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Hoorman Soil Health Services

  Recent soybean research by Dr. Rafiq Islam, Ohio State University shows benefits from using sulfur fertilization and small doses of aspirin or salicylic acid (SA, a fulvic acid) to increase soybean yields. Soybeans are planted on about 86.5 million USA acres. Yearly increases in soybean yields have been flat and with lower prices, farmers are looking for ways to get higher yields. Hot weather, drought, flooding and other environmental issues have caused soybean yields to stagnate. Dr. Islam used research funds from the Ohio Soybean Council to investigate salicylic acid (SA). SA helps crops tolerate drought and stress by more efficiently regulating stomatal closure (water loss from leaves), transpiration, and proline biosynthesis (an amino acid which helps proteins to form). By enhancing stress tolerance, SA could help improve soybean yields and quality under challenging conditions. Another growing concern for soybean cultivation is soil sulfur deficiency, due to reduced atmosph...

A new trend emerged at the CTTC conference last month. At least one third of presentations had soil health, regenerative farming, or cover crops in the title. A big change in farming practices started with soil and health and cover crops from 2010-2020, but that trend has slowed down. Was it just a fad? The last 3-5 years have been tough. Dry weather and volatile crop and input prices makes change difficult. Slowly, more research is being started and a new generation is interested in soil health and regenerative topics. More farmers and researchers are looking at the advantages and disadvantages of new farming techniques. Dr. Oslo Cotez, a new OSU cover crop and corn production specialist is researching this change. Dr. Cortez says the biggest problem with farmers planting cover crops is getting them seeded and established after harvest. He is actively researching farmers transitioning to no-till and cover crops. Dr. Oslo has set up several long-term field scale sites throughout Ohio....