Webinar Series Unlocks Potential of Perennial Groundcovers in Corn and Corn/Soybean Production Systems

A five-week lunch-and-learn webinar series starting in January 2025 will explore the innovative use of perennial groundcovers in corn and corn/soybean production systems as a cover crop. This series, sponsored by Iowa State University and RegenPCG, will be held on consecutive Tuesdays (Jan. 14, 21, 28 and Feb. 4 and 11, 2025) from 12-1 p.m. CST.

Register for the webinar series and stay tuned for the video series release.

This webinar series will focus on providing information on what perennial groundcover agriculture is, the potential benefits it offers, insight into how to effectively manage these systems, and work that is being undertaken to make them more robust for widespread adoption and implementation. The presentations are tailored for farmers, crop advisors, technical service providers, government agencies (NRCS/DNR) and other agricultural scientists eager to understand the possibilities and challenges of integrating perennial groundcovers into their row crop agriculture.

Jan. 14, 2025 – Perennial Ground Cover Integration into Corn and Soybean Production: System Basics and Potential Benefits; all speakers are from Iowa State University.
• Raj Raman – A visionary overview of the potential and scalability of perennial groundcovers in corn and soybean production systems
• Ken Moore and Roger Hintz – An operational guide to implementing a perennial groundcover in corn and soybean production systems
• Philip Rockson – A comparative analysis of time and labor demands across conventional, cereal rye and perennial ground cover in corn and soybean production systems
• Cyndi Bartel – Comparisons of costs for conventional, cover cropping and perennial groundcover in corn and soybean production systems
Jan. 21, 2025 – Perennial Ground Cover Suppression and Weed Management within Corn and Soybean Production Systems
• Amina Moro, Iowa State University – Crop Zone Requirements
• Sara Lira and Brent Wilson, Corteva Agriscience – Techniques for maintaining a crop growth zone in corn and soybean production systems
• Erin Haramoto, University of Kentucky – Chemical weed control options for perennial groundcover systems. Experiences and options
 Jan. 28, 2025 – Selecting Perennial Groundcovers for Corn and Soybean Production Systems and Their Ideal Characteristics
• Shuizhang Fei, Iowa State University – Choices for perennial groundcover in corn and soybean production systems
• Patrick Galland, Iowa State University – Research of unsuppressed production systems with perennial ground cover in corn production
• Brandon Schlautman, The Land Institute, and Philip Rockson, Iowa State University – Experiences from partnering farms using perennial ground cover in corn and soy production systems

Feb. 4, 2025 – Corn Hybrid Performance within Perennial Groundcover Systems
• Raj Raman, Iowa State University – Types of perennial groundcover production systems and how this influences brittleness
• Thomas Lubberstedt and Memis Bilgici, Iowa State University – Should we breed corn for use in perennial groundcover production systems?
• Sara Lira, Corteva Agriscience – Evaluating hybrid performance in well suppressed perennial groundcover systems

Feb. 11, 2025 – Quantifying and Valorizing Ecosystem Service Benefits for Perennial Groundcover in Corn and Soybean Production; all speakers are from Iowa State University
• Marshall McDaniel– Soil moisture results and water competition for nitrogen in perennial groundcover systems
• Oluwatuyi Olowoyeye – Research on grass cover and erosion control
• Philip Rockson – Findings on nitrogen leaching reduction
• Cyndi Bartel – Federal farm bill programs and valorizing ecosystem services
For more information about the series, please contact Daniel Andersen at dsa@iastate.edu or 515-294-4210. For registration inquiries, please contact Melissa McEnany at mmcenany@iastate.edu or 515-294-9075.

RegenPGC grad student honored at 2024 World Food Prize

World Food Prize Graduate Student Poster Competition awardees

RegenPGC Graduate Education Community member Prathyusha Cheguri (4th from left) earned a significant award from the World Food Prize’s “Norman Borlaug Lecture Poster Competition for Graduate and Undergraduate Students.” Prthyusha’s presentation focused on her research “on one of the ideal candidates (Poa bulbosa) to use as the ground cover of the Perennial Ground Cover based cropping systems.” Prathyusha’s achievement speaks well of her efforts as a graduate student at Iowa State University and the mentoring she has received from RegenPGC CoPd, Shuizhang Fei.

