b'Can Your Post-Harvest Corn ResidueImprove Your Soil Health?THERE ARE FEWcrops as frustrating after harvest as corn.Corn stalks can be used for grazing cattle and bedding. Your The stalk residue can pop tires, delay spring warm-up, increaselivestock can consume the stalks, which reduces their feed cost. NPK availability, and get in the way of spring planting. You mayTheir manure then adds nutrients back into your field. Stalk end up asking yourself, How can I better manage my cornresidue can be baled like straw and is a profitable way to reduce stalks after harvest? residue. However, baling can leave the soil susceptible to erosion A common practice for dealing with corn residue is tillage,and depletes the supply of nutrients available for recycling.which is thought to increase the decay rates of stalks. Yet, recentCorn residue is a great food source for your microbiome studies suggest only a biological process can influence decayif beneficial microbes are active. Having corn residue in your rates. The factors that influence residue breakdown rates includefield isnt a problemunhealthy soil with starving microbes is. temperature, moisture, soil conditions, nutrient supply, and theMicrobes in the detritusphere (where your corn residue exists, activity and diversity of your microbes.and the soil begins) can help decompose corn stalks so your Before you rush to till the post-harvest corn residue in yourfields are ready for planting come spring. 75% of soil microbes field, consider the following. in farm soils are either dormant or inactive due to starvation. To Corn stalks are great ground cover. Leftover stalks insulatewake them up, they need a carbon-rich product like PhycoTerra. fields, smother early spring weeds, and mitigate wind and waterOnce awake, microbes can help decompose leftover stalks erosion.and recycle residue NPK into your soil. This cost-effective prac-Corn stalks can be a great food source as they decomposetice has been proven to save growers:for cover crops. With strategic planting, cover crops help break$7 to $14 per acre in NPK release down post-harvest residue and cycle nutrients back into the soil$10 per acre in warmer soil at plantingfor your future crops. $7 to $10 per acre in tillage savings$12 per acre in reduced tillage carbon creditThis is a $36 to $46 savings per acre if you leave your corn stalks in the ground! By adding PhycoTerra to your post-harvest applications, growers have seen a 36% reduction in crop residue when its time to plant, and a 5-degree temperature increase at plantingall while improving their soil health and supporting the soil microbiome. It can feel risky to take a chance and change the way things have been done, especially on family farms that operate the same way for generations. Growers interested in seeing what kind of impact feeding soil microbes can provide can always do a side-by-side test on their field or talk with an expert to learn more before making changes.CASSIDY MILLIONDIRECTOR OF AG SCIENCE OF HELIAE AGRICULTURECMillion@heliae.comphycoterra.com28/ SEEDWORLD.COMOCTOBER 2023'