Life Sciences Commons^™

Ec81-1240 Vegetable Gardening In Nebraska, Dale T. Lindgren, Laurie Hodges, Don Steinegger, Ralph E. Neild

Laurie Hodges

Nebraskans are increasing their consumption of fresh vegetables — as appetizers, salads, side dishes, and snacks. Fresh vegetables are an integral part of a healthy, well-balanced diet. Although Nebraska's climate and soil are well-suited for many vegetables, most are supplied from out of the state, even during summer. Growing fresh vegetables can provide higher nutrition and flavor at less expense than buying fresh produce at the grocery store. A garden also can be a source of personal enjoyment and satisfaction. This extension circular helps the gardener decide when, where, and how to plant and maintain a vegetable garden.

Nf91-43 Blossom End Rot In Tomatoes, Laurie Hodges, Don Steinegger

Laurie Hodges

This NebFact discusses the causes, prevention and treatment of blossom end rot in tomatoes.

G81-540 Peppers (Revised May 1990), Dale T. Lindgren, Laurie Hodges

Laurie Hodges

Various peppers and their care are discussed here. Peppers are treated as warm-season annual crops when grown in Nebraska gardens. They are related to eggplants, potatoes and tomatoes, all of which belong to the Solanaceae (Nightshade) family.

G80-496 Tomatoes In The Home Garden, Laurie Hodges, Dale T. Lindgren, Susan Schoneweis

Laurie Hodges

This NebGuide outlines tomato rearing practices, cultivars and possible pest, disease and weed control problems.

Tomatoes come in a wide range of fruit colors, sizes, shapes and maturities. Ripe tomatoes may be red, yellow, orange, pink or even green. Shapes vary from globe or round to slightly flattened, pear-like or cherry-sized. Often consumers complain tomatoes purchased in grocery stores are lacking in flavor or have tough skin. In a home garden, you can grow the tomatoes you prefer, including a wide selection of fruit colors, flavors, textures and sizes. Although rumored, there is no direct link between fruit acidity and …

Nf96-313 Guides For Development Of A Farmers Market, Laurie Hodges

Laurie Hodges

This NebFact contains a list of resources for starting and running a farmers' market.

Nf94-127 Growing Seedless (Triploid) Watermelons, Laurie Hodges

Laurie Hodges

This NebFact has information on growing seedless watermelons.

G92-1123 Spinach And Swiss Chard, Laurie Hodges

Laurie Hodges

This is a guide to the growing, harvesting and use of spinach and swiss chard. Spinach Spinach is a cool season crop and belongs to the goosefoot family (Chenopodiaceae), along with Swiss chard and beets. Spinach is low in calories. It is a good source of vitamin C, vitamin A, and minerals, especially iron. After washing the leaves, cook them in a covered pan using only the water clinging to the leaves. After cooking, add salt and butter, vinegar, or mustard for added flavor. Spinach may be prepared in a souffle, creamed soup, or used raw in salads. Swiss Chard …

Nf99-404 Income Generation Using Alternative Crops, Roger D. Uhlinger, Laurie Hodges

Laurie Hodges

This NebFact examines considerations for utilizing alternative crops for income generation.

Nf03-582 Early Season Extentstion Using Hotcaps, Laurie Hodges

Laurie Hodges

Hotcaps are covers used to protect individual plants from low temperature stress early in the season. There are three common hotcap designs: opaque plastic milk jugs, waxed paper, and plastic water-filled tubes. They are usually used by home gardeners or market gardeners with limited production. Growers with more acres or more extensive production tend to use row covers or high tunnels that protect more than one plant. This NebFact discusses the study methodology, findings, and conclusions to using hotcaps in the garden.

Nf92-105 Sources Of Information On Herb Production And Marketing, Laurie Hodges

Laurie Hodges

This NebFact gives you information on herb production and marketing sources.

Ec02-1763 How Windbreaks Work, James R. Brandle, Laurie Hodges, Xinhua Zhou

Laurie Hodges

Windbreaks are barriers used to reduce and redirect wind. They usually consist of trees and shrubs but also may be perennial or annual crops and grasses, fences, or other materials. The reduction in wind speed behind a windbreak modifies the environmental conditions or microclimate in this sheltered zone.

G74-108 Wilts Of Cucurbits (Revised October 1994), James R. Steadman, David L. Keith, Laurie Hodges

Laurie Hodges

Discussion covers the symptoms, disease cycles, and control measures for bacterial and Fusarium wilts of cucurbits, including cucumbers, cantaloupe, watermelons, squash, and pumpkins. Wilt caused by squash vine borer also is covered.

