Title Year Category
Description

This research was funded by USDA-NIFA.  In a Nutshell: Jack Boyer, Eric Fynaardt, Kevin Holl and Rob Stout conducted strip trials for a second year to test the effect of cereal rye cover crop termination date on corn …


Publish Date
February 9, 2022

PFI Staff
Stefan Gailans
Cooperators
Jack Boyer
Eric Fynaardt
Kevin Holl
Rob Stout
Collaborators
Dr. Alison Robertson, ISU Plant Pathology & Microbiology
Description

This research was funded by the Iowa Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS).  In a Nutshell: The practice of cover crop grazing provides economic returns, and farmers wonder if benefits to soil health follow suit. Economic returns are realized …


Publish Date
January 19, 2022

PFI Staff
Meghan Filbert
Cooperators
Nick Smith
Tim Daly
Description

This research was funded by Ceres Trust. In a Nutshell: Cooperators who tested cabbage varieties in a 2020 variety trial found the red varieties yielded less and were of poorer quality compared to the green cabbage varieties. They …


Publish Date
January 19, 2022

PFI Staff
Hayley Nelson
Cooperators
Emily Fagan and Hannah Breckbill
Alice McGary
Description

This research was funded by the Walton Family Foundation. In a Nutshell: Since 2015, a cohort of PFI farmers has been conducting on-farm research to determine how late they can delay the termination date of cover crops relative …


Publish Date
January 11, 2022

PFI Staff
Hayley Nelson
Cooperators
Dick Sloan
Description

This research was funded by Ceres Trust. In a Nutshell: Carmen & Maja Black and Helaina Thompson, Mark Quee and Jon Yagla wanted to test new basil varieties bred for downy mildew resistance to see if they provided …


Publish Date
January 11, 2022

PFI Staff
Megan Sweeney
Cooperators
Carmen & Maja Black and Helaina Thompson
Mark Quee
Jon Yagla
Description

This research was funded by the Walton Family Foundation.  In a Nutshell: July harvest of small-grains crops presents the opportunity to grow both nitrogen-fixing legume cover crops and forage cover crops for cattle grazing. In this project, Arlyn …


Publish Date
January 10, 2022

PFI Staff
Stefan Gailans
Cooperators
Arlyn Kauffman
Description

This research was funded by the McKnight Foundation.  In a Nutshell: Whey is a common byproduct of making dairy products from goats raised on the farm by Carmen & Maja Black, Helaina Thompson and Carlos Williams. They wondered …


Publish Date
December 14, 2021

PFI Staff
Megan Sweeney
Cooperators
Carmen & Maja Black
Helaina Thompson & Carlos Williams
Description

This research was funded by the Walton Family Foundation.  In a Nutshell: In recent years, several farmers have wondered about using clover as a companion cover crop or “living mulch” with corn. Such a strategy would increase the …


Publish Date
December 10, 2021

PFI Staff
Stefan Gailans
Cooperators
Jack Boyer
Dick Sloan
Description

This research was funded by Walton Family Foundation and USDA-NRCS.  In a Nutshell: This was the fourth year of on-farm research trials designed to evaluate planting corn in 60-in. row-widths for the purpose of improving the success of …


Publish Date
December 10, 2021

PFI Staff
Stefan Gailans
Cooperators
Landon Brown
Tim Sieren
Description

In a Nutshell: Alec Amundson, Sam Bennett and Steve Saltzman wondered if fungicide seed treatments might be more necessary for their early-planted soybeans than neonicotinoid seed treatments. The objective of their research was to compare the effects of …


Publish Date
December 6, 2021

PFI Staff
Hayley Nelson
Cooperators
Alec Amundson
Sam Bennett
Steve Saltzman
Description

This research was funded by SARE and 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 site …


Publish Date
November 15, 2021

PFI Staff
Lydia English
Cooperators
Ortrude Dial
Eric Madsen
Matt Miller
Justin Petersen
Landon Plagge
Collaborators
Pablo Sandro Garcia, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Description

Oats grow well in Iowa and have multiple purposes: to sell as food-grade grain, livestock feed, or cover crop seed. The state of Iowa used to be the number one oat-producing state, with over six million acres of …


Publish Date
November 8, 2021

PFI Staff
Practical Farmers of Iowa