Farmer-Led Research
Research reports are written by Practical Farmers staff to ensure consistency and quality, and are available to view or download for free.
The Latest Research from PFI
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This research was funded by Ceres Trust. In a Nutshell: Fruit and vegetable farmers commonly use mulch as both a weed suppressant and as a way to maintain soil moisture. In this experiment, Jill Beebout compared two types …
This research was funded by Ceres Trust. In a Nutshell: Ginger is not normally grown in Iowa, so Cait Caughey, Mark Quee, Molly Schintler and Jon Yagla wanted to learn more by determining if ginger yield or quality …
This research was funded by the Walton Family Foundation. In a Nutshell: Vic Madsen was curious to use a companion-planting approach to organic corn production by planting soybeans instead of corn in every third row. Madsen hypothesized that …
This research was funded by the Walton Family Foundation. In a Nutshell: After soil tests revealed a farm-wide decline in soil sulfur at Jack Boyer’s farm in recent years, he was curious to test whether or not corn …
This research was funded by the Walton Family Foundation. In a Nutshell: Kellie and A.J. Blair are aiming to fine-tune the nitrogen fertilization regime for their food-grade oat enterprise. The objective of this trial was to compare oat …
This project was funded by USDA-NCRS and the Walton Family Foundation. In a Nutshell: This was the third year of on-farm research trials designed to evaluate planting corn in 60-in. row-widths for the purpose of improving the success …
This project was funded by Ceres Trust. Why is this important? Farmers in PFI’s Cooperators’ Program have previously conducted enterprise budgets on cucumbers[1,2] and cherry tomatoes[3], and for this project, turned their attention to another charismatic but labor-intensive …
This project was funded by SARE and the Walton Family Foundation. In a Nutshell: Variety selection is a key component of growing high quality oats, but information about which varieties are best suited to perform in a particular …
This project was funded by Ceres Trust. In a Nutshell: Mark Quee and Shanti Sellz evaluated yield of fall-harvested cauliflower varieties. Key Findings: Mardi performed best among all varieties trialed in Quee’s first succession. No differences among varieties …
This research was funded by the following organizations: Walton Family Foundation General Mills Grain Millers, Inc. Albert Lea Seed House Sustainable Food Lab Welter Seed and Honey Co. Kuehl Seed Farm UMN Foundation SDSU Seed Foundation Zabel Seeds …
This project was funded by Ceres Trust In a Nutshell: Julia Slocum and Mark Quee compared organic methods to control squash vine borer in susceptible varieties of winter squash. Key Findings: Row cover was the most effective control …
This project was funded by Walton Family Foundation and Albert Lea Seed House In a Nutshell: Nine cereal rye varieties were screened at two Iowa State University research farms and one commercial farm. Key Findings: Across sites and …
