thing would you like people to know as far as their own compost production goes.   Jean Bonhotal  27:58  If you're producing compost, you're a microbe farmer. And that's what you really need to consider create a habitat that they're going to thrive in, and they'll do all the work for you. And that is my best piece of advice to anybody.   Craig Macmillan  28:14  That's great. And where can people find out more about you and your work?   Jean Bonhotal  28:17  I'm with Cornell Waste Management Institute at Cornell University. You can you can google us pretty easily.   Craig Macmillan  28:25  It's easy to find information about you. Yeah, and about the CWMI. So our guest today was Joan Bonhotal. She is the director of the Cornell Waste Management Institute. And she's also Senior Extension Associate with the Integrative Plant Science Soil and Crop Science section at Cornell University. Lots of great stuff is gonna be in the show notes. Again, we encourage you to look into this topic. It's exciting. There's a lot going on. Wouldn't you agree there's a lot of new science every year on this topic.   Jean Bonhotal  28:51  There is a lot a lot going on in composting, a lot going on in sustainable soil production and if we have sustainable soils, we will be able to grow healthy food and sustain healthy people. So there's just so much going on with all applications of composting.   Craig Macmillan  29:12  Very exciting.   Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Dr. Russell W. Jessup is the Associate Professor of Perennial Grass & Industrial Hemp Breeding of the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences at Texas A&M University. His research focuses on conventional, cytogenetic, and genomic strategies towards development of improved perennial grasses as biorefinery platforms for biofuels, turfgrasses, forage, ornamentals, phytoremediators and renewable bio-based products.  This includes developing molecular tools to assist marker-assisted breeding programs for value-added traits such as: net primary productivity, carbon sequestration, perenniality, photoperiodism, hybrid sterility, and apomixis.  Feedstocks are further selected for resource use efficiency, stress tolerance, and novel seeded-yet-sterile hybrid systems.He has developed the Industrial Hemp Breeding Program at Texas A&M where they are doing extensive research on genetics that can be grown in the Texas soil & climate. 

Andrew Margenot, assistant professor in the Department of Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, joins Lisa Dent on Chicago’s Afternoon News to discuss a study he led that showed tomatoes grown in backyards in Chicago are likely safe to eat, even when grown in lead-contaminated soils. Follow Your Favorite Chicago’s Afternoon News Personalities […]

Kyle Strachila is a crop protection field sales representative for Bayer Crop Science in the Columbia Basin and Northern Columbia Plateau in Washington State.

Hey Plant People! I'll be doing some traveling and will be in and out a bit this summer, so this is the first of what will be a few sporadic throwbacks to some of my very favorite episodes from the back catalog! Stay cool and stay well this summer, my friends!********************************************************************************Y'all, today's episode is great. Dr. Becky Bowling is an Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist in Urban Water with the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences at Texas A&M. She's also hilarious, brilliant, a wonderful educator, and one of my very closest friends. I've wanted to interview Dr. Becky for the show since it started, and was so excited to finally have the opportunity. You're going to love all the awesome stuff she's doing in conservation and education. Grab a bag of popcorn and a frosty beverage and jump into episode 20!Dr. Becky BowlingTwitter: https://twitter.com/TXWaterWomanWater U Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AgriLifeWaterU/*********I'm super excited to announce our partnership with Forest Proud! Forest Proud is a non-profit organization supporting forest-based climate solutions. Their mission is to build awareness and support for keeping forests as forests to fight climate change. Forest Proud believes:Forests provide powerful climate solutions.Forest management is how we deliver those solutions.Forest markets and products are how we sustain those solutions.I'm incredibly honored to get to work with them to highlight climate solutions coming out of the forest management and forestry industry! Head over to www.forestproud.com to learn more. If you want to snag some #ForestProud swag, use the promo code "planthropology" at checkout for 10% off for your order!#ForestProud Links:FacebookInstagramTwitterWebsiteAs always, thanks so much for listening! Subscribe, rate, and review Planthropology on your favorite podcast app. It really helps the show keep growing and reaching more people! Also, check out Planthropology on our website and various social media pages, all listed below. As an added bonus, if you review Planthropology on Apple Podcasts or Podchaser and send me a screenshot of it, I'll send you an awesome "Plant People are Cool" sticker!Listen in on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, Castbox, or wherever else you like to get your podcasts.Website: www.planthropologypod.comPodchaser: www.podchaser.com/PlanthropologyFacebook: PlanthropologyFacebook group: Planthropology's Cool Plant PeopleInstagram: @PlanthropologyPodTwitter: @Planthropology_ Support the show

