HOME:
Current Soil Health News from
Hoorman Soil Health Services

  Farmers are starting to buy seed for next year to get the early discounts. GMO (genetically modified) corn and soybeans are popular in the United States. About 90-94% of soybean and 87-92% of corn in the USA are GMO. The USA produces 38% of all GMO crops in the world. Other countries, like Europe (Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Italy) and Mexico have banned or limited GMO crops. Mexico and Europe want food security against monopolies. In Europe, after World War II, food security became a big issue and they consider the risks too high to accept GMO crops. What constitutes a GMO? Scientist select a gene that helps with a certain trait (insect resistance, herbicide tolerance, drought, etc.). They transfer that gene to another plant, test it, get government approval for the gene, and then release it for commercial production. A benefit of GMO crops is that they speed up natural selection for beneficial genes. Gene stacking involves putting several beneficial GMO genes in the sam

  Farmers, starting in 2025, will get paid for corn delivered to ethanol plants based on a carbon intensity score (CIS). This is part of the Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (BIRA) which has to do with trying to reduce climate change impacts. The BIRA program starts in January 2025 and runs for 3 years. Farms with a lower CSI may get higher premiums while farms with higher CSI may not even be able to sell their corn to an ethanol plant. Farmer’s need to start planning, collecting data, and even change some farming practices to lower their CSI if they want to take advantage of the program. BIRA pays ethanol plants and biofuel companies (biodiesel and sustainable aviation fuels) to collect the data and they are the ones that get paid the tax incentives and tax credits. According to Mike Estadt, OSU Extension Educator, “The government decided it was easier to work with close to 100 ethanol plants and pay them to conduct the program then to try to collect data from 100,000 farmers.” Mike is

The world of agriculture is changing quickly with all the new technology. Artificial intelligence (AI); automated planting, spraying, and harvesting; and nutrient management are all being incorporated into farming operations to increase efficiency and yields. This article will focus on changes in nutrient management. Plant nutrition impacts yield and the quality of our food supply and impacts pests (weeds, insects, disease). Most farmers have insufficient data for the immediate nutrient needs of a plant, leading to fertilizer misapplication and significant challenges in fruit and grain quality. Good plant nutrition at the right time improves plant health, soil health and also reduces issues with pests. Extensive research has established the link between disease susceptibility and specific nutritional imbalances associated with each disease. By managing a crop’s nutritional needs, it is possible to significantly reduce or even eliminate pest susceptibility, however, farmers need to meas

  This revised article comes from Larry Tombaugh (2023). So, what's the big deal about humates? Humates reconditioned the soil around Chernobyl after the nuclear reactor had a melt-down. Humates give us fulvic acid which is used to treat medical patients more effectively. Humates have a CEC (cation exchange capacity) of over 600, contains 65 micronutrients, and has both positive and negative sites. So, humates are a great soil conditioner and plant biome facilitator! Humates are a big deal! A teaspoonful of dry humic eaten about 4 or 5 times a week will feed your gut microbes (over 8,000 bacteria and fungi strains in a healthy gut). Humates is a broad term for the carbon-based product formed after the Ice Age all around the world. Potency depends on the amounts of Humic and Fulvic acid. Russia claims about 75%, New Mexico and North Dakota 80% and Canada about 85%. Where the ore was formed determines its purity. The reason Canadian ore is superior is because it was formed from 30-fo