iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

cornellcovercrops.bsky.social @cornellcovercrops.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

At Cornell hockey games, further down the road from Buffalo, Oh Canada is played before games to intimidate the visiting team. A reminder that the home team has talent from places like Scarborough and Hamilton.

040

cornellcovercrops.bsky.social @cornellcovercrops.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

There are no gaps in this undervine cover crop of Coprinellus disseminatus. No gaps is a good thing in a #covercrop. But does an inky cap have the right properties for the vineyard?

010

cornellcovercrops.bsky.social @cornellcovercrops.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

A common reason for using cover crops is to feed the soil more, to increase biological activity. That also speeds SOM degradation, i.e. reduces soil persistence. But one can raise the steady-state SOM even if the degradation rate is actually higher. That's what I like to see in a cropping system.

010

cornellcovercrops.bsky.social @cornellcovercrops.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

"..., limited protein sites, random integration of targeted DNA, low Homology-directed repair (HDR) efficiency, bystander editing, ethical issues, and rules and regulations are also included in CRISPR limitations."

120

cornellcovercrops.bsky.social @cornellcovercrops.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

"The main restriction of CRISPR technology is off-target effect, which is very high in plants" "Abiotic stress is responsible for complex agronomic traits ...[but] editing a large number of genes cannot be done efficiently by CRISPR"

120

cornellcovercrops.bsky.social @cornellcovercrops.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

"Livestock production and fattening by 2000 is likely to occur almost entirely in 'factories' with controlled breeding, controlled light and temperature, controlled feeding, complete mechanization and automation, and perhaps completely sterile conditions." Quite accurate.

000

cornellcovercrops.bsky.social @cornellcovercrops.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

The Foote report starts by quoting Cochrane (1965): "The typical farm, as of 2000, will be a huge conglomerate of machines, equipment, and technical processes, mostlyoperatedautomatically and watched over by a few skilled workers"

100

cornellcovercrops.bsky.social @cornellcovercrops.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Lots of people are hyping CRISPR beyond its actual capabliities. Those of us who are responsible for delivering on plant breeding programs want rigorous evidence. Journalists should be aware of the hype intensity and have the BS detectors on. Simlar to the vertical farm hype of a few years ago.

100

cornellcovercrops.bsky.social @cornellcovercrops.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Where did you get the idea that this statement is true?

000

cornellcovercrops.bsky.social @cornellcovercrops.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

CRISPR only works on very simple traits becasue is is a single allele of a single gene. Those traits are very complex and are not amenable to CRISPR. There are other excellent breeding techniques that work well for those traits.

110

cornellcovercrops.bsky.social @cornellcovercrops.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

Confirmation bias is a well known hazard in science. That is why the scientific method is designed to avoid it. Scientists who are rigorous about developing explicit alternative hypotheses and testing them objectively, have little trouble. I will be an activist for effective use of covercrops!

000

cornellcovercrops.bsky.social @cornellcovercrops.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

California grape growers took out 35,000 acres of grapes eaach of the last two years because of oversupply depressing prices. That is how the market is suppoesed to work.

1331

cornellcovercrops.bsky.social @cornellcovercrops.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thu... Bamboo is also an easy to get complete cover. If you let it go, the management costs are minimal. On the other hand, it you want to do something else with the land...

020

cornellcovercrops.bsky.social @cornellcovercrops.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

#Killontime is an important part of successful cover cropping. Weeds don't make that easy.

000

cornellcovercrops.bsky.social @cornellcovercrops.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

If half the plate was vegetables, as one Federal recommendation had it, that statistic could be accurate.

000

cornellcovercrops.bsky.social @cornellcovercrops.bsky.social · 02/05/2026

Remembering the bad old days... Now we look to cover crops to do some of the weed management. These weed recommendations from 1957 are a reminder of how much safer the chemical part is these days, but still worth reducing.

Dangerous 1957 weed management. "Vapam, aerocyanamid, methyl bromide etc."

