Integrated pest management (IPM) is an approach to weed, insect and disease management that uses all available control strategies to manage pest populations, keeping them below economic thresholds. This results in a cropping system that is more resilient to failures since it does not exclusively rely on the use of pesticides to control pests. For […]
How nutrients are managed for crop production will depend on many other components of the whole farm operation. The 4R concept of nutrient management is an approach that is essential to the development of sustainable agriculture and is focused on the “4 Rs”: the right nutrient sources at the right rate, right time and in […]
Reasons for Tillage There are many reasons to perform tillage for crop production in addition to increasing soil dry-down. Soil is also tilled for reasons such as: Herbicides have resulted in reduced need for tillage to control weeds, except in organic production systems. And the development of equipment capable of planting into crop residue ensures […]
Agricultural systems that integrate crops and livestock offer benefits for sustainability, resilience, and economic diversity. Beyond the influences on ecological processes and soil microbial communities, the opportunity to utilize manure, crop residues (i.e. wheat straw for bedding), and crop rotations around feed production contribute to a more nutritious livestock feed production and promotes environmental stability […]
Sustainable crop production can be defined as “developing and utilizing crop production systems that meet the need of present producers without compromising the ability of future generations of producers to do the same” (adapted definition from Dr. G. Brundtland – Director General of the World Health Organization1). There are three segments to sustainable crop production: […]