There is no one practice that will immediately and dramatically cut input costs on farm fields in the short term, but rather it’s a process of incremental improvements to soil health and fertility that will ultimately yield benefits, a panel at the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation (IFBF) annual meeting concluded earlier this month.

“There are opportunities out there to look at (fertilizer) management practices, the value of manure compared to synthetic fertilizers, soil conditioners, the use of cover crops,” said Marshall McDaniel, an associate professor in Iowa...