Weed control demands time, labor and expense for every farmer every year. Steel in the Field shows how today's implements and techniques can control weeds while reducing—or eliminating—herbicides. In practical language, the 128-page book presents what farmers and researchers have learned in the last 20 years about cutting weed-control costs through improved cultivation tools, cover crops and new cropping rotations. This is the first tool-centered book to combine farmer experience, commercial agricultural engineering expertise and university research. It directly tackles the hard questions of how to comply with erosion-prevention plans, how to remain profitable and how to manage residue and moisture loss. Farmers — 22 of them—do a lot of the talking, sharing their struggles and successes with tools, weeds, herbicides and cropping systems. Their advice ranges from the specific—setting mini-disks 0.75 inches deep and 2 inches away from 2-inch tall plants—to the general, such as one farmer's estimate of the correct speed for using his coil-tine "As fast as you can hang on is fine." This book is a must for anyone looking to reduce or replace pesticide inputs. Index, contact list, detailed illustrations and tool source list included.

Healthy soils are key to producing good harvests with minimal pest problems. How to create that balanced soil ecosystem, however, remains a challenge for even the most experienced growers. Building Soils for Better Crops unlocks the secret of maintaining a diverse ecosystem below ground to foster healthy crops above. Ecological soil management, as detailed by the soil experts who wrote the book, can raise fertility and yields while reducing environmental impacts. The 240-page Building Soils contains detailed information about soil structure and the management practices that affect soils, as well as practical information like how to interpret soil test results. Some of the soil-building strategies Increasing soil organic matter Using appropriate tillage Incorporating animal manures Making and using composts Integrating cover crops into rotations Reducing erosion Methods to avoid and decrease soil compaction

In recent years, the blue orchard bee (BOB) has become established as an alternative orchard pollinator in North America. With a strong preference for fruit trees, BOBs are highly efficient pollinators; in fact, just 250-300 females will pollinate an entire acre of apples or almonds. BOBs forage and pollinate under cloudy skies and at lower temperatures than most other bees. They are easy to manage and rarely sting. To learn how to manage BOBs for successful orchard pollination, consult this guide from the USDA-ARS Bee Biology and Systematics Laboratory. Learn BOB natural history Building nesting materials Rearing and wintering populations Field management for maximum pollination Deterring parasites and predators

While every farming system is unique, the principles of ecological pest management apply universally. Manage Insects on Your Farm highlights ecological strategies that improve your farm's natural defenses and encourage beneficial insects to attack your worst pests. Learn about the principles of ecologically based pest management and the strategies of farmers around the world to address insect problems. Minimize insect damage with wise soil management and identify beneficial insects to put these "good bugs" to work for you. Examples of successful pest management strategies sprinkled throughout the book will stimulate your imagination to address insect problems and develop a more complex, more diverse ecosystem on your farm.

Managing Cover Crops Profitably explores how and why cover crops work and provides all the information needed to build cover crops into any farming operation. Revised and updated in 2007, the 3rd edition includes new chapters on brassicas and mustards, six new farm profiles, as well as a comprehensive chapter on the use of cover crops in conservation tillage systems. Updates throughout are based on more than 100 new literature citations and consultations with cover crop researchers and practitioners around the country. Appendices include seed sources and a listing of cover crop experts.