Please feel free to use these photos and graphics for publication. Mention of source is appreciated. Close look at old corn stalks left standing from past harvest. The stalks and other crop residue will slowly decompose to help nourish the new plants. New corn plants growing among crop residues left from a previous harvest.
Crop residues reduce runoff from farm fields to improve water quality.
Rows of soybean plants emerge from a field covered with old corn stalks from the previous harvest. Drills are used to plant small grain seeds like wheat and rye. 7.5-inch rows to provide natural weed protection and higher yielding crops. The farmer on the lead tractor is mowing cotton stalks following harvest while another farmer follows him with a type of planter known as a drill. The drill is planting rye grass into the cotton stalks and other crop residues that have been left from past harvests.