The Back 40

In this article, Mark Grossi discusses the “pump and fertilize” technique, which involves pumping nutrient-laden groundwater and using it as crop fertilizer. It is an example of drainage water management techniques on agricultural lands. This issue is discussed at length on the Ag Water Forum. Tainted water could be rerouted to crop fertilization By: Mark [...]

By: Rizwana Naqvi Water is a basic necessity of life, yet it remains inaccessible for a large part of the world’s population. At present, almost one fifth of the global population (about 1.2 billion people) live in areas which are water scarce and a quarter live in developing countries that face water shortages. Globally the [...]

This article, by Alice Lipowicz, discusses how the Natural Resources Conservation Service is utilizing more mobile technology that will allow its personnel to spend more time in the field with landowners to help them implement plans to enhance the natural resources that are in their care. USDA conservation corps to go mobile and add Web [...]

By: Joseph Britt Edith Munro had a fine, accessible summary of nitrate reduction practices, recently published in Corn and Soybean Digest, that deserves comment. The Digest piece has good descriptions of five nitrate control practices:  cover crops, controlled (or managed) subsurface drainage, shallow drainage, subsurface bioreactors, and constructed wetlands.  Sand County Foundation, through its Agricultural [...]

By: Bruce Knight What programs do we need to support major commodities that American farmers produce? Virtually every farm bill in recent memory has adopted essentially the same general policy for support and risk management for grains and fibers. The only exceptions have been dairy and sugar. What makes 2012 different is that we no longer have [...]

Why does your water-saving widget increase our collective thirst? By: James G. Workman The ghost of an obscure British economist is disrupting our efforts to conserve energy and water. William Stanley Jevons died more than  century ago, but his specter recently began to haunt hybrid vehicle owners. To get their extra mileage’s worth and display [...]