"Putting the Soil Health Principles to the Test in Iowa, USA" with Dr. Marshall McDaniel and Hillary Olson

Soil health principles can help guide farmers in best practices for long term soil health and improvement. However, it's important to test these principles across locations and contexts to see how their implementation is actually shaping soil health. In this episode, Marshall and Hillary join me to discuss testing the soil health principles in Iowa and how this might be expanded into further regions.

Tune in to learn:

· What the soil health principles are

· Which soil health indicators are fast or slow movers

· Why it's difficult to weight soil health principles

· What future research is yet to be done

If you would like more information about this topic, this episode's paper is available here: https://doi.org/10.1002/saj2.20761

This paper is always freely available.

Contact us at [email protected] or on Twitter @FieldLabEarth if you have comments, questions, or suggestions for show topics, and if you want more content like this don't forget to subscribe. If you'd like to see old episodes or sign up for our newsletter, you can do so here: https://fieldlabearth.libsyn.com/.

If you would like to reach out to Marshall, you can find him here: [email protected]

If you would like to reach out to Hillary, you can find her here: [email protected]

Resources

CEU Quiz: https://web.sciencesocieties.org/Learning-Center/Courses/Course-Detail?productid={599CC6CF-E055-F111-BEC7-0022480A5E44}

Transcripts: https://www.rev.com/app/transcript/NmEwZWZmOWI2MGY5M2E0NzIxNzBhMzk0N3dEdVNTQTJSZlpW/o/VEMwNzE0NTg0MjI2

NRCS Soil Health website: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/conservation-basics/natural-resource-concerns/soil/soil-health

In field soil health assessment: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/conservation-basics/soil/soil-health/soil-health-assessment

McDaniel lab: https://www.soil-plant.com

McDaniel lab X: https://x.com/Soil_Plant_IXNs

McDaniel lab Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/soil-plant.bsky.social

McDaniel Lab LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/soil-plant-ixns/

Soil Health Institute: https://soilhealthinstitute.org/

Maximum water holding capacity with a DIY method: A simple, affordable, do-it-yourself method for measuring soil maximum water holding capacity. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis, 55(8), 1190-1204.

Permanganate oxidizable carbon (POXC) study: Permanganate oxidizable carbon reflects a processed soil fraction that is sensitive to management. https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj2011.0286

A Soil Owner's Manual: How to Restore and Maintain Soil Health by John Stika: https://www.amazon.com/Soil-Owners-Manual-Restore-Maintain/dp/1530431263

Teaming with Microbes by Jeff Lowenfels and Wayne Lewis: https://www.amazon.com/Teaming-Microbes-Organic-Gardeners-Revised/dp/1604691131

Field, Lab, Earth is Copyrighted by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America.

Michael Torrey and Julie McClure of Torrey Advisory Group join Society CEO Jim Cudahy to discuss the impacts of the current administration on the Societies' sciences, the Farm Bill, and how our members can be involved.

Contact us at [email protected] or on Twitter @FieldLabEarth if you have comments, questions, or suggestions for show topics, and if you want more content like this don't forget to subscribe. If you'd like to see old episodes or sign up for our newsletter, you can do so here: https://fieldlabearth.libsyn.com/.

If you would like to reach out to Michael, you can find him here: [email protected]

If you would like to reach out to Julie, you can find her here: [email protected]

Resources

Transcripts: https://www.rev.com/app/transcript/NjllMTRjNWU3NzQ2MzEwZDYwZDAxZjYxcWRtRmxqVHJ6dGU4/o/VEMwODEwNzc1NDIw

Torrey Advisory Group: https://torreydc.com/

Societies' Science Policy efforts: https://www.sciencesocieties.org/science-policy

Field, Lab, Earth is Copyrighted by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America.

"Wild bee visitation unaffected by disparate nectar phenotypes in a sunflower inbred line population" with Dr. Jarrad Prasifka.

Bees are important pollinators for sunflowers. But, just like humans, they also have preferences, which means it's important for sunflower breeders to breed the kinds of sunflowers that bees like best. In this episode, Dr. Jarrad Prasifka joins me to discuss sunflower nectar and how much it affects wild bee preferences for sunflower lines.

Tune in to learn:

· How sunflower lines are bred

· How researchers check for bee preferences

· How nectar phenotypes affect wild bee preferences in sunflower

· Which other factors affect wild bee preferences in sunflower

If you would like more information about this topic, this episode's paper is available here: https://doi.org/10.1002/csc2.70093

This paper is always freely available.

