RegenPGC research team releases latest progress report

Great news! Our RegenPGC research team has just shared our latest progress report. This report, which highlights our research, education, and extension efforts from August to October 2025, is designed to be easy to follow.

This report keeps our agency funder, USDA-NIFA, in the loop, and it’s also a way for the public, who supports our work, to stay informed.

You can find the report on our website at https://www.regenpgc.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/2026-01-30-RegenPGC-YR-5-Q1-FINAL.pdf

Contact: Dr. Raj Raman, Iowa State University Dept. of Agriculture & BioSystems Engineering rajraman@iastate.edu

New ideas needed? Find them at RegenPGC!

It’s spring! It’s always a good time to be open to new ideas on managing our land and soil in row crop production. Our @RegenPGC Perennial Groundcover Project does precisely that. We are working on new approaches to a lot of old issues, such as how to:
◼ Reduce soil erosion (reduced P losses)
◼ Reduce water runoff
◼ Increase water infiltration
◼ Improve soil quality
AND
◼ How to achieve greater stover harvest

Our Project Director, Dr. Raj Raman, has some ideas on these topics, which he covers in this video presentation, “Perennial Groundcovers in Corn & Soybean Production Systems: Potential & Scalability.” You can find the video at https://youtu.be/MYQcSBZXVXQ  and the accompanying Field Notes at https://iastate.box.com/s/fij94zkojl6kpaofkmepdk66cpzb0ij3.

New RegenPGC Video Series

We realize some of you may be new to perennial groundcover and its potential for modern #agrictulture. So, we have started a new series to acquaint (or reacquaint) folks with @RegenPGC and our vision for using perennial groundcover in row crop fields for all kinds of interesting benefits.. This first video features Dr. Ken Moore and Roger Hintz, two members RegenPGC Team who have the most experience of anyone trying to manage and maintain yields when incorporating perennial ground cover into a row crop system –so, this video – https://lnkd.in/gbdgz9mQ is for you. (See the accompanying Field Notes at https://lnkd.in/gHQsGpXP)

We acknowledge that some of you may be unfamiliar with perennial groundcover and its potential for modern agriculture. Consequently, we have initiated a new series to educate (or reeducate) folks in the agriculture sector about RegenPGC and our vision for introducing perennial groundcover to the row crop landscape.

This video showcases Dr. Ken Moore and Roger Hintz, two individuals with extensive experience managing and maintaining yields when incorporating perennial ground cover into row crop systems. This video, accessible at https://youtu.be/MYQcSBZXVXQ, and you will find the accompanying Field Notes at https://iastate.box.com/s/fij94zkojl6kpaofkmepdk66cpzb0ij3.

Over the next several weeks, we will be dropping in more from this series into our blog. Stay tuned!

 

 

More honors and recognition for the RegenPGC Graduate Education Community

Our 18-member Graduate Education Community (https://www.regenpgc.org/theme-3-education/graduate-education-copy/) never stops impressing us with their dedication to good research and the RegenPGC vision.* But this month shows what an interesting and talented group we have.

Hallie Sandeen (University of Kentucky / Mentor Dr. Erin Haramoto) received a 1st place award at the University of Kentucky’s Integrated Plant & Soil Science Department Fall 2024 Symposium for her poster “Evaluation of Poacae Species and Suppression Application Methods for Permanent Groundcover in Corn.” Earlier this year, Hallie was recognized as the Weed Science Society of America’s 2025 Photographer of the Year! At the Society’s Annual Meeting in Vancouver.

We learned Graduate Student Jack Moran’s (Iowa State University / Mentors Drs. Susan Goggi & Ken Moore) interesting backstory of how he made it from Multyfarnham, Central Ireland, to Iowa State University. Jack’s Iowa State University ‘origin story’ was shared in an article by the ISU College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Office for Global Engagement. You can read “From Exchange Student to a Master’s Degree: a Global Journey to Iowa State University” at https://global.ag.iastate.edu/news/2025/exchange-student-masters-degree-global-journey-iowa-state-university

*Our vision is to create well-adapted PGC systems for a range of farm operations that require low labor inputs, provide significant ecosystem benefits, increase row crop resiliency, and have similar economic profiles as conventional row crop practices.

New research released on the economics of perennial groundcover

There is an adage that says if you want to find something, follow the money. Our researchers, Cynthia Bartel, Keri Jacobs, Ken Moore, and Raj Raman, did just that with their latest journal publication.

Their paper, Anticipatory technoeconomic evaluation of Kentucky Bluegrass-based perennial groundcover implementations in large-scale Midwestern US corn production systems, utilizes an enterprise budget framework to examine and compare expected costs and revenues associated with establishing and maintaining perennial groundcover in row crop systems with standard continuous corn (SCC) (Zea mays L.) production. The good news is that the article is an open-access publication and written in an accessible style.

Bartel, Cynthia A., Jacobs, Keri L., Moore, Kenneth J., & Raman, D.Raj. (2024). Anticipatory technoeconomic evaluation of Kentucky Bluegrass-based perennial groundcover implementations in large-scale Midwestern US corn production systems. Sustainability, 2024, 16(16), 7112. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16167112. Open access.