cover crops

• By Sebe Brown, Trey Price, Tyler Towles, Renada Davis, Myra Purvis, Karla Emfinger, Wade Walker and Dustin Ezell • Cover crops can provide producers a variety of benefits including nutrient cycling , soil cover, nitrogen fixation and pollinator food sources. These cover crops come in many types, including grasses, legumes (mostly clovers) and brassicas (generally tillage radish and rapeseed). ... Read More »

In this 30-minute online presentation, Paul DeLaune —an associate professor and environmental soil scientist at Texas A&M AgriLife Research in Vernon, Texas — tries to demystify cover crops. The use of cover crops is constantly making headlines and being featured in agricultural news outlets. But will they work in your region, especially if it is a semi-arid environment? Exploring how ... Read More »

• By Jeannette E. Warnert • Consumers who purchase luxury cotton textiles want more than cool, soft, absorbent fabric. Increasingly, they demand clothing made from fiber grown using ecologically sound practices and they’re willing to pay for it, said speakers representing the textile industry at a University of California Cooperative Extension webinar on Healthy Soils for Healthy Profits. At the ... Read More »

So far, 2020 is the year that keeps on giving. We can’t seem to catch a break, and most folks are ready to get this year behind us. Despite all the challenges we’ve faced, we have a substantial top crop — albeit late maturing — that has developed since early August. We were all hoping for fall weather similar to ... Read More »

The Soil Health Institute has launched “Cotton & Covers,” a Healthy Soils for Sustainable Cotton video series. It follows three Southeastern cotton producers as they discuss their individual journeys to build profitable soil health management systems on their farms. Each producer is a mentor to other farmers in the soil health training program, working with neighbors to expand the knowledge ... Read More »

Well-known appellations, powerful marketing and excellent products make California wines valuable. Could the same be done for California’s cotton crop? California farmers produce high-quality cotton but currently take in only 62 cents per pound, a price that makes turning a profit challenging. UC Cooperative Extension is working with a team of soil health and fiber sustainability experts to offer an ... Read More »

The cotton field day scheduled for March 26 has been cancelled.   Farmers and other agriculture professionals interested in cotton are invited to a field day from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., March 26, to find ways to revitalize the California cotton industry. The meeting will be at Teixeira & Sons Farm, 11323 Erreca Road, Dos Palos. For free registration, email ... Read More »