Soilent Green is a brand-new podcast by Alyssa Hanofee and Levi Johnson. In this first episode Hanofee and Johnson interview microbiologist Kelly Wrighton. Dr. Wrighton was the recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers for her exceptional work in science and technology leadership. The two speak with Dr. Wrighton about her work studying microorganisms, their genomes, and their environment. Learn how Dr. Wrighton is working to better understand ecosystem function to enhance soil health, improve predictions of greenhouse gas emissions, and how microbes are really the ones running the show!You can find out more about Dr. Wrighton's work on her website: Wrightonlab.comTwitter: Kcwrighton Front Range Microbiome Symposium: frontrangemicrobiomesymposium.comCSU's Soil and Crop Sciences: agsci.colostate.edu/department/soil-and-crop-sciencesSoilent Green Instagram:  @soilentgreenpodcastSoilent Green Email:     soilentgreenpodcast@gmail.com

James DeDecker, PhD is the Director of the MSU Upper Peninsula Research and Extension Center in Chatham, Michigan and a Specialist in the MSU Extension Community, Food and Environment Institute. He earned a BS in Environmental Studies and Anthropology from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, as well as MS and PhD degrees in Crop Sciences from the University of Illinois. James specializes in soil health and fertility, integrated pest management and the human dimensions of agriculture. Phillip Alberti is a commercial agriculture educator with University of Illinois Extension. Phillip works in commercial crop production, assisting growers and producers by providing resources and consultations for production of row crops. His areas of focus include hemp production, soil fertility, and row crop production. Join us in the Zoom webinar for live Q&A and networking.

WRAM "Community Hour" interview with Dr. Andrew Margenot, Assistant Professor of Crop Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Margenot discusses his role in helping farmers to become "better stewards of the soil." (Recorded Nov. 30, 2021)

Listen in on the conversation with Dr. Andrew Smith, the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Scientist of the Rodale Institute, and Dr. Francesca Cotrufo, Professor and Associate Head of the Department of Soil & Crop Sciences and Senior Scientist at the Natural Resource Ecology Lab at Colorado State University. We go in-depth on the practices and the science of soil carbon sequestration based on 40 years of data from Rodale and the expertise of Dr. Cotrufo. This is the first of a 3-part series celebrating and exploring the 40 years of Rodale's Farming Systems Trials. The next two episodes will cover No-till Organic Vegetable Production and the Watershed Impact Trial. Rodale: Carbon White Paper Conversation with Soil Ecologist Dr. Francesca Cotrufo Farming Systems Trial Dr. Cotrufo: Homepage Bio Some recent publications Formation of soil organic matter via biochemical and physical pathways of litter mass loss Global change pressures on soils from land use and management Below-ground carbon inputs contribute more than above-ground inputs to soil carbon accrual in a bioenergy poplar plantation The Microbial Efficiency‐Matrix Stabilization (MEMS) framework integrates plant litter decomposition with soil organic matter stabilization: do labile plant inputs form stable soil organic matter? --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/moses-podcast/message

