Nutrient runoff in the Mississippi River Basin has caused a hypoxic “dead” zone in the Gulf of Mexico. The Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy provides a framework for farmers to
Conservation planning is the primary tool the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) uses to help farmers manage and protect the nation’s soil, water, air, plant, animal, energy, and human
The UN Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) concluded in September 2021. It was a much-needed global initiative with high expectations of transforming the world food systems and addressing the growing threat
Depletion of soil organic carbon (SOC) resulting from extractive agriculture is a key driver of soil degradation. Much of this SOC has been released to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide,
Agricultural nonpoint source pollution has been identified as a major cause of water quality impairments in the United States. Increased fertilizer use, while contributing to increased productivity, leads to pollution
Root-knot nematodes are the most aggressive and damaging plant parasitic nematodes (PPNs) on many crops. Brassicaceous cover crops are known to produce biocidal isothiocyanates, volatile allelopathic compounds that can be
Ecosystem services (ES) are the benefits people obtain from nature, which fall into three categories: provisioning, regulation/maintenance, and cultural. Ecosystem disservices are damages which can be of natural and/or anthropogenic
Natural soil is an ecosystem consisting of minerals, organic matter (OM), living organisms, water, and air and maintaining an unceasing flow of matter and energy within and with the surrounding