Contact us at [email protected] or on Twitter @FieldLabEarth if you have comments, questions, or suggestions for show topics, and if you want more content like this don't forget to subscribe. If you'd like to see old episodes or sign up for our newsletter, you can do so here: https://fieldlabearth.libsyn.com/.

If you would like to reach out to Jarrad, you can find him here: [email protected]

Resources

CEU Quiz: https://web.sciencesocieties.org/Learning-Center/Courses/Course-Detail?productid=%7b303FF088-DA39-F111-88B5-00224808D3E1%7d

Transcripts: https://www.rev.com/app/transcript/NjllMTRjNWM3NzQ2MzEwZDYwZDAxZjUzQ19FcFQxLVFkX2RC/o/VEMwOTU2NjY4ODM4

Xerces Society Wild Bees page: https://www.xerces.org/endangered-species/wild-bees

Rachel Mallinger's Website: http://www.rachelmallinger.com/research.html

Rachel Mallinger's Field, Lab, Earth podcast: https://fieldlabearth.libsyn.com/insect-pollinators-and-confection-sunflowers-with-dr-rachel-mallinger

Review Article from Frontiers in Plant Science: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2018.00812/full

Entomological Society of America Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/entsocamerica/

Entomological Society of America Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/entsoc

Entomological Society of America X: https://twitter.com/EntsocAmerica

Field, Lab, Earth is Copyrighted by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America.

"Mechanical management strategies improve corn production in organically managed living mulch systems" with Ben Brockmueller.

Organic farming is a rich and rewarding challenge for farmers, but without the use of herbicides and other conventional methods, weed suppression can be a problem. Cover crops functioning as living mulches can be one way to overcome this challenge, but what works in one crop may not necessarily work in another. In this episode, Ben joins me to discuss cover crop management in corn as a means of weed suppression.

Tune in to learn:

· What a living mulch is

· What challenges farmers face moving organic practices between soybean and corn

· Which methods most effectively suppress cover crops without killing them

· What can help close the yield gap between living mulch and conventional systems

If you would like more information about this topic, this episode's paper is available here: https://doi.org/10.1002/agj2.70100

This paper is always freely available.

Contact us at [email protected] or on Twitter @FieldLabEarth if you have comments, questions, or suggestions for show topics, and if you want more content like this don't forget to subscribe. If you'd like to see old episodes or sign up for our newsletter, you can do so here: https://fieldlabearth.libsyn.com/.

If you would like to reach out to Ben, you can find him here: [email protected]

Resources

CEU Quiz: https://web.sciencesocieties.org/Learning-Center/Courses/Course-Detail?productid=%7b30B00AB1-5E24-F111-8341-00224808D88D%7d

Transcripts: https://www.rev.com/app/transcript/NjliYWVlZDc0ODM3N2UwN2RjZGNkYzY0WmYzWkNjeHRBTUxx/o/VEMwNzk4NjQ3MDgx

Organic Grain Resources and Information Network (OGRAIN): https://ograin.cals.wisc.edu/

OGRAIN YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ograin-organicgrainresourc9263

Sustainable Cropping systems Lab at Cornell University: https://blogs.cornell.edu/scslab/

Field, Lab, Earth is Copyrighted by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America.

Dr. Paul Skinner discusses his career in viticulture and his time as a member of the Soil Science Society of America.

Contact us at [email protected] or on Twitter @FieldLabEarth if you have comments, questions, or suggestions for show topics, and if you want more content like this don't forget to subscribe. If you'd like to see old episodes or sign up for our newsletter, you can do so here: https://fieldlabearth.libsyn.com/.

If you would like to reach out to Paul, you can find him here: https://www.sequum.com/contact/

Resources

Transcripts: https://www.rev.com/app/transcript/Njk5NzRjMTQ1ODkzNTI3MDhjMTA0YTg2ZXZHWFZsdlBldXFv/o/VEMwNDIzMzczNzAy

Sequum Wine: https://www.sequum.com/

Field, Lab, Earth is Copyrighted by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America.

"Synthesis, function, and genetic variation of sorgoleone, the major biological nitrification inhibitor in sorghum" with Drs. Sakiko Okumoto, Bill Rooney, and Guntur Subbarao

When we fertilize our crops, some of the nitrogen from that fertilizer gets converted into different forms through processes called nitrification and denitrification. When non-plant available forms of nitrogen exit the soil through water or as gas, it's a serious environmental problem. Thankfully, plants have some pretty nifty ways to prevent nitrification, such as biological nitrification inhibition or BNI, a process that manages the bacteria that cause nitrification. In this episode, Sakiko, Bill, and Guntur join me to discuss sorgoleone, a product of sorghum roots that plays a key role in the BNI process.

