Keeping Carbon in the Plains: How No-Till and Intensive Rotations Build Soil Health

Farming in the Great Plains has always been a balancing act with moisture and soil quality. For decades, the standard wheat-fallow system helped stabilize short-term yields. However, leaving fields fallow and using heavy tillage comes with a hidden cost. Over time, these practices accelerate the loss of soil organic matter and vital nutrients.

A comprehensive 1998 research review, Reduced Tillage and Increasing Cropping Intensity in the Great Plains Conserves Soil C, brings together years of field data from North Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, and Texas. The authors prove that combining no-till with intense crop rotations can stop this downward spiral. By disturbing the soil less and growing more crops, you can actively store carbon back in the ground.

Download the Full Great Plains Carbon Study

Want to see the charts comparing bulk density shifts, particulate organic matter breakdowns, and regional water-use efficiency curves across all five states? Download the complete, unedited research paper to optimize your own ranch management practices.

Download the full publication PDF here

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The 5 Keys to No-Till Success: Managing Diversity and Weeds

Switching to a no-till system involves more than just parking your plow. To make no-till truly work, you need to look at your farm as an interconnected system. If you change how you handle the soil, you must also change how you manage your crops and pests.

This helpful guide from the North Dakota NRCS newsletter series, Successful No-Till, breaks down the core elements of a highly productive no-till setup. According to the research, a successful system relies on five critical pillars: crop rotation, weed control, seed placement, fertility, and residue management.

Here is a simple look at how to balance these keys on your own acres.

Download the Full Publication

Want to read the full breakdown on managing crop residues, choosing seeding rates, and rotating herbicide chemistries to prevent weed resistance? Download the complete, unedited publication guides to improve your farm practices for soil health.

Download the full Successful No-Till PDF here

The post Successful No-Till (From the Ground Up) first appeared on North 40 Ag.

Sustainable Dryland Agroecosystem Management: Better Dryland Crop Rotations

For generations, the standard playbook for dryland farming relied on a simple two-year wheat-fallow cycle. The goal was basic: give the ground a year off to store water. However, leaving your soil bare and exposed actually hurts your soil structure. It also leaves money on the table.

This 12-year research project from Colorado State University and the USDA-ARS proves that active, no-till crop rotations work much better. The cooperative study, called Sustainable Dryland Agroecosystem Management, offers concrete proof that smarter rotations build better soil and protect your bottom line. By swapping long fallow periods for active summer crops, you can convert stored moisture directly into cash.

Download the Full Presentation

Looking to see the exact charts for water storage, nitrogen rates, and residue levels? Download the unedited report to build better ranch management practices on your own acres.

Download the full Sustainable Dryland Agroecosystem Management PDF here

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The Underground Blueprint: What Vegetable Roots Reveal About Tillage and Soil Management

When we evaluate farm practices for soil health, we almost always look at what is happening above the surface. However, a true scientific understanding of plant performance requires a vivid mental picture of the plant as a complete biological unit.

In this seminal textbook, Root Development of Vegetable Crops (1927), plant ecologists John E. Weaver and William E. Bruner map out the depth and lateral spread of crop roots. By excavating full root systems using direct trench mapping, their research reveals how different crops interact with the subsoil, and why traditional, aggressive cultivation often does more harm than good.

Download the Full Presentation

Want to see the field illustrations, soil profile mechanical analyses, and individual root elongation charts for crops like peas, tomatoes, squash, and horseradish? Access the complete, unedited textbook to add structural depth to your ranch management practices and soil health frameworks.

Download the full Root Development of Vegetable Crops PDF here

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Can Bio-Concoctions and Diversity Boost Yields? Lessons from Menoken Farm

What happens when an operation scales back traditional models and leans into live biology?

It sounds like a gamble for a profitable ag operation, but the field trial data collected from The Menoken Farm proves that pairing modern ranch management practices with active soil biology can optimize crop performance and protect your margins.