On this week’s Sustainability Now!, your host, Justin Mog, brings you highlights from the recently concluded 2021 Kentucky Conservation Committee (KCC) Legislative Summit & Annual Meeting which was held virtually over three sessions in January. What we’ll hear today is Session 3 from January 29th, which put the spotlight on Kentucky’s renewable energy future and the potential compatibility of utility-scale solar with sustainable agriculture and land stewardship. This session was opened by Dr. Benjamin Knoll, KCC Board President, Lane Boldman, KCC Executive Director, and Randy Strobo, KCC Legislative Agent. They introduce special guests: - KY Rep. Mark Hart and Senator Reggie Thomas. - Matt Partymiller, of the Kentucky Solar Industries Association. The Kentucky Solar Industries Association represents businesses involved in the nation’s leader in new power generation - the solar industry. KYSEIA’s objective is to provide leadership and promote sound policy in the Commonwealth as our power sector enters the solar-age. - Carson Harkrader, CEO, Carolina Solar Energy. Carson leads Carolina Solar Energy’s business strategy, forging partnerships in new markets. She has recently guided the company into new projects in Kentucky and Western NC. Before joining CSE in 2012, she led teams at GE Energy on worldwide projects. She stepped up to lead the company in early 2018. She lives with her husband and son in Hillsborough, NC. - Michael Baute, Director of Regenerative Energy and Land Management for Silicon Ranch. Michael is responsible for developing and implementing the strategy and internal plans to establish Silicon Ranch as the industry leader in cost-effective regenerative land management. He is also responsible for conventional vegetation management and creates plans to transition the care of our land towards more holistic methods. Michael comes to Silicon Ranch with more than 15 years of diverse land management experience. From fighting wildfires in Alaska to holistically managing large-scale cattle and bison ranches in Colorado and Kentucky; from local food system innovation work in Fort Collins to grazing sheep on solar farms in Minnesota, Michael’s extensive boots-on-the ground experience is balanced by his formal education in Soil and Crop Sciences and his entrepreneurial background. - Plus local farmers Nat Colten and Kris O’Daniel. Learn more about KCC and this year’s Summit at https://kyconservation.org/kcclegislative- summit-2021 As always, our feature is followed by your community action calendar for the week, so get your calendars out and get ready to take action for sustainability NOW! Sustainability Now! airs on FORward Radio, 106.5fm, WFMP-LP Louisville, every Monday at 6pm and repeats Tuesdays at 12am and 10am. Find us at http://forwardradio.org The music in this podcast is courtesy of the local band Appalatin and is used by permission. Explore their delightful music at http://appalatin.com

Creating and measuring a smorgasbord for your microbes is on the menu for today’s podcast with Dr. Stacy Zuber, NRCS Illinois State Soil Health Specialist. We’ll dig into the soil health tests that are available and explore the work Dr. Zuber has done, evaluating soil health tests and key indicators. We’ll discuss soil health opportunities not only in carbon credits but also some of the other benefits that don’t often get as much attention but can be equally as important. Stacy grew up on her family farm in southeast Illinois, and that ag background was the driving force behind her working towards Master’s and Doctorate degrees in Crop Sciences from the University of Illinois. After completing her graduate work, she conducted post-doctoral research at Purdue University and the University of Missouri-Columbia on projects using on-farm research to evaluate soil health tests and indicators. Got questions you want answered? Send them our way and we’ll do our best to research and find answers. Know someone you think would be great on the AgEmerge 2021 stage or on the podcast? Send your questions or suggestions to kim@asn.farm We’d love to hear from you!

[TW/CW: MH, MI] This episode of The Rural Woman Podcast contains discussion of mental health, mental illness, discussion of suicide. These themes may be upsetting to some listeners. If you or a loved one find yourself needing emotional support or are in crisis please note the following resources: https://www.crisisservicescanada.ca/en/ (Crisis Services Canada: )1-833-456-4566 or send a text to 45645 https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ (US National Suicide Prevention Lifeline): 1-800-273-8255 https://www.crisistextline.org/text-us/ (USA & Canada Text Line): Text HOME to 741741 to connect with a Crisis Counselor On this week's episode of The Rural Woman Podcast, you'll meet Liz Hulsizer from West Central Illinois. Liz grew up on her family's century farm where she was active with daily farm activities, 4-H, FFA, and a variety of school activities. She always knew a career in agriculture was right for her, so she attended the University of Illinois where she studied Agriculture Business Management and a minor in Crop Sciences. While still early in her career she's already had experiences with some of the industry's top companies including Nutrien, Pioneer, ADM, and currently at a locally owned agriculture centered bank. Today, in addition to her role as a Trust Officer she continues her active role on her family's farm that she operates with her husband Matthew (Matt), her mom Sally, and her brother Andrew and his family. As her nephew puts it, "She's the best combine operator in the family." And while Liz has certainly experienced the joys of farming, she's also experienced the deep pain that can come with it. Early in her married life to Matt, her father-in-law, David, took his life. At that time, she and Matt quickly became the chief operators, dealing with not only crops, but also hogs and cattle-- they'd been married a mere 13 months and weren't even 25. For show notes including links mentioned in today's episode, head on over to WildRoseFarmer.com

