April 23, 2020

This week in TMC:

• We’ve got an interesting article about earthworms – not only how they can be essential for soil health, but how destructive they can be when introduced to forests
• As milk producers around the country have been dumping milk that they can’t get to consumers, some Hutterite colonies in Montana have instead donated surplus milk to local food banks
• A recent report from the American Farm Bureau Federation combines data from the EPA and USDA to show that American farmers have produced more food without increasing greenhouse gas emissions in the past three decades.
• On Pasture writes about a method of patch burning pastures that can increase forage and help manage intensive grazing without fences
• Clain Jones writes in about the different methods of assessing phosphorous and soil pH, and how those methods compare to each other (or don’t as the case may be!)
• A new paper shows that snowpack will become a less reliable drought prediction tool as the climate warms, suggesting that water managers need to begin looking for other ways to forecast streamflows now
• Analysis of ancient tree rings shows that the current megadrought in the Western US is the worst in modern history

Plus, we’ve got grants, jobs, and webinars to fill your Zoom calendar! Read this week’s edition of The Montana Conservationist: