Cover crops slow erosion, improve soil, smother weeds, enhance nutrient and moisture availability, help control many pests and bring a host of other benefits to your farm. At the same time, they can reduce costs, increase profits and even create new sources of income. You¿ll reap dividends on your cover crop investments for years, since their benefits accumulate over the long term. This book will help you find which ones are right for you. Captures farmer and other research results from the past ten years. The authors verified the info. from the 2nd ed., added new results and updated farmer profiles and research data, and added 2 chap. Includes maps and charts, detailed narratives about individual cover crop species, and chap. about aspects of cover cropping.

A practical guide to soil tests for Australian soils and conditions.

Traditionally, livestock manure has been used to provide nutrients for plant growth and to improve soil conditions. However, the increase in concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) results in high levels of plant nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, in the proximal crop and pasturelands as a result of applying more manure than what is required to meet the local plant nutrient demand. Soil runoff and leaching of land-applied manure can enrich the surface and ground water with nitrogen and phosphorus, leading to eutrophication and hypoxia. In addition, overapplication of animal manure contributes to pathogen spread, the release of hormones and other pharmaceutically active compounds, and the emission of ammonia, greenhouse gases, and odorous compounds. In this Special Issue, we present 11 interesting articles covering the production of renewable energy and fuels, extraction of ammonia from animal manure, the agricultural and environmental benefits of using animal manure or its derived materials such as biochar or ashes, and the difference in microbial communities and pathogen survival after anaerobic lagoon treatment.

"'Published by the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program, with funding from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture."

One of the main approaches for safeguarding food security, sustainable development has increased demand for knowledge on fertilizer management in crop production. Among essential plant nutrients, nitrogen is one of the most important yield-limiting nutrients, mainly responsible for determining yield and yield components in cereals and legumes. It is also responsible for the activation of many enzymes and, of course, plays an important role in photosynthesis. With a recovery efficiency of less than 50 percent in most cropping systems, a large portion of the nitrogen applied as fertilizer is not used by plants, creating environmental and economic issues. Nitrogen Management in Crop Production covers the critical aspects for the judicious use of nitrogen in cropping systems. This includes appropriate methods of nitrogen application, effective source and timing of application during crop growth cycles, use of an adequate application rate to avoid loss and reduce cost, use of nitrogen-efficient crop genotypes, and use of legumes that fix sufficient amounts of atmospheric nitrogen. There is also a chapter on organic matter and its role in sustainability. This book presents recent information from the international literature, making it relevant for most agroecological regions. Chapters provide experimental results to aid in practical application of the information. The book contains color photos of nitrogen deficiency symptoms to serve as a guide for important crop species, such as rice, dry bean, wheat, soybean, and corn. It also includes numerous tables and figures, providing an easy-to-read reference.