020

Reposted by @cornellcovercrops.bsky.social

Richard Waite @waiterich.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

Burning trees for energy is not carbon-neutral! - Burning trees emits more CO2 per unit energy than fossil fuels - Harvesting trees for energy releases carbon that would otherwise have remained stored in the forest - It often takes decades for CO2 from burning to be re-absorbed by new tree growth

4338

Reposted by @cornellcovercrops.bsky.social

Sisters of Loretto/Loretto Community @lorettocommunity.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

Are you interested in learning how to establish cover cropping on your own land? Join us from 9 am - noon Saturday, May 2, for a field day that will explore all things cover crops! Register here: www.lorettocommunity.org/event/cover-... #covercropping #farm #event #MarionCounty #Kentucky

A poster that says cover crop field day. Join Cody Rakes, Loretto Motherhouse Farm Director and Dr. Erin Haramoto, University of Kentucky, for an in depth look at cover crops. Saturday, May 2, 9 am - noon. Old Tobacco Barn Loretto Motherhouse 515 Nerinx Rd. Nerinx, KY 40049. Registration required. Topics include: establishment, variety selection, seed sourcing, termination, cost share programs available. FREE locally sourced lunch sponsored by IHG seed solutions LLC.

021

cornellcovercrops.bsky.social @cornellcovercrops.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

Do the people at Frontiers know that the yellow thing in the farmer's hands is not a banana? Why do the put a picture of corn in the press release about a paper that has nothing to do with corn?

000

cornellcovercrops.bsky.social @cornellcovercrops.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

Turning in legume cover crop is how the fixed nitrogen gets into the soil for the next crop. Nothing "merely" about it. If you sell them or graze them, you don't get the nitrogen.

000

Reposted by @cornellcovercrops.bsky.social

The Gr0ve @thegr0vedotcom.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

Cover crops: 25-50% reduction in purchased fertiliser costs within 5 years. Nitrogen-fixing species replace $40-80/acre of synthetic inputs. 20M hectares in the US now. That number is up 50% since 2017. Farmers adopting this are not making an environmental statement.

001

cornellcovercrops.bsky.social @cornellcovercrops.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

I don't see the corn going to ethanol as "lost". US policy is to find a place to put all the corn that is produced because growers don't want to switch to something else. These are calories the food system can't absorb, so they found a way to burn them.

000

cornellcovercrops.bsky.social @cornellcovercrops.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

Would a cover crop make that sodden walk easier?

000

cornellcovercrops.bsky.social @cornellcovercrops.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

The National Cover Crop Survey is live: missouri.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_... A wide range of farmer experienvce with #covercrops will help target future research and outreach to the most important needs.

missouri.qualtrics.com

SARE/CTIC/ASTA Cover Crop Survey

Take the 2025-26 SARE/CTIC/ASTA Cover Crop Survey!

011

cornellcovercrops.bsky.social @cornellcovercrops.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

I also have water between the raised beds this time of year, but we are not irrigating in the wetter Northeast. That's why raised beds are important in the garden. A living #covercrop on the raised bed helps remove the water both upward and downward through transpiration and percolation.

000

cornellcovercrops.bsky.social @cornellcovercrops.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

Urea price just jumped 50%, and field corn is at only $4.30. Under what conditions will it pay to plant an N-fixing #covercrop instead this spring? Is that idea too radical?

000

cornellcovercrops.bsky.social @cornellcovercrops.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

When testing living mulch as a #covercrop system, the default expectation has to be that the cover crop will compete too much with the main crop and that pest pressure will be higher. If the new system is an exception, the burden of proof is high if one is to be taken seriously.

000

cornellcovercrops.bsky.social @cornellcovercrops.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

Is the lesson from this that, if ones reasoning is freed from the pull of gravity, one can still publish with MDPI?

032

Reposted by @cornellcovercrops.bsky.social

Richard Waite @waiterich.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

Biofuels are another driver. Corn, soy, canola, and sugarcane all are being increasingly used to power vehicles instead of people. This is a shockingly inefficient use of land; EVs can go *300x* farther powered by a hectare of solar panels vs a hectare of crops! 10/

12610

Reposted by @cornellcovercrops.bsky.social

Agricology @agricology.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

📖New Resource - Cover Crops Guide🌱 The UK’s first accessible, independent, farmer-led and scientifically supported farmers’ guide on #CoverCropping from AHDB is now available via Agricology's resources page. ➡️ agricology.co.uk/resource/cov... Founded by @angusgowthorpe.bsky.social