On this Fresh Take episode we welcome Dr. Ram Balasubramanian and Dr. Stephen Forbes. Tune in to listen to our experts share about genetically modified mosquitoes scheduled to be released in Florida and Texas.Dr. Forbes, an expert in microbiology and genetics, holds a PhD in Biomedical Sciences (Immunology and Infectious diseases track), while Dr. Balasubramanian holds degrees in Crop Sciences, Agricultural Engineering, and Ecological Agriculture. Learn what is a GMO mosquito and it's potential implication for Floridians. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is the agency supervising the release of GMO mosquitoes into the Florida environment. The mosquitoes to be released by a third party are to be male mosquitoes, being female mosquitoes the ones needing blood to survive. The male GMO mosquitoes are to breed with female Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes (disease carrying mosquitoes) and produce nonviable offspring. Ideally, the female disease carrying mosquito population will be reduced. The environmental implications are still unknown. Dr. Balasubramanian shares his concern on the development of a drug resistant "super mosquito," and also touches the lack of information available to the general public. The panel of experts share natural and organic ways of controlling mosquito population. These tips and suggestions are non toxic and can be easily followed:Get rid of standing water: puddles, ponds, etc. mosquitoes need standing water to do natural life processes. Eliminate standing water and you might be able to reduce mosquito population around you.Coffee grounds: Dr. Balasubramanian shares how he has been using coffee grounds in his property to keep mosquitoes away.Citronella/ Lemongrass: widely used as a natural mosquito repellent. Want to grow and care for your own citronella? This article explains citronella basics. If your citronella needs fertilizer, we suggest an organic fertilizer as the best alternative.Fans/ Air movement: mosquitoes don't enjoy the breeze! regular airflow might just be the solution to decrease mosquito population in your home.Want to learn more about Aedes Aegypti?Here is comprehensive guide by UF IFAS department of Entomology & Nematology. If you live in an area where GMO mosquito is being released and have a certified organic production, please share that information with your certifying agency. If you would like to learn more about regulations and official documents surrounding this topic, follow this link to Regulations.gov.* Photograph by James Gathany, Center for Disease Control Public Health Image Library.Support the show (https://foginfo.org/donate/)

On this Fresh Take episode we welcome Dr. Ram Balasubramanian and Dr. Stephen Forbes. Tune in to listen to our experts share about genetically modified mosquitoes scheduled to be released in Florida and Texas.Dr. Forbes, an expert in microbiology and genetics, holds a PhD in Biomedical Sciences (Immunology and Infectious diseases track), while Dr. Balasubramanian holds degrees in Crop Sciences, Agricultural Engineering, and Ecological Agriculture. Learn what is a GMO mosquito and it's potential implication for Floridians. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is the agency supervising the release of GMO mosquitoes into the Florida environment. The mosquitoes to be released by a third party are to be male mosquitoes, being female mosquitoes the ones needing blood to survive. The male GMO mosquitoes are to breed with female Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes (disease carrying mosquitoes) and produce nonviable offspring. Ideally, the female disease carrying mosquito population will be reduced. The environmental implications are still unknown. Dr. Balasubramanian shares his concern on the development of a drug resistant "super mosquito," and also touches the lack of information available to the general public. The panel of experts share natural and organic ways of controlling mosquito population. These tips and suggestions are non toxic and can be easily followed:Get rid of standing water: puddles, ponds, etc. mosquitoes need standing water to do natural life processes. Eliminate standing water and you might be able to reduce mosquito population around you.Coffee grounds: Dr. Balasubramanian shares how he has been using coffee grounds in his property to keep mosquitoes away.Citronella/ Lemongrass: widely used as a natural mosquito repellent. Want to grow and care for your own citronella? This article explains citronella basics. If your citronella needs fertilizer, we suggest an organic fertilizer as the best alternative.Fans/ Air movement: mosquitoes don't enjoy the breeze! regular airflow might just be the solution to decrease mosquito population in your home.Want to learn more about Aedes Aegypti?Here is comprehensive guide by UF IFAS department of Entomology & Nematology. If you live in an area where GMO mosquito is being released and have a certified organic production, please share that information with your certifying agency. If you would like to learn more about regulations and official documents surrounding this topic, follow this link to Regulations.gov.* Photograph by James Gathany, Center for Disease Control Public Health Image Library.Support the show (https://foginfo.org/donate/)