Nf92-104 Post-Harvest Handling Of Commercial Vegetable Crops -- Resource List, Laurie Hodges

Laurie Hodges

This NebFact gives a resource list for post-harvest handling of commercial vegetable crops.

Nf91-51 Kale: The "New" Old Vegetable, Laurie Hodges

Laurie Hodges

This NebFact discusses kale.

Nf92-53 European Corn Borer Injury To Peppers, Frederick P. Baxendale, Laurie Hodges

Laurie Hodges

This NebFact discusses European corn borer injury to peppers.

Nf97-353 What Is Quality. . . .In A Tomato?, Laurie Hodges

Laurie Hodges

This NebFact examines the many factors affecting tomato quality.

G92-1084 Culture Of Cole Crops, Laurie Hodges, R.E. Neild

Laurie Hodges

How to grow successfully broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, and kohlrabi. Cole crops, which include broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, and kohlrabi, can be successfully grown on most soils if drainage is good and the crop is supplied with adequate water and nutrients, particularly nitrogen. Light-textured soils usually produce earlier crops but heavier soils hold more moisture and tend to produce crops that hold quality longer at maturity. Cole crops have shallow root systems. Inadequate moisture may cause small cauliflower heads to form prematurely. Rainfall or irrigation following a prolonged dry spell may cause splitting of cabbage and kohlrabi. Supplemental …

Nf92-106 Reference Material For Commercial Vegetable Producers And Extension Agents, Laurie Hodges

Laurie Hodges

This NebFact gives you information on reference material for commercial vegetable producers and Extension Agents.

Nf96-274 Seed Sources For Commercial Vegetable Production, Laurie Hodges

Laurie Hodges

This NebFact has addresses of distributors of seeds for commercial vegetable production.

Irrigating For Maximum Economic Return With Limited Water, Richard T. Clark, Norman L. Klocke, Joel P. Schneekloth, Nancy A. Norton

Nancy B. Norton

When irrigation water is limited, several management strategies can be implemented to achieve maximum economic returns. When irrigation water is limited, several management strategies can be implemented to achieve maximum economic returns. Besides limited irrigation management, this publication discusses expected grain yields, net economic returns from limited irrigation and optimum crop mix for limited irrigation.

What's In Your Nitrogen Budget?, Robert Mikkelsen

Robert Mikkelsen

No abstract provided.

Environmental Impacts Of Stover Removal In The Corn Belt, Alicia English, Wallace E. Tyner, Juan Sesmero, Phillip Owens, David J. Muth Jr.

David J. Muth

When considering the market for biomass from corn stover resources erosion and soil quality issues are important to consider. Removal of stover can be beneficial in some areas, especially when coordinated with other conservation practices, such as vegetative barrier strips and cover crops. However, benefits are highly dependent on several factors, namely if farmers see costs and benefits associated with erosion and the tradeoffs with the removal of biomass. This paper uses results from an integrated RUSLE2/WEPS model to incorporate six different regime choices, covering management, harvest and conservation, into a simple profit maximization model to show these tradeoffs.

Fractionation Of Distillers Dried Grains With Solubles (Ddgs) Through A Narrowing Of Particle Size Distribution Followed By Aspiration, Rafael A. Garcia, Kurt A. Rosentrater

Kurt A. Rosentrater

Distiller's dried grains with solubles (DDGS) may have more value and utility if they can be separated into high protein and high fiber fractions. A variety of such separation processes have been proposed; two of the most promising processes involve three screening and three air classification unit operations. In the present study, an alternative process involving fewer unit operations is demonstrated. DDGS are subjected to a single screening, and the oversize particles are processed in a mill setup so that it narrows the particle size distribution of the oversize fraction. The milled DDGS is then processed in an air classification …

Mapping Soil Erosion Risk Using Rusle, Gis And Remote Sensing Techniques, Ahmed Harb Rabia A.H. Rabia

Ahmed Harb Rabia A.H. Rabia

Soil erosion is one of the major causes of land degradation in arid and semi-arid areas like Ethiopia, including Tigray Highlands, which is highly affected by the risk of desertification. Tackling on-site effects of soil erosion requires understanding of the rates of soil loss as well as identification of the major controlling factors that accelerate or slow down these processes. The study aims to quantify the soil loss by erosion process and to specify the main factor affecting the Erosion development in the study area. The Study area was Kilte Awulaelo District which is situated in the eastern part of …

Dryland Soil Nitrogen Cycling Influenced By Tillage, Crop Rotation, And Cultural Practice, Upendra M. Sainju, Andrew W. Lenssen, Thecan Caesar-Tonthat, Jalal D. Jabro, Robert T. Lartey, Robert G. Evans, Brett L. Allen

