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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Abstract Cover crops have been increasing in popularity because of the benefits they provide to the soil and the environment, among others; however, they are rarely harvested. Not only can a cover crop protect Iowa’s soil from erosion …
Abstract Many PFI vegetable producers grow sweet potatoes. To increase the marketable yield of sweet potatoes, some have heard that it is effective to remove roots formed by sweet potato runners to help concentrate energy growth to the …
Abstract Jill Beebout and Sean Skeehan of Blue Gate Farm have kept records in their high tunnel for the past three seasons to create Iowa-specific scheduling and marketing information to determine which high tunnel crops generate the most …
Abstract Soybean aphid, Aphis glycines Matsumura (Hemiptera: Aphididae), is a pest to soybeans in Iowa. In certain years, it can be economically devastating to a farming operation. Conventional farmers can use insecticides to control soybean aphid populations but …
Abstract Six cooperators documented their local and distance food purchases between May 1, 2010 and July 31, 2011. For this study, local food was defined as food produced within Iowa. After 15 months of data collection, the data …
Abstract During Iowa’s spring 2008 floods, PFI members who had grass-based livestock systems and long crop rotations reported that their soils held the rainwater. This experiment tested those claims. The main objective of the study was to quantify …
Tips for Increasing Local Food Purchases From what the participants learned through this project, here are some tips for increasing your local food purchases: Start by reading labels and learning how far the food travels at the grocery …
Abstract Scattergood Farm measured the effects of two cover crops or no cover crop on numbers of weeds and compaction measured by soil density in a vegetable crop following a transition from a pasture. The treatments tested were …
Abstract Organic production typically delays planting of soybean (Glycine max) until late May. However, a longer season provides time needed to reach maximum yield potential. In 2011, planting dates in mid-May resulted in yields five bushels per acre …
Abstract Flea beetles can cause significant damage to eggplants and reduce harvest yields. In 2010, Ben Saunders compared kaolin clay and row covers as physical barriers to reduce flea beetle damage on eggplants. Yields were higher in both …
Abstract Soybeans (Glycine max) are an important source of protein in animal diets, fed as soybean meal. Raw soybeans contain trypsin inhibitor (TI), which reduces protein digestion, feed efficiency and limits on-farm feeding of raw, unroasted soybeans to …
Abstract Three winter feeding strategies for growing calves—low-input, medium-input, and high-input—were tested by weighing the animals periodically to determine rates of weight gain for each strategy. Calves fed distiller’s syrup on stockpiled pasture and then as a supplement …