Three graduate students were honored in the Borlaug Competition on Oct. 28 as part of the 2024 World Food Prize. Entrants submitted research posters on global issues in food, climate, technology, and more.
Graduate Students Awards
1st place – Esther Y. Akoto, industrial and agricultural technology
2nd place – Brady Clausen, sustainable agriculture
3rd place – Prathyusha Cheguri, genetics and genomics

You can learn more about Prthyusha and her colleagues in our RegenPGC Graduate Education Community at https://www.regenpgc.org/theme-3-education/graduate-education-copy/

(Photo: World Food Prize)

RegenPGC Graduate Students selected for prestigious fellowship

Not one, but two! RegenPGC graduate students Oluwatuyi (Tuyi) Olowoyeye and Vipul Kumar have been awarded prestigious FFAR Fellowships. Since 2018, the Foundation for Food and Agricultural Research (FFAR) has awarded three-year fellowships to PhD students studying food and agricultural sciences.

The FFAR fellowship provides training, professional development, and opportunities to engage with thought leaders in government and industry. You can learn more about the FFAR fellows program at https://foundationfar.org/what-we-do/research-priorities/scientific-workforce/ffar-fellows/.

Oluwatuyi (Tuyi) Olowoyeye is part of the 2023–2026 FFAR fellowship cohort. At Iowa State University, Tuyi is mentored by RegenPGC CoProject Director Dr. Amy Kaleita, and his Fellowship is sponsored by Iowa State University. His dissertation research “focuses on using computer models to quantify the benefits of generative agricultural practices.” You can learn more about Tuyi and his FFAR story here: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/4d24147d86924b33a2ae17fd602d318d.

Vipul Kumar is a member of the 2024–2027 FFAR fellowship cohort as a plant breeder. His Iowa State University/RegenPGC mentor is Dr. Shui-zheng Fei. Iowa State University and Corteva Agrisciences sponsor Vipul’s fellowship. Vipul’s research focuses on Sandberg bluegrass (Poa secunda), a promising perennial groundcover candidate characterized by its summer dormancy, cool-season growth habit, and shallow root system. You can learn more about Vipul’s Fellowship at https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/7f23a8cd28494b3eaafc8a4a9b25941e.

Inspiring a Math Teacher

Amy Jurasek is a math teacher at Dowling Catholic High School in West Des Moines, Iowa, who participated in our 2024 Research Experience for Teachers program.

As a teacher, Amy is inspired to develop lessons integrating environmental themes into mathematical problem-solving activities. She wants her students to understand the relevance of algebra and geometry to solving real-world problems.

Here is what she had to say at the end of the summer: “As teachers, we are used to being well prepared before class starts. In the field, it is impossible to have an exact plan as the weather changes, research is modified, and people are not always predictable. Our leader was phenomenal in keeping the projects going, touching base with people multiple times throughout the day, and adapting on the fly to the various situations that arose.

There are times in the classroom when I need to better adapt to what is going on with students and realize the importance of small pick-me-ups when engagement is waning. In the field, being given a doable task quickly put me at ease. These are all things that I already know would provide a better classroom environment, but the work in the field really reinforced the concepts.”

You can learn more about Amy’s project at https://www.regenpgc.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Amy-Jurasek-poster-2024.pdf.

Flip the Script – When the Teacher Went to School

Meggan Lint is a teacher who spent much of her summer in our Research Experience for Teachers (RET) program. Meggan has a goal of continuous learning so she can “embolden my students to achieve their goals outside of the classroom.”

We like to believe that being immersed in her project, “Comparative Analysis of Growth and Development in Maize under Shade (Low Red Far Red Ratio) Light and White Light Conditions Under Perennial Ground Cover Crop (PGC),” did just that with the help of her mentors and RET advisors Thomas Lübberstedt, Leticia Prada De Miranda, Diego Caixeta, and Memis Bilgici.

