June 2021 issue

Volume 66, Issue 6

Integrated crop–livestock systems (ICLS) bring cattle and cropland together, often incorporating other practices like cover crops, no-tillage, and diversified crop rotations. New SSSAJ and AGE studies look at the soil health and water quality of short- and long-term ICLS, including cover crops and livestock grazing in the Northern Great Plains. For producers, livestock grazing could be a means of increasing cover crop adoption and biodiversity on traditional corn–soybean cropland with no negative effects on soil health or water quality under proper management. See story on p. 4. “Photo shows Jashanjeet Dhaliwal taking intact soil core samples to analyze soil physical and hydrological properties. The original photo was taken by Navdeep Singh. Cattle were added in the background for visual effect courtesy of Karen Brey.”