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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

No-Till Pumpkin And Winter Squash After Winter Rye Cover Crop, Northern Indiana, 2020, Elizabeth Maynard Dec 2020

No-Till Pumpkin And Winter Squash After Winter Rye Cover Crop, Northern Indiana, 2020, Elizabeth Maynard

Midwest Vegetable Trial Reports

No-till planting of pumpkin into a killed winter rye cover crop is a system used by growers in a number of states, including Indiana. Advantages mentioned by producers in addition to soil health benefits from the cover crop include cleaner pumpkins at harvest, and in rainy seasons, less mud in the field making a more pleasant experience for customers who pick pumpkins right from the field. This paper reports on a project to develop a workable no-till system at a university research farm that can be used for demonstration and in future research to better understand and improve production practices. …


Nutrient Management Strategies For Organic Vegetable Production, Emma Jones, Daniela Barrera, Jennifer R. Reeve, Dan Drost Sep 2020

Nutrient Management Strategies For Organic Vegetable Production, Emma Jones, Daniela Barrera, Jennifer R. Reeve, Dan Drost

All Current Publications

Organic vegetable production can be profitable for growers in Utah looking to supply local markets. Much of Utah has short growing seasons (<150 days frost-free) with hot, dry summers and cold winters. Organic growers must work within these constraints to generate sufficient soil fertility using cover crops, composts, and targeted use of commercial organic fertilizers. This fact sheet explores nutrient management techniques used at the Utah State University (USU) Student Organic Farm (Student Farm) located in Cache County. In operation since 2008, the Student Farm was certified organic in 2011.


Examining The Efficacy Of Cover Crops As An Integrated Pest Management Tool In Organic Farms In The Lower Rio Grande Valley, Lili M. Martinez Aug 2020

Examining The Efficacy Of Cover Crops As An Integrated Pest Management Tool In Organic Farms In The Lower Rio Grande Valley, Lili M. Martinez

Theses and Dissertations

The Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV) consists of a mix in subtropical and costal habitats, a combination that provides a favorable environment for the animals and plants that inhabit it. This is a problem for organic farmers as they refrain from using synthetic chemicals and therefore led them to seek other methods of dealing with insect herbivory. Of the many alternative methods available, we looked specifically at integrated pest management methods (IPM) to determine their efficacy in reducing insect herbivory among cash crops. Chapter II discusses an experiment performed in an organic farm in Edinburg, Texas consisting of a two-year …


Cover Cropping In Soybean-Corn Rotation System: Economic, Agronomic, And Soil Fertility Impact, Jose Rodolfo Mite Jun 2020

Cover Cropping In Soybean-Corn Rotation System: Economic, Agronomic, And Soil Fertility Impact, Jose Rodolfo Mite

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Planting winter-annual cover crops prevent soil erosion, reduces water runoff, and improves soil structure and soil quality. This research was conducted from 2017 to 2019 to evaluate the nutrient turnover of different species of cover crops in soils under different row crop production systems in Northeast and Central Louisiana. In Northeast Louisiana (Site 1, 2, and 3), treatments (cover crops and no cover crop) were arranged in a strip trial with three replications. At the Ben Hur Research Station, the treatments included three planting dates (September, October, and November) with [7 kg ha-1 of phosphorus (P) and potassium (K)] …


Impact Of Cover Crops On Insect Community Dynamics In Organic Farming, Lili Martinez, Pushpa Soti, Jasleen Kaur, Alexis Racelis, Rupesh R. Kariyat Jun 2020

Impact Of Cover Crops On Insect Community Dynamics In Organic Farming, Lili Martinez, Pushpa Soti, Jasleen Kaur, Alexis Racelis, Rupesh R. Kariyat

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Manipulating cover crops as an integrated pest management strategy has recently gained popularity in both traditional and organic agroecosystems. However, little information is available for producers to make informed decisions about cover crop selection, management, and their potential use as a pest management tool. To address this, we conducted a two-year, four-season field experiment on the potential of various cover crops during the summer seasons of both years, followed by monocultures of cash crops during winters. We hypothesized that the cover crop treatments would attract beneficial insects and repel damaging herbivores in a species-specific manner, and the insect community dynamics …


An Analysis Of Yield Variation Under Soil Conservation Practices, Andrew E. Anderson, W. Ashley Hammac, Diane E. Stott, Wallace E. Tyner Jan 2020

An Analysis Of Yield Variation Under Soil Conservation Practices, Andrew E. Anderson, W. Ashley Hammac, Diane E. Stott, Wallace E. Tyner

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Much attention has been paid to the effects of multiple soil conservation and soil health practices on the mean yield of the subsequent crop. Much less research has focused on the variability of crop yields over time or space. Yield stability reported in standard deviation, mean absolute deviation, or coefficient of variation can be an important measure of risk for producers. Risk reduction has economic value, and understanding the effect of tillage and other soil conservation practices on yield risk is relevant to farm financial management and crop insurance risk assessment. We used data from test plots in a corn …


Evaluating The Economic Costs And Land Value Implications Of Implementing Cover Crops In Kentucky, Robert C. Ellis Jan 2020

Evaluating The Economic Costs And Land Value Implications Of Implementing Cover Crops In Kentucky, Robert C. Ellis

Theses and Dissertations--Agricultural Economics

This thesis is comprised of two essays regarding the costs and impact of land values due to cover crops. This first essay uses a linear-programming resource allocation model combined with sequencing and machinery selection to optimize the practices and machinery utilization of a hypothetical western Kentucky grain farm. This was accomplished through maximizing returns over selected costs at various acreage adoption levels. Additionally, a decision tool was developed to assess the costs related to cover crop adoption. The results show a $30 per acre cost to adopt 1000 acres of cover crops when no benefits were considered. The second essay …