Tune in to learn:

· What sorgoleone is

· How it helps

· What challenges breeders face in increasing it

· What challenges researchers face in moving this research out into farms

If you would like more information about this topic, this episode's paper is available here: https://doi.org/10.1002/csc2.70066

This paper is always freely available.

Contact us at [email protected] or on Twitter @FieldLabEarth if you have comments, questions, or suggestions for show topics, and if you want more content like this don't forget to subscribe. If you'd like to see old episodes or sign up for our newsletter, you can do so here: https://fieldlabearth.libsyn.com/.

If you would like to reach out to Sakiko, you can find her here: [email protected]

If you would like to reach out to Bill, you can find him here: [email protected]

If you would like to reach out to Guntur, you can find him here: [email protected]

If you would like to reach out to Megan Baker from our Student Spotlight, you can find her here: [email protected]

Resources

CEU Quiz: https://web.sciencesocieties.org/Learning-Center/Courses/Course-Detail?productid=%7bAB41759C-0E0D-F111-8406-0022480A5E44%7d

Transcripts: https://www.rev.com/app/transcript/Njk5NDlkNTQ3MGMxYTkxMWE5MmU5ODhhc2RIRkw0Vm9MSkJ5/o/VEMwMjQ2NTEyODQ4

AgriLife Today Article: https://agrilifetoday.tamu.edu/2024/09/12/texas-am-agrilife-researchers-identify-novel-approach-to-minimize-nitrogen-loss-in-crops/

BNI consortium conference: JIRCAS organizes International BNI-consortium meetings in Tsukuba, Japan, every two years. The next BNI-consortium meeting will be in the first week of December 2026. Most BNI-researchers working with JIRCAS BNI-team are invited for this meeting along with researchers who wish to enter into this research and establish collaborative linkages with other members of this group.

Field, Lab, Earth is Copyrighted by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America.

We're trying something a little bit different. In addition to our regular episodes with Abby, we'll be adding a monthly bonus episode with Jim Cudahy, the CEO of the Societies. In this first episode, Jim has a chat with the three Society presidents, discussing current challenges and opportunities for the Societies, including ways that members can get the most out of our programs, but guests will vary a lot from there! Please give a listen and let us know what you think. If there are specific guests or topics you want us to cover, let us know!

Contact us at [email protected] or on Twitter @FieldLabEarth if you have comments, questions, or suggestions for show topics, and if you want more content like this don't forget to subscribe. If you'd like to see old episodes or sign up for our newsletter, you can do so here: https://fieldlabearth.libsyn.com/.

If you would like to reach out to Jim, you can find him here: https://tinyurl.com/yeysfjw4

If you would like to reach out to Wade, you can find him here: https://tinyurl.com/864khur7

If you would like to reach out to Felix, you can find him here: https://tinyurl.com/39h2zy3a

If you would like to reach out to Aaron, you can find him here: https://tinyurl.com/4yanbf7y

Resources

Transcripts: https://www.rev.com/app/transcript/Njk3MjVkNWMzZWJkMTZmYTQzZTc5YTZmaXN3TVBMLWdkZlgz/o/VEMwOTU5NjUyMjUz

Societies homepage: https://www.sciencesocieties.org/

American Society of Agronomy: https://www.agronomy.org/

Crop Science Society of America: https://www.crops.org/

Soil Science Society of America: https://www.soils.org/

Field, Lab, Earth is Copyrighted by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America.

"The critical period of cover crop management: A framework for maximizing biomass potential and minimizing volunteers with buckwheat" with Dr. Andrew McKenzie-Gopsill

Buckwheat can be a powerful driver of ecosystem services in potato rotations grown in Canada, but with its long-lived seeds and ability to make a whole lot of them in a short time, it can also pose a serious volunteer problem. In this episode, Andrew joins me to discuss how creating a framework to reduce volunteers can help keep this helpful plant from turning into a fearsome weed.

Tune in to learn:

· How potato farming is done in Canada

· What ecosystem services buckwheat provides

· What qualities can turn buckwheat from a helpful crop to a difficult to control weed

· How combining tools from weed management can help keep buckwheat under control

If you would like more information about this topic, this episode's paper is available here: https://doi.org/10.1002/agj2.70097

This paper is always freely available.

