Soil-plant relationships have been the focus of agricultural research for centuries yet the primary concentrations have been on plant improvement for increased productivity with little attention paid to the soil microbial community. Healthy soils are more productive due to the increased ability to tolerate stress thus requiring fewer inputs, retaining more soil moisture, and improving soil physical properties. Cover crops are not commonly utilized prior to soybean planting. Inconsistent soybean responses to fertilizer and cultural practices warrant examining alternative practices that may manipulate soil micro-biota to examine whether or not positive yield response when seen in the field...
Further knowledge of whether different cover crop species in combination with different classes of fertilizer substrate influence the diversity of microbial communities which in turn impact the ability of the soil to produce a healthy plant.
The United Soybean Research Retention policy will display final reports with the project once completed but working files will be purged after three years. And financial information after seven years. All pertinent information is in the final report or if you want more information, please contact the project lead at your state soybean organization or principal investigator listed on the project.