In this research presentation, NRCS conservationist Jay Fuhrer breaks down the exact multi-species cover crop configurations, high-density grazing cycles, and biological applications Menoken Farm used to jumpstart natural nutrient cycling on regional soils.

Download the Full Presentation

Ready to read the full publication? Open the complete slide deck to discover how to implement these farm practices for soil health on your own acreage.

Download the full Menoken Farm publication PDF here

The post The Menoken Farm first appeared on North 40 Ag.

Prussic Acid Poisoning: How To Avoid It, And Other Concerns During Fall Grazing

Prussic acid is tricky to test for because it is volatile and if not sampled correctly, can test as safe from the lab when it is not safe. To test for prussic acid toxicity:

1. Sample the youngest leaves from 20 plants across the field
2. Gently fold leaves and place into a zip lock bag. (Take extra caution not to damage the leaves, if the leaves are damages it opens up the plant for the prussic acid to volatize before it gets to the lab, giving it a false safe result)
3. Overnight your sample so it arrives at the lab Monday-Thursday (this ensures it can be sampled right away for the best results) 

If the sample comes back marginal or unsafe, don’t worry you can still utilize the forage. Wait 7-10 days after a killing frost or swathing before it is safe to graze. This gives time for the prussic acid to volatize off. 

Prussic acid binds to the hemoglobin in the bloodstream which hinders oxygen transfer therefore causing asphyxiation. Symptoms of prussic acid poisoning appear rapidly, within minutes of the livestock consuming forage. Immediate symptoms include staggering, labored breathing, spasms, and foaming at the mouth. Affected animals will often lie, and thrash quickly. If treatment isn’t administered quickly it will result in death. 

Do not forget to also test nitrates in your forage. Drought make plants more apt to carry unsafe levels of nitrates. The problem occurs more in ruminants than other livestock animals, if the cattle or sheep are pregnant one of the first telling signs is abortion. Other signs of nitrate poisoning include labored breathing, muscle tremors, and a staggered gait, if not treated the animal can die quickly. 

Overall, sorghum sudangrasses and other species provide high quality and quantity forage, especially in years of drought. With such a tough year, be sure to take a these few steps to ensure your continued success. 

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The post Prussic Acid Poisoning: How To Avoid It, And Other Concerns During Fall Grazing first appeared on North 40 Ag.

Florida Broadleaf

This broadleaf produces a great taproot that has fibrous roots that come off it which helps it naturally break up compaction. This brassica produces the most biomass out of any of the brassicas which makes for ideal grazing scenarios. Also, forage produced by mustard plants have been shown to act as dewormer’s in livestock. Some concern has been made about having a tough time terminating this species, but it’s been shown to be easily controlled with the appropriate herbicide. It does need to be noted that if planted too early, this will bolt and set seed.

1 = Poor and 5 = Excellent

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Sunflower: Black Oil Seed

Sunflowers are one of the best producing and economical options for warm season broadleaf plants. With a deep taproot that will help in alleviating compaction zones and simultaneously pulling up nitrogen from deep, sunflowers are beneficial in numerous areas. Along with the big taproot, sunflowers are an ideal broadleaf for grazing livestock. Several producers have made mention of the coat on their livestock having a shine to it after being turned out in a field with sunflowers and safflowers. In addition to everything mentioned above, sunflowers will bring in beneficial insects.

1 = Poor and 5 = Excellent

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Safflower: Baldy

A warm season broadleaf that is in the same plant family as sunflower, safflower has produced well across central/eastern Montana for a bevy of reasons. This particular variety, “Baldy”, is spineless, developed in Montana and has been shown to produce great forage for livestock, upland birds and big game. Its taproot is great for helping in breaking up a compaction layer and accumulating nitrogen. When it does flower, safflower will bring in beneficial insects.

1 = Poor and 5 = Excellent

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Plantain

Plantain is best suited for when building soil and grazing are the main goals. Plantain does well across a wide range of soil types and conditions because of its taproot AND fibrous root system. It doesn’t produce well when seeded as a monoculture which is why it is preferred to be seeded in a diverse mix.

1 = Poor and 5 = Excellent

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