Here is what Meggan had to say at the end of the summer: “This experience is unlike any other experience I’ve ever been a part of, and it was amazing!! If you had told me, in the beginning, that this summer would feel more like summer camp when I was eight years old, I wouldn’t have believed you. I felt the same feelings—anxiety, excitement, and not knowing if I would fit in—about this summer course as I had when I first went to a week of sleepaway camp. And much like being at sleepaway camp, we learned from each other, played, and explored.”

You can learn more about Meggan and her RET colleagues at https://www.regenpgc.org/theme-3-education/graduate-education/.

RegenPGC releases latest research updates

Is it progress if it is not recorded? Our latest quarterly report skips right over that philosophical question. Find out what our researchers were up to between February 1 and April 30, 2024, as we pursue our long-term goal of developing and increasing the reliability of PGC systems. We have many accomplishments, but not everything we do is SCIENCE. We like to share what we learn in ways the interested public can follow. For example, here is an outreach accomplishment from this past quarter, among many other things highlighted in our report. Stay tuned to our blog and our social media account on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/regenpgc) for our latest news.

Iowa Learning Farms On-Line Virtual Field Day – A New Direction in Cover Crops: Developing Perennial Ground Cover for Corn Systems in the Midwest – March 21, 2024
The virtual field day had 171 participants. The program—delivered by Dan Andersen and Raj Raman—covered an overview of the proposed PGC system, management options and perspectives, and the potential benefits it can bring to a farming operation.

RegenPGC Yr 3 Q3 Quarterly Update: https://www.regenpgc.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/2024-07-02-RegenPGC-Quarterly-Report-YR-3-Q3.pdf

Time for…Field Days

Our project is about two things: 1) Our long-term goal is to develop and increase the reliability of PGC systems through research and to share what we know with all interested parties. That’s why Field Days are so important to us as a multidisciplinary research team.

We just finished our first 2024 Field Day sponsored by the Black Hawk (Iowa) Soil and Water Conservation District. On June 13th, we shared our PGC vision with 24 producers. By all accounts, the event was a success.

We are hosting three more Iowa Field Days this summer and in Nebraska. Don’t miss your chance to learn about Perennial Groundcover and what this new approach to cover crops can bring to the land. Stay tuned for complete registration information, and until then … start making plans!

  • Corning, IA – July 24 ( * Registration Deadline 7/19/24)
  • Nashua, IA – Aug. 7 ( * Registration Deadline – 8/2/24)
  • Ames/Boone IA Aug. 14 (* Registration Deadline 8/9/24)
  • Nebraska – TBD

RegenPGC grad student receives outstanding student award

RegenPGC Graduate Education Community member Hallie Sandeen has been named the University of Kentucky Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment “Integrated Plant and Soil Sciences Outstanding New MS Student, 2023-2024.” The best honor is being recognized by your colleagues and peers.

We also want to acknowledge RegenPGC CoPd Erin Haramoto for her role as a mentor to Hallie. Learn more about Hallie’s graduate school work in her video “Perennial Cover Crops: Evaluating Poaceae Species’ Establishment and Weed Suppression Potential.”

You can learn more about our Graduate Education Community at https://www.regenpgc.org/theme-3-education/graduate-education/.

RegenGC grad student pursues creative interests

Graduate education can be a slog. All those hours in the lab move students toward their careers, but in the short run, they can be incredibly long and dry. RegenPGC Graduate Education Community member Prathyusha Cheguri has not let herself be bogged down; instead, she has pursued expanding her creative side by creating original artwork and participating in the arts at Iowa State University.

Here is what Prathyusha recently posted on LinkedIn:

“Hello All!
I am excited to share that I had the honor of presenting my research poster (Cheguri, Prathyusha & Shui-zhang Fei. 2024. Photothermal Effects on Inflorescence Development in Poa Bulbosa) at the 2nd annual Interdisciplinary Biological Sciences Symposium – ‘From Code to Cure Bridging the Gap in Biological Sciences’. It was an incredible opportunity to showcase my work and engage with fellow scientists, researchers, and enthusiasts.

Additionally, I have proudly served as the Chair of the Creative Arts Submission Committee. But that’s not all! As a passionate artist, I also contributed some of my artwork to the Creative Arts Submissions🎨. The fusion of science and art is truly magical, and I’m grateful for the chance to express my creativity.”