Andrew W. Lenssen

Management practices may influence dryland soil N cycling. We evaluated the effects of tillage, crop rotation, and cultural practice on dryland crop biomass (stems and leaves) N, surface residue N, and soil N fractions at the 0–20 cm depth in a Williams loam from 2004 to 2008 in eastern Montana, USA. Treatments were two tillage practices (no-tillage [NT] and conventional tillage [CT]), two crop rotations (continuous spring wheat [Triticum aestivum L.] [CW] and spring wheat-barley [Hordeum vulgaris L.] hay-corn [Zea mays L.]-pea [Pisum sativum L.] [W-B-C-P]), and two cultural practices (regular [conventional seed rates and plant spacing, conventional planting date, …

Twin-Screw Extrusion Processing Of Distillers Dried Grains With Solubles (Ddgs)-Based Yellow Perch (Perca Flavescens) Feeds, Ferouz Y. Ayadi, Kurt A. Rosentrater, Kasiviswanathan Muthukumarappan, Michael L. Brown

Kurt A. Rosentrater

Increases in global aquaculture production, compounded with limited availabilities of fish meal for fish feed, has created the need for alternative protein sources. Twin-screw extrusion studies were performed to investigate the production of nutritionally balanced feeds for juvenile yellow perch (Perca flavescens). Five isocaloric (~3.06 kcal/g) ingredient blends, adjusted to a target protein content of 36.7% db, were formulated with 0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, and 40% distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) at an initial moisture content of 5–7% db, with appropriate amounts of fish meal, fish oil, whole wheat flour, corn gluten meal, and vitamin and mineral premixes. During …

An Assessment Of Behavioural Syndromes In Rangeland-Raised Beef Cattle, Robert Wesley, Andrés Cibils, J. Mulliniks, Emily Pollak, Mark Petersen, Ed Frederickson

Ed L. Frederickson

Individuals in most animal groups exhibit consistent behavioural differences across situations or over time known as behavioural syndromes. We conducted a study with a herd of young rangeland-raised cows to determine whether animals exhibited consistent differences in foraging behaviours across contexts (confinement vs. rangeland pasture) and could be clustered into behavioural type groups on the basis of a suite of correlated behaviours. We also investigated whether cows with different behavioural types performed differently in this environment. Supplement consumption rate (SCR) in confinement was used to select two groups of cows (fast eaters vs. slow eaters). This classification was validated by …

A Gis Based Land Suitability Assessment For Agricultural Planning In Kilte Awulaelo District, Ethiopia, Ahmed Harb Rabia A.H. Rabia

Ahmed Harb Rabia A.H. Rabia

Land Suitability refers to the ability of a portion of land to tolerate the production of crops in a sustainable way. Such kind of analysis allows identifying the main limiting factors for the agricultural production and enables decision makers to develop crop managements able to increase the land productivity. Objectives of this study were to develop a GIS based approach for land use suitability assessment which will assist land managers and land use planners to identify areas with physical constraints for a range of nominated land uses. Also to help identify the management requirements that will ensure that a particular …

Characterising The Spatial And Temporal Activities Of Free-Ranging Cows From Gps Data, Dean Anderson, Craig Winters, Rick Estell, Ed Frederickson, Marek Doniec, Carrick Detweller, Daniela Rus, Darren James, Barbara Nolen

Ed L. Frederickson

Electronic tracking provides a unique way to document behaviour by cows on a continuous basis. Over 2 years 17 beef cows with calves were fitted with global positioning system (GPS) devices programmed to record uncorrected GPS locations at 1-s intervals in a semi-desert rangeland. Each cow was periodically observed during daylight hours and foraging, walking and stationary (standing/lying) activity times were recorded across days and individual cows to calculate a mean travel rate for each activity. Data without observers present were collected immediately preceding and following the abrupt weaning of calves at between 223 and 234 days of age to …

Distribution Of Cotesia Rubecula (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) And Its Displacement Of Cotesia Glomerata In Eastern North America, Megan V. Herlihy

Megan V Herlihy

A survey was conducted from May to Oct of 2011 of the parasitoid community of the imported cabbageworm, Pieris rapae (Lepidoptera: Pieridae), in cole crops in part of the eastern United States and southeastern Canada. The findings of our survey indicate that Cotesia rubecula (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) now occurs as far west as North Dakota and has become the dominant parasitoid of P. rapae in the northeastern and north central United States and adjacent parts of southeastern Canada, where it has displaced the previously common parasitoid Cotesia glomerata (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). Cotesia glomerata remains the dominant parasitoid in the mid-Atlantic states, from …