Compost Tea: Test the Claim Before Buying the Brewer
A field decision guide to disease claims, food-safety boundaries, organic records, and small controlled trials.
United States; food-safety and organic-rule notes are U.S.-specific
Field desk / Soil & inputs
Start below the surface.
Compost, biologicals, contaminants, and the questions to ask before an input reaches your soil.
Browse 13 field guides ↓
The soil & inputs shelf.
Complete library
Biochar on the Farm: Match the Material to the Soil
Biochar is not one product or one result. Soil constraints, feedstock, co-amendments, and transport decide whether a trial is sensible.
Global evidence with separate cautions for tropical and temperate systems
Mycorrhizal Inoculants: Buy Only for a Testable Gap
Mycorrhizal fungi matter, but commercial products vary. Diagnose the production system, verify viability, and keep an untreated control.
United States; evidence spans greenhouse, nursery, and field settings
Persistent Herbicides: Screen Compost, Manure, and Hay
Trace feedstocks, quarantine uncertain loads, and use an extension bioassay before sensitive vegetables meet imported organic matter.
United States; product labels and reporting routes vary by state
A Useful Soil Test Starts Before the Sample Bag
Divide the farm into decisions, not convenient buckets. A repeatable sampling plan is the first input worth buying.
United States; regional extension context, adapt with local advice
Read a Soil Report Without Turning It Into a Shopping List
Check the crop, units, method and recommendation before treating every low-looking number as a deficiency.
United States; regional extension context, adapt with local advice
Read the Compost Analysis Before the Truck Arrives
Moisture, nutrient basis, salts and batch identity can change what a cheap load actually delivers.
United States; regional extension context, adapt with local advice
Choose a Cover Crop by Its Job and Its Exit Date
Build a shortlist around the rotation window, not the longest seed-mix label.
United States; regional extension context, adapt with local advice
Test One Farm Change Without Fooling Yourself
A practical trial needs a clear comparison, repeated plots and a measurement plan—not just a convincing photograph.
United States; regional extension context, adapt with local advice
Nitrogen-Fixing Microbes for Corn: What University Trials Have Found
Can microbial nitrogen products cut corn fertilizer? Independent university trials, company data and what it means for your N plan, as of September 2026.
United States / source-specific context
PFAS in Biosolids and Compost: What Farmers Need to Know in 2026
EPA's PFAS biosolids risk assessment, the July 2026 draft guidance (comments due Oct 5, 2026) and state actions, explained for farmers and landowners.
United States / source-specific context
Verify Organic Inputs: OMRI, WSDA, CDFA and Fertilizer Fraud Lessons
Not every 'organic' fertilizer is what it claims. How OMRI, WSDA and CDFA review inputs, what fraud cases teach, and a checklist before you buy.
United States / source-specific context
Organic vs. Conventional Yields: What Meta-Analyses and Trials Show
Organic yields run about 5–34% below conventional, depending on crop and management. What Seufert, Ponisio, Rodale FST and DOK found, and their limits.
Multiple study regions
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