Soil Health

• National NRCS Soil Health Web Page
• NRCS Soil Health Fact Sheets
• 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

Interviews

• NRCS Chief Jason Weller, Regional Soil Health Specialist Doug Peterson, and Iowa NRCS State Soil Scientist Rick Bednarek talk Soil Health on the Talk of Iowa program on Iowa Public Radio http://www.tinyurl.com/hhhhre8

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