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 Kathy Dice assessed mass loss of green and black tea bags buried in four diverse agroforestry sites, one wooded site and one conventional crop field. Mass loss of …
This research was funded by the Walton Family Foundation. In a Nutshell: July harvest of Tom Frantzen’s organic hybrid rye crop affords him the opportunity to grow a nitrogen-fixing green manure between rye harvest and planting corn the …
This research was funded by the Walton Family Foundation. In a Nutshell: The objective of this trial was to determine the most profitable and sustainable green manure system for planting between winter wheat and corn. Sloan compared cover …
This research was funded by McDonald’s and USDA – Natural Resource Conservation Service. In a Nutshell: Oats were once a common feed source for livestock, but over the last seventy years were replaced by corn. Farmers have a …
This research was funded by Ceres Trust. In a Nutshell: Mid-summer cabbage is popular, so Carmen & Maja Black, Kate Edwards, Alice McGary, Hannah Breckbill & Emily Fagan wanted to determine which cabbage variety: Farao, Red Express, Tiara, …
This research was funded by the Walton Family Foundation. In a Nutshell: Jack Boyer was curious to determine if the benefits of long-term cover cropping to soil health would allow him to reduce his nitrogen program. In a …
This research was funded by the Walton Family Foundation. In a Nutshell: Dick Sloan questions the value of neonicotinoid seed treatments and is concerned about their negative impacts. Th e objective of this trial was to measure the …
In a Nutshell: Strategies are needed to offset the cost of cover crops that precede corn while minimizing yield drag and seedling diseases and maximizing cover crop benefits. In the second year of a two-year project, four cooperators …
This research was funded by the Walton Family Foundation. In a Nutshell: The objective of this trial was to determine the effect of seeding a cereal rye companion cover crop just prior to planting organic soybeans on weed …
This research was funded by The Cedar Tree Foundation. In a Nutshell: There are close to 1.7 million acres of CRP land in Iowa, much of which could be utilized as grazing land, but strict grazing restrictions apply. …
This project was funded by Ceres Trust In a Nutshell: Maja & Carmen Black and Natasha Hegmann were interested in learning the impact of double-leader pruning on tomato yield and labor-time in their high tunnels. Cooperators measured data …
This project was funded by Ceres Trust In a Nutshell In this experiment, Alice McGary compared four bed preparation techniques for broccoli in order to reduce the soil compaction. McGary measured soil bulk density, soil penetration resistance (compaction), …