022

cornellcovercrops.bsky.social @cornellcovercrops.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

How do you breed tomatoes with both the disease resistance organic production requires and the superior flavor organic consumers expect? Three experienced breeders will describe their approach in this eOrganic webinar on March 24 eorganic.org/node/36450 Jim Myers, Julie Dawson and Jared Zystro

eorganic.org

Challenges in Breeding Tomatoes for Both Flavor and Disease Resistance | eOrganic

021

cornellcovercrops.bsky.social @cornellcovercrops.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

Copper is the only organic-approved material that works against downy. In humid climates with no fungicides, you get complete loss of folige by September and no grapes to harvest. So losing copper means losing the farm for many of these growers.

010

cornellcovercrops.bsky.social @cornellcovercrops.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

Two keys to #covercrop success are #faststart and #nogaps. This grower met the first by using a planter for seeding when other methods had failed. But the covercrop does not suppress weeds in the wide gaps between rows. That managent goal is met with herbicides.

000

cornellcovercrops.bsky.social @cornellcovercrops.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

Nitrogen supply can easilty be a limiting factor in organic production. But essential for avoiding the expensive extermalities of N fertilizer. Legume cover crops are the obvious tool, but the production system needs to be optimized for each climate and crop mix. This paper does for German corn.

010

cornellcovercrops.bsky.social @cornellcovercrops.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

020

cornellcovercrops.bsky.social @cornellcovercrops.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

The Cornell AgriTech Summer Scholars program is back! It is a paid research undergraduate research internship at one of the worlds premier horticulture institutions. We are now accepting applications for a new cohort of excellent undergraduates for summer 2026. cals.cornell.edu/cornell-agri...

cals.cornell.edu

Summer Scholars

WelcomeCornell AgriTech in Geneva, New York offers a Summer Research Scholars Program where undergraduate students participate in exciting projects in agricultural research, food and beverage entrepre...

000

cornellcovercrops.bsky.social @cornellcovercrops.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

A colleague, Gary Harman, did design a soil fungus to serve as a biocontrol. He started with a saprophyte because they do so many different things. The added trait that made it valuable is rhizosphere competence, which is very aggressive colonization of root surfaces. Trichoderma harzianum T22.

010

cornellcovercrops.bsky.social @cornellcovercrops.bsky.social · 22/11/2025

Don't feel bad. I work on heritability, but that is the only term in the figure I understand. The others are paper-specific jargon, so the figure does not stand alone.

010

cornellcovercrops.bsky.social @cornellcovercrops.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

Impressive work by Oleksandr Zhuikov et al on improving sustainability of production despite the Khakovka field site being on the front line of a hot war. doi.org/10.15421/012... They achieved better NUE, WUE and climate resilience by leveraging biological processes in the soil.

doi.org

010

cornellcovercrops.bsky.social @cornellcovercrops.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

New Research: Keller et al PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... Subsoil compaction worsens when intervals between compaction events are shorter than soil structure recovery times #Covercrops can reduce recovery times when managed for that goal. Roots make holes and can make soil column support weight.

pnas.org

PNAS

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...

010

cornellcovercrops.bsky.social @cornellcovercrops.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

If you read the original work, you find that the Anthropocene articles makes some significant claims that are not supported by the research. It is unfortutate when people just try to dump on organic because they don't like it. We know that happens, but scientists need to be less gullible.

110

cornellcovercrops.bsky.social @cornellcovercrops.bsky.social · 01/11/2025

I have found the same. My X account has only about 10% of the activity it once had, but those users are very engaged in the practices I post about. My focus on cover crops minimizes the toxicity. I want to be part of the practitioner conversation.

020

cornellcovercrops.bsky.social @cornellcovercrops.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

I used to hear that about NY as well. Finance outpaces ag even more than in Georgia. We figure it is biggest by land area.

000

cornellcovercrops.bsky.social @cornellcovercrops.bsky.social · 25/10/2025

You can visit the US national apple collection every year at the open house in mid-September at the germplasm repository in Geneva NY. Hundreds of accessions to see, smell and taste. Some are pretty wild. Of course, the staff is furloughed since Oct 1 until a Federal budget passes.

110