In this special bonus episode of Talking Crop, host, Kathryn Seebruck, speaks with Dr. Marshall McDaniel, Associate Professor of Soil-Plant Interactions at Iowa State University.
Dr. McDaniel is a speaker at the 2026 Northwest Illinois Agronomy Summit in Freeport, Illinois. His presentation, titled, "SoilBNB: How to make your soils a host for microbes and reap the benefits," will highlight the effects that soil health principles have on microbial quantity and activity in soils and the benefits to crops that this microbial activity provides.
You can register online for the Northwest Illinois Agronomy Summit at
go.illinois.edu/AGSFreeport or you can call the Stephenson County office at 815-235-4125. Registration is $25 and includes lunch. Five continuing education units will be available for Certified Crop Advisors. As of last year, this program has been adopted across the state, and you can find a list of all Agronomy Summits in the series at
go.illinois.edu/AgronomySummits.