Contact us at [email protected] or on Twitter @FieldLabEarth if you have comments, questions, or suggestions for show topics, and if you want more content like this don't forget to subscribe. If you'd like to see old episodes or sign up for our newsletter, you can do so here: https://fieldlabearth.libsyn.com/.

If you would like to reach out to Andrew, you can find him here: [email protected]

Resources

CEU Quiz: https://web.sciencesocieties.org/Learning-Center/Courses/Course-Detail?productid=%7bAEC405A7-85F1-F011-8407-6045BD006BB3%7d

Transcripts: https://www.rev.com/app/captions/Njk2OTMwMDM0NzRlNjAzMGE4ZTBiM2JlUGhMWW10UnF3c0h2/o/Q1AwODE3NDYyMDk1

Atlantic Grains Council: https://atlanticgrainscouncil.ca/

PEI Potato Board: https://peipotatoagronomy.com/

Canadian Weed Science Society, of which Andrew will be president as of Nov 6th 2025. https://weedscience.ca/

Agri-Food and Agriculture Canada: https://agriculture.canada.ca/en

New Brunswick Potato Board: https://www.potatoesnb.com/

Field, Lab, Earth is Copyrighted by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America.

"Within-family genomic selection in strawberry: optimization of marker density, trial design, and training set composition" with Dr. Joshua Sleper

If plant breeding were a poker game, you'd have to play a lot of hands to beat the house. Quantitative genetics hopes to give players an advantage by recognizing patterns that can point to future success. In strawberry, a genetically complex and labor-intensive plant, this is particularly important. This episode, Joshua join me to discuss his work using quantitative genetics to help give strawberry breeders a hand.

Tune in to learn:

· How some plants have "sticky cards" in their genetics

· What challenges strawberry breeders face

· How many clones are really enough

· What lies on the horizon for strawberry breeding

If you would like more information about this topic, this episode's paper is available here: https://doi.org/10.1002/tpg2.20550

This paper is always freely available.

Contact us at [email protected] or on Twitter @FieldLabEarth if you have comments, questions, or suggestions for show topics, and if you want more content like this don't forget to subscribe. If you'd like to see old episodes or sign up for our newsletter, you can do so here: https://fieldlabearth.libsyn.com/.

If you would like to reach out to Joshua, you can find him here: [email protected]

Resources

CEU Quiz: https://web.sciencesocieties.org/Learning-Center/Courses/Course-Detail?productid=%7b9908BAD4-89DB-F011-8544-000D3A3685DF%7d

Transcripts: https://www.rev.com/app/captions/Njk0NTVlNWFiMDVjNzQyMjA1Y2UzZGVmM3VIdF9Va0FSbGhF/o/Q1AwNjIzNzcwNTI2

Rex Bernardo's Essentials of Plant Breeding: https://www.abebooks.com/9780972072427/Essentials-Plant-Breeding-Rex-Bernardo-097207242X/plp

A Quarter Century of Genomewide Prediction - Dr. Rex Bernardo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K45M4N9mJBM&t=8s

Field, Lab, Earth is Copyrighted by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America.

"Cereal Rye Biomass Effects on Giant Ragweed Suppression Inform Management Decisions" with Guilherme Chudzik and Rodrigo Werle.

For farmers in the Midwest, giant ragweed can be a giant problem. In Wisconsin, where long emergence windows, aggressive growth, herbicide resistance, and power-packed seeds make suppression difficult, farmers are always looking for more hammers to hit this nasty nail on the head. In this episode, Guilherme and Rodrigo join me to discuss their work investigating cereal rye as an additional tool in this long-running fight.

Tune in to learn:

· What challenges farmer's face when trying to incorporate cereal rye for weed suppression.

· How much biomass is needed to suppress giant ragweed by 50%

· When to terminate cereal rye for the best impacts

· How implementing cereal rye is like a tiny hammer

If you would like more information about this topic, this episode's paper is available here: https://doi.org/10.1002/agg2.70023

This paper is always freely available.

Contact us at [email protected] or on Twitter @FieldLabEarth if you have comments, questions, or suggestions for show topics, and if you want more content like this don't forget to subscribe. If you'd like to see old episodes or sign up for our newsletter, you can do so here: https://fieldlabearth.libsyn.com/.

If you would like to reach out to Guilherme, you can find him here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/guilhermechudzik [email protected]

If you would like to reach out to Rodrigo, you can find him here: [email protected]

Resources

CEU Quiz: Coming soon

Transcripts: Coming soon

WiscWeeds new website: https://badgercropnetwork.com/

WiscWeeds X: https://x.com/WiscWeeds

Field, Lab, Earth is Copyrighted by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America.