EPISODE 20! We made it! I'm not planning on stopping anytime soon, but big milestones are fun! Thanks for listening and for all the support. Y'all, today's episode is great. Dr. Becky Bowling is an Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist in Urban Water with the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences at Texas A&M. She's also hilarious, brilliant, a wonderful educator, and one of my very closest friends. I've wanted to interview Dr. Becky for the show since it started, and was so excited to finally have the opportunity. You're going to love all the awesome stuff she's doing in conservation and education. Grab a bag of popcorn and a frosty beverage and jump into episode 20!Dr. Becky BowlingTwitter: https://twitter.com/TXWaterWomanWater U Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AgriLifeWaterU/Jolly Green Scientists:Apple: https://apple.co/2ML2AsAPodchaser: https://bit.ly/2XMCmMLCastBox: https://bit.ly/3hevm2CGoogle: https://bit.ly/3dQHJjiFacebook: https://bit.ly/2UtNLPgCaptivate: https://bit.ly/3dRyq2OCheck out our Sponsor, Pecan Ridge and use the promo code "plantpeople" at check out for %10 off your order!Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thepecanridge/Website: https://pecanridge.com/ As always, thanks so much for listening! Subscribe, rate, and review Planthropology on your favorite podcast app. It really helps the show keep growing and reaching more people! Also, check out Planthropology on our website and various social media pages, all listed below. As an added bonus, if you review Planthropology on Apple Podcasts or Podchaser and send me a screenshot of it, I'll send you an awesome "Plant People are Cool" sticker!Listen in on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, Castbox, or wherever else you like to get your podcasts.Website: www.planthropologypod.comPodchaser: www.podchaser.com/PlanthropologyFacebook: PlanthropologyFacebook group: Planthropology's Cool Plant PeopleInstagram: @PlanthropologyPodTwitter: @Planthropology_Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/planthropology)

Soil is my favorite topic. I love all things gardening, and I’ve even hurled myself into a large heap of finished compost. Still, soil is king in my book, and the more we learn about the science behind great soil, soil health, and all of the amazing processes going on under the surface, the more enamored I become. My guest today is Dr. Jake Mowrer, and this guy spends much of his day researching and exploring the many aspects of soil we have yet to fully understand. Jake earned a Ph.D. in soil fertility and soil chemistry, which ultimately landed him at the Texas A&M University Department of Soil and Crop Sciences.

Speakers Rich Blaustein (Moderator) Freelance Science, Environmental and Legal Journalist John Field (Speaker) Research Scientist, Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University Keith Paustian (Speaker) University Distinguished Professor, Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, and Senior Research Scientist, Natural Resource Ecology Lab, Colorado State University Kevin Schaefer (Speaker) Research Scientist III and Lead Scientist for NSIDC Science Team, National Snow and Ice Data Center Diana Wall (Speaker) University Distinguished Professor, Director, School of Global Environmental Sustainability and Professor, Department of Biology, Colorado State University Description Scientists, activists and even politicians are increasingly calling attention to the connection of soils and greenhouse gas sequestration and emissions. Undisturbed soils are typically richest in carbon, underscoring the importance of conservation. Moreover, specialists point out that increasing the health of soils, including with amendments like biochar and managing crops for sequestering carbon, could play a significant role in local, national and even global mitigation schemes. At the same time, scientists are greatly concerned that warming temperatures in the northern biome would cause methane and carbon release from permafrost and peatlands, significantly compounding ghg emissions. We will discuss the latest science, policy and opportunities that focus on the connections of soils, conservation and ghg sequestration and emissions. >> John Field's presentation (PPTX/9 MB) >> Keith Paustian's presentation (PDF/1 MB) >> Kevin Schaefer's presentation (PPTX/5 MB) >> Diana Wall's presentation (PDF/18 MB)

Speakers Georgina Gustin (Moderator) Reporter, InsideClimate News Ben Lilliston (Speaker) Director of Rural Strategies and Climate Change, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy Keith Paustian (Speaker ) University Distinguished Professor, Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, and Senior Research Scientist, Natural Resource Ecology Lab, Colorado State University Ernie Shea (Speaker ) President, Solutions from the Land Description Farmers are on the frontline of climate change, at the mercy of worsening extreme weather. Farms also contribute to the problem as greenhouse gas emitters. And they could help solve it — through practices that could store billions of tons of carbon in the soil. Controlling greenhouse gas emissions requires an all-out effort across industries, yet the American farm hasn’t been deployed into action. Why? This panel explores current problems, including policy failures and agri-business strategies, as well as potential solutions.

