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 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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
This research was funded by Walton Family Foundation, Albert Lea Seed House, General Mills, Welter Seed and Honey Co., Meridian Seeds, Sponheim Seed, SDSU Seed Foundation, and Zabel Seeds. In a Nutshell: 18 oat varieties were screened at …
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 to maximize yield and profitability. The Blairs conducted strip …
This research was funded by Ceres Trust. In a Nutshell: Farmers Hannah Breckbill and Emily Fagan of Humble Hands Harvest and Kate Edwards of Wild Woods Farm would like to harvest spring-planted cabbage, a cool-season crop, later into …
This research was funded by Walton Family Foundation and Albert Lea Seed House In a Nutshell Nine cereal rye varieties were screened at four Iowa State University research farms. Key Findings: Across sites and varieties, average cereal rye …
This research was funded by Ceres Trust. In a Nutshell: With a desire to prolong availability of spring-planted spinach into summer – a period when bolting and subsequent yield reduction is more likely to occur – Hannah Breckbill, …
