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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Target Consumers For Organically Grown Fruit In Utah, Kynda R. Curtis, Makaylie Langford, Tammy King Sep 2024

Target Consumers For Organically Grown Fruit In Utah, Kynda R. Curtis, Makaylie Langford, Tammy King

All Current Publications

This fact sheet provides an overview of target consumers for organically grown fruits and fruit products in Utah. The data examined here comes from an online survey (via Qualtrics) of Utah consumers conducted in 2023. Here, we compare those willing to pay premiums for organically grown fruit and those unwilling to do so, outlining the distinction between them in terms of their demographics, purchasing patterns and shopping habits, as well as their lifestyle and attitudes.


Target Consumers For Locally Grown Fruit In Utah, Kynda R. Curtis, Makaylie Langford, Tammy King Sep 2024

Target Consumers For Locally Grown Fruit In Utah, Kynda R. Curtis, Makaylie Langford, Tammy King

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This fact sheet describes target consumers for locally grown fruits and fruit products in Utah. The data examined here comes from an online survey (via Qualtrics) of Utah consumers conducted in 2023. Here, we compare consumers who are willing to pay a higher premium for local fruit products and those who are not, outlining the distinction between them in terms of their demographics, purchasing patterns and shopping habits, as well as their lifestyle and attitudes.


Thriving Hives: Processing And Using Beeswax - Candles And Cosmetics, Brynn Meredith, Teresa Hunsaker, Andree' Walker Bravo Sep 2024

Thriving Hives: Processing And Using Beeswax - Candles And Cosmetics, Brynn Meredith, Teresa Hunsaker, Andree' Walker Bravo

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Beeswax is a substance produced by bees for constructing honeycomb in a hive. When raw wax is harvested from the hive, it may be quite dirty and can have many different kinds of debris stuck in it. Because of this, it is important that you clean and process the wax before using it. This fact sheet will teach you how to process the wax that you harvest and provide some suggestions on how you can use it in your home.


Using Growth Implants In Bos Indicus Cattle Compared To Bos Taurus Cattle, Reganne K. Briggs, Caleb C. Reichhardt, Kara Thornton-Kurth, Matthew Garcia, Laura Motsinger Sep 2024

Using Growth Implants In Bos Indicus Cattle Compared To Bos Taurus Cattle, Reganne K. Briggs, Caleb C. Reichhardt, Kara Thornton-Kurth, Matthew Garcia, Laura Motsinger

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A recent study at Utah State University compared production response to anabolic implant protocols of Santa Gertrudis-sired and Angus-sired steers. Feedlot performance, carcass characteristics, and economic analyses were completed to determine how implants affect Bos indicus-influenced animals. This fact sheet reviews the research findings and suggested benefits, such as increased efficiency and yield of steers.


Alfalfa Nutrient Management Guide, Megan Baker, Matt Yost, Clara Anderson, Grant Cardon, Jody Gale, Earl Creech, Cody Zesiger, Kalen Taylor Aug 2024

Alfalfa Nutrient Management Guide, Megan Baker, Matt Yost, Clara Anderson, Grant Cardon, Jody Gale, Earl Creech, Cody Zesiger, Kalen Taylor

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Proper nutrient management is key to maintaining high yields, quality, and stand longevity for profitable alfalfa production. By the time that visible symptoms of nutrient deficiencies have appeared, yield, quality, and economic losses have already occurred. Soil tests provide a proactive opportunity to prepare fertilizer or amendment supplementation before the growing season. Fertilizer applications can greatly improve crop yield and quality and, in turn, greatly increase economic returns.


Preventing And Managing Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome, Kylie Bell, Karl Hoopes Aug 2024

Preventing And Managing Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome, Kylie Bell, Karl Hoopes

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Current industry trends regarding equine management practices largely contribute to the development of equine gastric ulcer syndrome (EGUS). Research on effective medical management exists; however, we lack studies on the efficacy of equine-welfare-minded solutions. This fact sheet reviews current literature, including diagnosing, treating, and preventing EGUS. It also provides a general overview of the natural equine, promoting a greater understanding of the connection between strategies to prevent and manage EGUS.


