Field, Lab, Earth

“Soil Health Cycle” with Dr. Bijesh Maharjan

Researchers, advisers, and farmers alike know that soil health is important, but taking steps forward in the knowledge of which practices to use and their impacts can be difficult. Enter the soil health cycle, an iterative approach to help track how practices and their implementation take soil health forward. In this episode, Bijesh joins me to discuss his work on the soil health cycle.

Tune in to learn:

· How the soil health cycle is similar to human health care cycles

· What the four steps of the soil health cycle are

· Why it’s important to have a soil health cycle

· What the literature says about the current state of the soil health cycle

If you would like more information about this topic, this episode’s paper is available here: https://doi.org/10.1002/agg2.20504

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 Bijesh, you can find him here: [email protected] https://x.com/Nebraska_soils

Resources

CEU Quiz: https://web.sciencesocieties.org/Learning-Center/Courses/Course-Detail?productid=%7b3687C77E-BE1E-F011-998A-0022480989AC%7d

Transcripts: https://www.rev.com/app/transcript/NjgwMDExNTJlZGVmODgyNjliNWNhMmQzbEVZNXpiYV8xWGtU/o/VEMwOTY5NDE4NDEw

Supracentennial special section call for papers for Soil Science Society of America Journal: https://acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/14350661/specialsectioncall#supracentennial-field-experiments

Maharjan Lab: www.maharjanlab.com

Thank you to our volunteer Om Prakash Ghimire for help with other assets. Thank you to Cole Shalk from 12twelve Media for the Audio Processing on today's episode.

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

“Controlled Freezing Studies as a Corollary Selection Method for Winterhardiness in Perennial Flax (Linum spp.)” with Neil Anderson, Professor & Interim Department Head at the Department of Horticultural Science, University of Minnesota

Flax is an important crop worldwide for its many uses, but as with all plants, its global use is limited by the conditions in which it can grow. Enter Neil Anderson, a crop breeder focused on improving many breeding characteristics in flax including winter hardiness. In this episode, Neil joins us to discuss his work using controlled freezing experiments to test the winterhardiness of flax.

Tune in to learn:

· Past and present uses for flax

· How flax varieties got their names

· How researchers do or don’t account for factors like snow cover or sudden freezes

· Future research possibilities for flax

If you would like more information about this topic, this episode’s paper is available here: https://doi.org/10.1002/csc2.20761

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 Neil, you can find him here: [email protected] https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9794-0397 https://sciprofiles.com/profile/8299 http://horticulture.umn.edu/directory/faculty/neil-oanderson https://www.webofscience.com/wos/author/record/1546035

If you would like to reach out to Dharani Suresh Babu from our Student Spotlight, you can find her here: [email protected] [email protected] https://www.linkedin.com/mwlite/in/dharanisuresh

Resources

CEU Quiz: https://web.sciencesocieties.org/Learning-Center/Courses/Course-Detail?productid=%7b5F03658C-87DF-ED11-A7C7-000D3A32318B%7d

Transcripts: https://www.rev.com/transcript-editor/shared/-KNL0AMG6DCgoNdDrkF-rCbiye9ZNsSi_soaMQeijFzcOB2OQwfXntkuOy_JNDhN8_mLsFNP8BfJrmludJQFRFxrvhU?loadFrom=SharedLink

Forever Green Initiative Perennial Flax Site: https://forevergreen.umn.edu/crops/perennial-flax

Forever Green Initiative Site: https://forevergreen.umn.edu/

Minnesota Hardy Plant Breeding: https://mnhardy.umn.edu/

Giving Flax a Perennial Upgrade with Crop Wild Relatives article from the Sustainable Secure Food Blog: https://sustainable-secure-food-blog.com/2020/09/22/giving-flax-a-perennial-upgrade-with-crop-wild-relatives/

Horticultural Crop Revitalization for Future Needs: https://conservancy.umn.edu/handle/11299/174095

Cranberry Molecular Physiology Mura Lab: https://cranphysiol.wisc.edu/

Chrysanthemum Breeding at the University of Minnesota: https://mnhardy.dev.umn.edu/node/356/chrysanthemums/about

Cushion Growth Habit Chrysanthemums Breeding at the University of Minnesota: https://mnhardy.dev.umn.edu/node/356/chrysanthemums/cushion

Shrub Cushion Growth Habit Chrysanthemums Breeding at the University of Minnesota: https://mnhardy.dev.umn.edu/node/356/chrysanthemums/shrub-cushion

Upright Growth Habit Chrysanthemums Breeding at the University of Minnesota: https:/...

“Yellow Perch (Perca flavescens) Mercury Unaffected by Wildland Fires in Northern Minnesota” with Dr. Randy Kolka and Trent Wickman.

We often hear of the dangers of mercury to pregnant women and children that require them to restrict fish consumption. For good reason – even at low concentrations, mercury can do serious damage to neural networks and reproductive systems. However, we talk little of how the mercury gets in these fish in the first place.

The most common way mercury enters the ecosystem is through the burning of coal; however, it can also volatilize via prescribed and wild fires in forests. From there, it can redistribute into other parts of the ecosystem, such as lakes, and work its way into the food chain. This can hurt the animals that rely on lakes or the fish that live in them to survive. It can also hurt people. For Dr. Randy Kolka and Trent Wickman of the USDA Forest Service, who love the people and wildlife of Northern Minnesota – they had to know more.

They set up a study on two lakes – one that hadn’t seen a fire in over 100 years and one that had a serious fire that covered over 99% of the watershed – and sampled soil, water, and fish to compare mercury levels.

