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Urban Agriculture Webinar to Share the Basics of Hydroponics and Controlled Environments

By Graham Sandersfeld and Kathleen Delate

Urban growers interested in indoor farming are invited to attend an upcoming webinar hosted by the Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Urban Agriculture Program. The webinar will take place on Thursday, Dec. 11, from 1 to 2 p.m. Christopher Currey, associate professor of horticulture at ISU, will present a session titled “Controlled Environments for Urban Ag: A Primer.”

Currey’s research focuses on developing science-based best management practices to help commercial greenhouse and controlled-environment producers improve productivity, profitability and sustainability.

According to Graham Sandersfeld, urban agriculture outreach specialist with ISU Extension and Outreach, the webinar will introduce key concepts and decisions in hydroponics and other controlled-environment systems. “These innovative practices allow year-round food production when outdoor growing isn’t possible,” he said. Participants will gain insight into the benefits and considerations of small-scale indoor food production in urban settings.

Source : iastate.edu

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No-Till vs Tillage: Why Neighboring Fields Are World Apart

Video: No-Till vs Tillage: Why Neighboring Fields Are World Apart

“No-till means no yield.”

“No-till soils get too hard.”

But here’s the real story — straight from two fields, same soil, same region, totally different outcomes.

Ray Archuleta of Kiss the Ground and Common Ground Film lays it out simply:

Tillage is intrusive.

No-till can compact — but only when it’s missing living roots.

Cover crops are the difference-maker.

In one field:

No-till + covers ? dark soil, aggregates, biology, higher organic matter, fewer weeds.

In the other:

Heavy tillage + no covers ? starving soil, low diversity, more weeds, fragile structure.

The truth about compaction?

Living plants fix it.

Living roots leak carbon, build aggregates, feed microbes, and rebuild structure — something steel never can.

Ready to go deeper into the research behind no-till yields, rotations, and profitability?