Farm Journal Smart Farming

Residue might hamper uptake, surface cover slows soil warming and most cover crops raise the carbon penalty. Farm Journal Field Agronomist Ken Ferrie shares timing and placement tips for phosphorus, sulfur and nitrogen.

Farm Journal Test Plot research proves practices that reduce soil disturbance and sequester carbon perform best in a vertical farming system, as opposed to horizontal tillage, which creates yield-limiting soil layers.

Once you balance fertility and pH in the soil profile, and adjust to making small, more frequent lime applications, you probably won’t need to mix fertilizer into the soil, says Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal field agronomist.