Wild Parsnip (Pastinaca Sativa) Identification And Control In Residential Landscapes, Michael Caron, Taun Beddes, Corey Ransom Aug 2024

Wild Parsnip (Pastinaca Sativa) Identification And Control In Residential Landscapes, Michael Caron, Taun Beddes, Corey Ransom

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Wild parsnip is a weed that can potentially cause serious injury to gardeners. This fact sheet describes this weed, its lifecycle, and suppression and control options.


Consumer Perceptions And Preferences For Utah Fresh And Packaged Fruit, Makaylie Langford, Kynda R. Curtis, Marcelo Pignatari Jul 2024

Consumer Perceptions And Preferences For Utah Fresh And Packaged Fruit, Makaylie Langford, Kynda R. Curtis, Marcelo Pignatari

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In this fact sheet, we discuss the results of a 2023 study examining Utah consumer perceptions and preferences for Utah fresh and packaged fruit products. Study data were collected online via a Qualtrics survey, and 384 Utah adults completed the survey. Utah consumer food behaviors and attitudes, including participation in food and agricultural tourism activities, are discussed. We analyze the most consumed fruits and the preferred purchasing options for various fruit types, such as packaged, frozen, canned, and fresh. Additionally, we explore the factors influencing consumers’ decisions when buying fruit and review the product information they rely on. Overall, the …


Fruit Production And Opportunities For Growers In Utah, Makaylie Langford, Kynda R. Curtis Jul 2024

Fruit Production And Opportunities For Growers In Utah, Makaylie Langford, Kynda R. Curtis

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This fact sheet discusses the state of the fruit industry in Utah, its impact on the Utah economy, as well as current challenges the fruit industry faces and opportunities for fruit growers moving forward. These challenges and opportunities underscore the importance of fruit to the state’s economy, as growers navigate urbanization, competition, and consumer preferences for locally grown produce. Fostering collaboration between consumers and growers will ensure a commitment to local agriculture and community support.


Fruit Consumption Indicators: Who Consumes More Fruit In Utah?, Makaylie Langford, Kynda R. Curtis Jul 2024

Fruit Consumption Indicators: Who Consumes More Fruit In Utah?, Makaylie Langford, Kynda R. Curtis

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This fact sheet discusses fruit consumption patterns in Utah, exploring the key demographic and socioeconomic factors linked to increased fruit intake. Fruit growers and marketers can use this information to design effective promotional campaigns targeting consumers more likely to purchase fruit and fruit products.


Utah Fruit Growers Assessment Results Overview, Makaylie Langford, Kynda R. Curtis Jul 2024

Utah Fruit Growers Assessment Results Overview, Makaylie Langford, Kynda R. Curtis

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Fruit growers throughout Utah manage operations of varying sizes and sell their fruit products fresh or processed through various direct-to-consumer and wholesale markets. In early winter 2023, researchers conducted an online survey via Qualtrics to better understand the fruit products under production, current marketing methods, grower concerns, and future business interests. This fact sheet provides an overview of the survey results.


Pocket Gophers, Mark Nelson, S. Nicole Frey, Earl Creech, Kalen Taylor, Jacob Hadfield, Linden Greenhalgh, Cory Farnsworth, Jody Gale, Melanie Heaton, Justin Wyatt Clawson, Steve Price Jul 2024

Pocket Gophers, Mark Nelson, S. Nicole Frey, Earl Creech, Kalen Taylor, Jacob Hadfield, Linden Greenhalgh, Cory Farnsworth, Jody Gale, Melanie Heaton, Justin Wyatt Clawson, Steve Price

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Pocket gophers can damage agriculture and human development infrastructure. In agricultural fields, pocket gophers cause conflicts by directly consuming plants, destroying plants when their soil mounds cover them, and causing premature loss of field stands such as alfalfa, necessitating expensive alfalfa stand replacement. They can chew through electrical, internet, and other utility cables, damaging irrigation pipes, and compromising the integrity of canals and ditch banks. They also cause significant damage to lawns and gardens in urban areas. Understanding pocket gopher habits, especially the burrow system, is the key to effective control. Management methods include trapping, hand or mechanical baiting, fumigation, …