In this episode, they discuss their experimental design, along with a breakdown of the realities of fieldwork. It can be tough carrying heavy equipment or samples of lakewater, let alone camping gear and food; they discuss how they made choices on what to bring, how samples were collected, and how they managed the logistics of the trips.

Tune in to learn this and more:

• How does one collect a water sample from a deep lake?
• What’s a “crown fire” and why is it so dangerous?
• How is fire severity judged?
• Why perch?

If you would like more information about this topic, this episode’s paper is available here: https://doi.org/10.2134/jeq2016.10.0418

It will be freely available from 19 October to 2 November, 2018.

If you would like to find transcripts for this episode or sign up for our newsletter, please visit our website: https://fieldlabearth.libsyn.com/

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 would like to reach out to Randy, you can find him here: https://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/people/Kolka [email protected]

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

Resources

CEU Quiz: http://www.agronomy.org/education/classroom/classes/827

No Mercury Accumulation in Fish after Fire: https://www.soils.org/discover-soils/story/burn-without-concern

BWCWA: https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/superior/specialplaces/?cid=fseprd555184

Randy’s additional fire and mercury publications: https://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/people/Kolka

MN Department of Health fish consumption advisories: http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/fish/index.html

USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station: https://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/

USDA Forest Service, Air Resource Management R8 & 9: https://webcam.srs.fs.fed.us/

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

“An Inventory of Crop Wild Relatives of the United States” with Dr. Stephanie Greene.

Crop Wild Relatives week is September 22 – 29, 2018!

Crops are vital to feeding an expanding world – and like anything incredibly important, they need to be protected from things like disease, environmental disaster, and anything else that can pose a real threat. The key to their protection? Unexpected heroes that could be growing in your back yard– wild varieties of domesticated crops called crop wild relatives.

Crop wild relatives are the close cousins of domesticated crops (think a poodle vs. a wolf). Often, these crops are well-adapted to their environment and can exhibit wild superpowers such as drought or disease resistance. And because they are so closely related to domesticated crops, scientists can cross them with crops that people rely on for food or other uses, such as wheat or blueberries. The result – stronger, healthier crops– and peace of mind that your favorite blueberry muffins will be available for years to come.

Dr. Stephanie Greene and seedbanks around the world have made it their mission to catalog, protect, and educate the public on these wild, unruly cousins of crops and how scientists use them to give our favorite crops super strength.

This year, for Crop Wild Relatives week, tune in to find answers to the following questions and more:

• What’s the point of a gene bank?
• What type of traits are scientists looking for in crop wild relatives?
• How do they determine which ones are important?
• What’s a gap analysis, and how is it done?
• Why is it so important that the public knows about crop wild relatives?

If you would like more information about this topic, please visit our Crop Wild Relatives Week website here: https://www.crops.org/crop-wild-relative/

Today’s paper is available here: https://doi.org/10.2135/cropsci2012.10.0585

This paper is always freely available.

If you would like to find transcripts for this episode or sign up for our newsletter, please visit our website: https://fieldlabearth.libsyn.com/

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

Resources

CEU Quiz: http://www.agronomy.org/education/classroom/classes/826

Crop Wild Relative Diversity Site: https://www.cwrdiversity.org

Crop Wild Relatives Site: www.cropwildrelatives.org/

Wild Relatives Resource Site: https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/ethnobotany/wildrelatives.shtml

Crop Wild Relatives of the US Site: https://cwroftheus.wordpress.com/

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

“Leaf mold compost for better soil and crop health” with Kyle Richardville

Growing vegetables in urban gardens is becoming a popular and ever more important option for supporting families with nutritious and healthy produce. However, the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides can cause negative impacts on soil, crop, and human health. To reduce these negative impacts, there is a growing interest in using biologicals and compost manure for crop production. This episode, Kyle Richardville, agronomist and regenerative agriculture consultant at “Understanding Ag,” shares his insights on the importance of a compost made from tree leaves and fungi—leaf mold compost—and how it impacts soil microbial communities, soil physical properties, and overall crop production.

Tune in to learn:

· What are biologicals and compost manure?

· What is Trichoderma and how does it help in agriculture?

· How do mycorrhizal fungi benefit plants?

· How does compost manure increase soil and crop health?

If you would like more information about this topic, this episode’s paper is available here: https://doi.org/10.1002/uar2.20022

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 Kyle Richardville, you can find him here [email protected] https://understandingag.com/team/kyle-richardville/

If you would like to reach out to Udit Debangshi, you can find him here: [email protected] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/udit-debangshi-703623207

Resources

CEU Quiz: https://web.sciencesocieties.org/Learning-Center/Courses/Course-Detail?productid=%7b6F517EBF-754E-EF11-A317-0022480462A4%7d

Transcripts: https://www.rev.com/transcript-editor/shared/RfBbxJY4TGtLQKntBYbFAfBJAuFXs_XrgSeIu8t9UABk0ZbgCJGEYhPW16TvZ2Dfgod-jzt8ERNAsjPO9zHV5vJeRck?loadFrom=SharedLink

Understanding Ag: https://understandingag.com/

Additional Resources from Kyle’s Blog: https://groundedregenerativeblog.com/additional-resources/

Teaming with Fungi book: https://www.amazon.com/Teaming-Fungi-Organic-Mycorrhizae-Gardeners/dp/1604697296

Thank you to our volunteer Om Prakash Ghimire for help with the shownotes and other assets.

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