Soil Health

• National NRCS Soil Health Web Page
• NRCS Soil Health Fact Sheets
• In-Field Soil Health Assessment
• Iowa NRCS Soil Health Producer Profiles
• Iowa Soils
• Soil Health ABCs
• Soil Health Nutrient Tool - Haney Test (PDF)
• Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll - Soil Health Gaining Ground with Iowa Farmers
  • Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll Summaries

Iowa NRCS Publications

• Iowa Soil Health Plan (PDF)
• Conservation Choices: Soil Health Practices - Conservation practices that help improve soil health, reduce soil erosion, improve water quality, and provide other natural resource benefits (PDF, 5 MB)
• Grazing Management and Soil Health (PDF)

Cover Crops Resources

• Estimating Cover Crop Biomass (PDF)
• Cover Crop Guide Sheets: Cover Crops Before Corn (PDF) | Cover Crops Before Soybeans (PDF)
• Cover Crop Recipes - Midwest Cover Crop Council
• Cover Crop Economics
• Cover Crops Decision Tool (SARE/ISU)
• 2015 Cover Crop Benefits & Opportunities (PDF)
• Cover Crops Chart (v3.0) 
• 2016 RMA Fact Sheet - Cover Crops - Crop Year 2016 (PDF)
• Cover Crops - Crop Insurance, Cover Crops and NRCS Cover Crop Termination Guidelines FAQ
• Cover Crops PowerPoint Presentation (PPT, 15 MB)
• Prevented Plant Risks and Options (PDF), June 2019
• Cover Crops on Prevented Planting Fields, Now What? (PDF)
• Cover Crops to Improve Soil in Prevented Planting Fields (PDF) Updated May 2019
  • Iowa State University - Corn as a Cover Crop On Prevented Planting Acres in Iowa - 2013 (PDF)
  • Iowa State University - Soybeans as a Cover Crop On Prevented Planting Acres in Iowa - 2013 (PDF)
• NRCS Cover Crop Termination Guidelines (PDF) - June 2019, Version 4
  • Successful Cover Crop Termination with Herbicides (PDF) - Purdue Extension
• Iowa Cover Crops Job Sheet (PDF) - April 2016
• Iowa Agronomy Technical Note 36: Interseeding of Cover Crops (PDF)
• Iowa Agronomy Technical Note 38: Cover Crop Management (PDF)
• Iowa Agronomy Technical Note 39: Recommended Cover Crop Seeding Methods and Tools (PDF)
• Iowa Learning Farms Cover Crop Research - November 2018
• Midwest Cover Crop Council
  • Cover Crop Selector Tool
• Value of Soil Health (PDF)
• Iowa Learning Farms Cover Crop Resources
• Cover Crops - Toxic Plants for Grazing (PDF)
• Evaluation of Selected Cool Season Cover Crop Varieties in Northeast Missouri - Elsberry Plant Materials Center - July 2020 (PDF)

2016-20 Soil Health Articles

• "Yes, you can make soil!", Wallaces Farmer, Jan. 21, 2020
• "3 ways cover crops can reduce need for fertilizer", Delta Farm Press, Oct. 25, 2019
• "Soil Age, Mineral Composition Determines Whether Carbon is Stored or Released", No-Till Farmer, Oct. 22, 2019
• "Optimum Planting Times to Establish Cover Crops Following Corn", No-Till Farmer, Sept. 23, 2019
• "When Do Cover Crops Pay? New USDA-SARE Report Addresses the Question for Row Crop Farmers", (Brianna Burke), The Crop Farmer, June 20, 2019
• "Worms: Harbingers of Healthy Soil", (Ann Staudt), Wallaces Farmer, May 23, 2019
• "Terminating Cover Crops" (Meaghan Anderson, ISU Extension Field Agronomist), Wallaces Farmer, April 22, 2019
• "Five Tips for Terminating Spring Cover Crops", Wallaces Farmer, April 12, 2019
• "Cover Crops and Livestock Bring Life to No-till Farm", No-Till Farmer, April 1, 2019
• "Put Cover Crops on the Calendar", by Lynn Betts, Progressive Farmer, March 8, 2019
• "Taming the Waterhemp Beast with Cover Crops", Practical Farmers of Iowa, Feb. 14, 2019
• "Big Food Takes Soil Health Seriously", Successful Farming, Jan. 23, 2019
• "15 Things You Didn't Know About Soil", Mother Nature Network, Dec. 5, 2018
• "Five-Year Cover Crop Mixtures Study", Iowa Learning Farms, Nov. 6, 2018
• "Soil Penalties for Over-Tillage", Corn + Soybean Digest, Oct. 16, 2018
• "Making the Most of Your Most Valuable Asset is Goal of 4R Plus", Wallaces Farmer June 15, 2018
• "Tips For Managing Cover Crops for Spring 2018", Wallaces Farmer, May 2, 2018
• "Mobile App Now Available for Cover Crop Field Guide", No-Till Farmer, April 17, 2018
• "Crop Rotation, Grazing Rebuilds Soil", No-Till Farmer, March 7, 2018
• "Soil Health Practices for Mitigating Natural Disasters", USDA Blog, Feb. 28, 2018
• "Cover Crop Acres Grow But Rate of Growth Declines in 2017", Farm Equipment, February 2018
• "Spring-seeded Cover Crops,"      by Alisha Bower, Wallaces Farmer, Nov. 22, 2017
• "The Economics of Soil Health,"      by Mahdi Al-Kaisi, Wallaces Farmer, June 6, 2017
• "No-till Beats Tight Clay Soils,"      by Lynn Betts, Corn + Soybean Digest, Nov. 1, 2016
• "An Economic Perspective on Soil Health," by Maria Bowman, Steven Wallander, and Lori Lynch, Amber Waves, Sept. 6, 2016
• "Costs and Benefits of Cover Crops: An Example with Cereal Rye,"      by Gary Schnitkey, Jonathan Coppess, and Nick Paulson, Dept. of Agricultural and Consumer Sciences, University of Illinois, July 6, 2016
• "Cover Crops Build Soil,"      by Raylene Nickel, agriculture.com, June 16, 2016

Webinars

• Nutrient Cycling - Mike Hubbs - December 2018
• Iowa NRCS/Iowa State University Soil Health Webinar - Aug. 24, 2016
• North Dakota District Conservationist Jay Fuhrer & Farmer Jerry Doan - June 24, 2014

Videos

• Soil Health Principles - Jay Fuhrer, North Dakota NRCS Soil Health Specialist
• Integrating Grazing and Cover Crops - Jerry Doan, North Dakota Farmer
• Managing Diverse Cover Crops - David Brandt, Ohio Farmer
• Cereal Rye Cover Crops Emerge During/After Soybean Harvest - October 2014
• Soil Health and Climate Change - Iowa State University's Jerry Hatfield - January 2015
• Grazing Cover Crops for Soil Health - Crawford County
• Glomalin: Soil's Sticky Secret
• Dave Brandt - Ohio Farmer Talks About Soil Health to Iowans
• Dennis Lundy - Adair County Farmer Promotes Soil Health through No-Till Alfalfa
• Matt Schuiteman - Sioux County, Iowa
• Dave Wise - Winneshiek County, Iowa
• Frank Moore - Northeast Iowa
• Ed Ulch - Johnson County, Iowa
• Steve Berger - Washington County, Iowa