Fran tenBensel Benne | Agronomy and Horticulture
University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Humberto Blanco, a professor of soil management and soil physics in agronomy and horticulture, was honored with the Shirley H. Phillips Distinguished Lecture in No-Till Agriculture award by the University of Kentucky on Nov. 18 in Lexington.
The Department of Plant and Soil Sciences in the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment presented the award to Blanco in person as he was invited to present a seminar and meet with faculty and graduate students.
This award is given annually to individuals with exceptional contributions toward advancing the science and practice of no-tillage agriculture.
Blanco was one of six nominees for the award this year. The University of Kentucky Plant and Soil Sciences committee chose him because of his extensive work on no-till management in Missouri, Ohio, Kansas, Nebraska and other states. He has also published more than 40 journal articles specifically on no-till agriculture.
At Nebraska, Blanco is assessing no-till, reduced till and conventional till impacts on soil physical and hydraulic properties and soil C in different environments. He and his team are researching if no-till practices improve soil ecosystem services in all environments and if no-till sequesters soil C more than tilled systems. He is also researching other alternative soil management practices, such as using biochar and cover crops.
