It’s imperative that soil be protected and conserved as much as possible because the simple fact is that we no longer have the luxury of leaving our degraded soils in the dust as we go in search of new ground. We must take care of the soil if we have any hope that it will continue to provide for us.

Corey Chicoine of Elk Point, South Dakota, Brandon Hope of Sinai, South Dakota, and Brandon Fast of Mountain Lake, Minnesota, all grow both corn and soybeans. For each of them, the year was dry, though not nearly as bad as last year.

Agricultural producers often base their land management decisions on the living things they can see above the ground – crops, livestock, forage, weeds, insects, wildlife, etc. However, new research is showing they should also consider life found in the soil.

Due to dry conditions early in the production season, we are seeing more Palmer amaranth and waterhemp escapes in no-till soybean fields this year.