Seeking Heroes: A Study of Rwanda Rescuers – (Originally aired November 20, 2018)Guest: Nicole Fox, PhD, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at California State University, SacramentoIn the capital city of Rwanda this week, residents discovered a grave site containing 100 corpses. They're believed to be victims of the genocide25 years ago. Over the span of just three months in 1994, more than a million people were murdered in Rwanda. Local leaders and live radio broadcasts were calling for all members of the Hutu ethnic group to kill rival Tutsis. But there were Hutu who risked their lives to rescue and shelter Tutsis. Interviews with some of those rescuers shed valuable light on the dynamics of heroism. Water Quality - (Originally aired June 10, 2019) The WhoDunIt Mystery of the Hamburger's True Origins – (Originally aired May 16, 2019)Guest: Christopher Carosa, Author of “Hamburger Dreams: How Classic Crime Solving Techniques Helped Crack the Case of America's Greatest Culinary Mystery” and President of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists.Fast food is getting slower. We're waiting an average of 20 seconds longer in the drive-thru window, according to a study out this week from the restaurant industry. That's all kinds of food –not just burgers. But it's the hamburger that made fast food the multi-billion-dollar money maker it is today. So claiming to have been the first means big bragging rights. There are actually four different turn-of-the-century food sellers who claim to have invented the burger. Journalist Christopher Carosa pieced together the true story in his book, “Hamburger Dreams” and joined us over the summer. How Parents Can Help Their Young Adult Succeed – (Originally aired June 5, 2019) Guest: Larry Nelson, Professor of Family Life at Brigham Young UniversityWhen do you take the training wheels off and let your kids find their own way in the world? When they turn 18? When they graduate college? The decision is never easy for parents –but it's even more complicated when there are so many young adults living at home in the US. The transition to adulthood is taking longer and is more fraught with perils than it was for you or your parents. That's according to Larry Nelson –a professor of family life at BYU.  Making Super-Plants – (Originally aired January 22, 2019)Guest: Amanda Cavanagh, Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Illinois, and Don Ort, Professor of Plan Biology and Crop Sciences at the University of IllinoisIf you're breathing a sigh of relief that an out-of-control zucchini or tomato vine is finally retiring for the season, this next story might straight you as strange. Scientists at the University of Illinois think plants could grow a lot bigger and faster if only photosynthesis were more efficient. So they're trying to hack the process and at the start of this year I spoke with two of them. Amanda Cavanagh is a post-doc and Don Ort is a professor of plant biology. Their project is called Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency -or RIPE. Bird-eating Sharks – (Originally aired July 11, 2019)Guest: Marcus Drymon, Professor of Fisheries Science at Mississippi State UniversityNature is full of fascinating mysteries. Here's one: how do common backyard birds like doves, swallows and sparrows, end up in the bellies of baby tiger sharks. Do sharks have some sort of high jumping ability we don't know about?

Dr. Steve Long is the Ikenberry University Endowed Chair at the University of Illinois (Champaign, IL, USA) in Plant Biology and Crop Sciences. His research interests include bioengineering the photosynthesis process in crops to achieve higher productivity, sustainability, and adaption to climate change. The blog post for this episode can be found at prof-talks.com.

Biocides may be released into the environment in produced water through spills, surface water disposal, or reuse, potentially impacting public health and the environment. Dr. Thomas Borch, Professor in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences at Colorado State University, discusses why biocides are used in fracking and describes the difficulties identifying and measuring them in produced water.

