Soil health is rooted in a comprehensive farm management strategy. Knowing how to utilize natural soil heal stimulants to maximize crop production is an objective of Aaron Hird, Nebraska's NRCS state soil health specialist. Hird shares soil health principals promoted by the NRCS including the use of dual purpose cover crops for grazing as well as other opportunities to enhance a strip-till system.

In this episode of the Strip-Till Farmer podcast, brought to you by NovAtel, Dr. Joel Gruver, professor of Soil Science and Sustainable Agriculture in the School of Agriculture at Western Illinois University, shares some of the key takeaways from his on-farm collaboration with farmers on how they've utilized cover crops as a systematic puzzle piece.

A record number of Iowa farmers signed up to install nutrient reduction practices -- including cover crops, no-till/strip till or nitrification inhibitors -- on their farms through the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship’s statewide water quality cost share program.

Check out the latest cover crop seeds from some of the industry's leading suppliers.

Soil is meant to be covered. This is a foundational philosophy for Steve Groff during more than 20 years of research, experimentation and full-scale farming with cover crops. The founder of Cover Crop Coaching says consistent ground cover and living roots in the soil are essential to maximizing ecological benefits.

Jay Fuhrer of the NRCS explains why soil armor, minimizing soil disturbance, plant diversity, continual live plant roots and livestock integration are all key to soil health.

This year, 35 more farms will join a revolutionary research effort that hopes to show U.S. farmers how sustainability through soil health can also lead to increased profitably.

With over 2,000 farmers participating in the fourth annual survey, results once again showed that corn and soybean yields increased following cover crops.