April 2026 Issue

Contents

April 2026 • Issue #658

Photo: Diverse Cover Crops (Courtesy of Chelsea Green) — Rich, organic soil on Eliot Coleman’s Four Seasons Farm. Read our interview with Eliot — who has a new book promoting on-farm fertility through green manures and intelligent tillage — on page 46.

FEATURES

DEPARTMENTS

Know Your Costs to Grow
A new tool helps vegetable farmers determine which crops make sense financially
BY ANNE & ERIC NORDELL

There’s Compost and Then There’s Compost
Residues from -cides and antibiotics can wreak havoc on your compost; testing it is vital
BY MATT POWERS

The Vortex of Health
Structured water in theory and practice
BY STEVE DIVER

Hide It Under a Bushel?
Letting light shine into a plant’s lower canopy can turn shaded growth into saleable yield
BY CRAIG HARTSOUGH 

Conducting the Eco-orchestra
Ecological pest and disease control forces us to be ecosystem designers, actively participating in living systems
BY MARK SHEPARD

A Multiplicity of Microbes
Plant diversity leads to microbe diversity, which leads to ecosystem functionality
BY JAY FUHRER

VIEW FROM THE COUNTRY
Monthly musings from Acres U.S.A.’s editor

OPINION
Rearranging the Deck Chairs on the Organic
Without fundamental reform of the USDA Organic Program, family farms will continue to sink — while fraud flourishes
BY MARK KASTEL

ECO-UPDATE
News in brief on developments in agronomic science

REGEN AGRONOMY
Compost-poning the Fertility
Separating soil-building decisions from fertility management helps vegetable growers avoid nutrient excesses that weaken crops and invite pest pressure
BY KATIE MEYER

INTERVIEW
No-Till? No Thanks
Organic pioneer Eliot Coleman defends intelligent tillage and green manures as tools for building and sustaining fertility 

REVIEWS

MARKETPLACE

CLASSIFIEDS

ECO-MEETINGS

ECO-GRAPHIC