The greatest challenge we face here at Nori is that of verifying that carbon has, in fact, been captured and stored for good. To our benefit, Colorado State University has developed a whole farm and ranch carbon and greenhouse gas accounting system called COMET-Farm. How does the tool work to estimate how a farmer’s management practices impact soil carbon and greenhouse gas emissions?  Keith Paustian is a professor in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences at CSU. His research deals with soil organic matter dynamics and carbon and nitrogen cycling in managed ecosystems, with a major focus on modeling and field measurement of soil carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas emissions from land use activities. Keith acts as the coordinating lead author for the IPCC in the area of agriculture and national greenhouse gas inventory methods, and he serves on the US Carbon Cycle Steering Group, the Chicago Climate Change Science Advisory Board, the 25X25 Advisory Board, and the Soil Science Society of America Greenhouse Gas Working Group.   Today, Keith sits down with Ross and Christophe to share his path to the study of soil carbon sequestration. Keith explains what happens when we convert land for agriculture and what we can do to recover the lost carbon inventory. He offers insight into COMET-Farm, discussing how the tool’s models quantify changes in soil carbon and greenhouse gas emissions. Listen in to understand the hurdles to widespread adoption of sustainable agriculture and learn how the technology revolution in the space might facilitate Nori’s ambitions to compensate farmers for sustainable practices.   Resources COMET-Farm Natural Resources Conservation Service   Key Takeaways [0:40] Keith’s path to sustainable agriculture Grew up in Colorado, studied forest science Two years in Norway as lab tech PhD in Sweden (ecology of arable lands) Part of global climate change community Developed interest in land use systems [4:09] How to recover the carbon lost in converting lands for agriculture Plants on ground as much as possible Avoid soil disturbance, reduce soil erosion More efficient use of nutrients [6:58] How COMET-Farm works Farmers provide detailed management info Models estimate changes in soil carbon, greenhouse gas emissions  [9:47] Why soil organic carbon is a good proxy for soil health Soil is complex living system Organic matter = food source for organisms Important to physical structure of soil [11:49] The factors that impact the chemical and physical properties of soil Parent material (e.g.: limestone, volcanic ash) Change over time due to climate [15:08] Keith’s take on the Earth’s capacity to store excess CO2in atmosphere Yes, but not all in soil Forests, carbon mineralization and geological storage (i.e.: saline aquifers)  [16:41] The hurdles to widespread adoption of soil carbon sequestration Farmers focused on net return, crop yield May cost more, involve more risk in short-term No immediate tangible benefit [20:40] The benefits of the current technology revolution in agriculture Directly address soil carbon, greenhouse gas emissions Forecast outcomes to facilitate changes in management Understand behavior of organic matter in soil, how to increase  [25:16] The definition of precision agriculture Farmers understand variability in field Map different management zones [26:11] The most common myth around soil carbon Policy community used to say couldn’t be measured

Dr. Stephen Long is the Gutgsell Endowed Professor of Crop Sciences and Plant Biology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He received his BS (1st Agriculture) at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom and his PhD in Plant Sciences from Leeds University in the United Kingdom. Steve served on the faculty in Environmental Physiology at the University of Essex before joining the faculty at the University of Illinois. Steve has received a number of awards and honors during his career, including being named a Fellow of the Royal Society. Steve is here with us today to tell us about his journey through life and science.

You know the joke about the car and the snail. Look at that escargot? Well, snails may be the only thing not powering the automobiles of the future. Trees, grass, algae, even the garbage you toss on the sidewalk has potential for conversion into biofuel. What is America's next top model fuel? Join us on a tour of the contenders. Meet a man who's mad about miscanthus … an astrobiologist's attraction to algae… and the blueprint for building your own biofuel bugs. Also, discover whether any of these next-generation fuel sources could take us to the stars. Put that in your rocket and burn it! Guests: •  Madhu Khanna – Professor of Agriculture and Environmental Economics at the University of Illinois and at the Energy Biosciences Institute •  Stephen Long – Professor of Crop Sciences and Plant Biology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign •  Michelle Chang – Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the University of California at Berkeley •  Bret Stroegn – Graduate student researcher, Energy Bioscience Institute, University of California at Berkeley •  Jonathan Trent – Bioengineering Research Scientist at the NASA Ames Research Center and founder of Global Research into Energy and the Enviornment (GREEN ) •  Richard Obousy – Physicist and co-founder and project leader for Project Icarus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You know the joke about the car and the snail. Look at that escargot? Well, snails may be the only thing not powering the automobiles of the future. Trees, grass, algae, even the garbage you toss on the sidewalk has potential for conversion into biofuel. What is America’s next top model fuel? Join us on a tour of the contenders. Meet a man who’s mad about miscanthus … an astrobiologist’s attraction to algae… and the blueprint for building your own biofuel bugs. Also, discover whether any of these next-generation fuel sources could take us to the stars. Put that in your rocket and burn it! Guests: •   Madhu Khanna – Professor of Agriculture and Environmental Economics at the University of Illinois and at the Energy Biosciences Institute •   Stephen Long – Professor of Crop Sciences and Plant Biology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign •   Michelle Chang – Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the University of California at Berkeley •   Bret Stroegn – Graduate student researcher, Energy Bioscience Institute, University of California at Berkeley •   Jonathan Trent – Bioengineering Research Scientist at the NASA Ames Research Center and founder of Global Research into Energy and the Enviornment (GREEN ) •   Richard Obousy – Physicist and co-founder and project leader for Project Icarus