Utah Consumer Preferences And Willingness To Pay For Specialty Labeled Fruit Products, Kynda R. Curtis, Makaylie Langford, Marcelo Pignatari Jul 2024

Utah Consumer Preferences And Willingness To Pay For Specialty Labeled Fruit Products, Kynda R. Curtis, Makaylie Langford, Marcelo Pignatari

All Current Publications

In this fact sheet, we discuss the results of a 2023 study examining Utah consumer preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for fruit products labeled local (Utah’s Own™), organic, and GMO-free. We discuss and compare survey respondents' past consumption, awareness, preferences, and attitudes toward these labeling programs. Additionally, we examine consumer WTP values for each of these labels for three fruit varieties and fresh and dried products, namely fresh apples, strawberries, and dried tart cherries.


An Introspective Understanding Of Livestock Movement, Ethan Gilliam Jun 2024

An Introspective Understanding Of Livestock Movement, Ethan Gilliam

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This fact sheet creates a framework for understanding how human presence influences the movement of livestock animals. Although this work references sheep and cattle, the introspective approach to understanding livestock movement can be applied to a variety of livestock species. This fact sheet highlights self-confidence in livestock handling and training through calm working experiences.


Plum Curculio (Conotrachelus Nenuphar), Kate V. Richardson, Marion Murray Jun 2024

Plum Curculio (Conotrachelus Nenuphar), Kate V. Richardson, Marion Murray

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Plum curculio is a brown weevil (beetle with a snout) native to eastern North America, where it is a major pest of pome and stone fruits. It was detected in Box Elder County, Utah, in the early 1980s, and this population remains the only known infestation in western North America, where it is occasionally found in residential and wild fruit trees. Plum curculio is a quarantine pest in western North America (U.S. and Canada), and fruit grown in infested counties is restricted from being exported. Thus, it is a threat to Utah’s fruit industry and requires ongoing monitoring and management …


Cow-Calf Retained Ownership Analysis And Price Forecasting Using An Online Decision-Support Tool, Dillon M. Feuz Jun 2024

Cow-Calf Retained Ownership Analysis And Price Forecasting Using An Online Decision-Support Tool, Dillon M. Feuz

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Cow-calf producers frequently must make the decision to either sell their calves at weaning or soon thereafter or retain ownership of the calves through a background/growing phase. While the price they might receive at weaning may be known, there is great uncertainty about what cattle prices might be at the end of the retained ownership program. This fact sheet explains a method for reducing some of the uncertainty with cattle prices when the sale will occur months in the future and introduces a web-based decision-support tool that can help cattle producers quickly analyze the potential returns and risks from various …


Creating Sustainable School And Home Gardens: Native Bee Homes, Daniel Findlay, Kaitlin Campbell, Rita Hagevik, Kathy Cabe Trundle Jun 2024

Creating Sustainable School And Home Gardens: Native Bee Homes, Daniel Findlay, Kaitlin Campbell, Rita Hagevik, Kathy Cabe Trundle

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This fact sheet is part of a series about creating sustainable school and home gardens. It provides information and resources on bee homes, including learning about bees and how to help them, how to obtain and install bee homes, fall cocoon care, fun facts, and resources.


Whitetop (Hoary Cress) Control In Residential Situations, Taun Beddes, Michael Caron, Jacob Hadfield, Corey Ransom Jun 2024

Whitetop (Hoary Cress) Control In Residential Situations, Taun Beddes, Michael Caron, Jacob Hadfield, Corey Ransom

All Current Publications

Whitetop (Lepidium draba, formerly Cardaria draba) is a persistent, perennial weed that grows in open, sunny areas. It spreads by seeds and rhizomes, enabling it to spread by several feet in a single season. It is common in wildlands, agricultural, and residential areas. It rapidly spreads into unhealthy lawns, landscape beds, and vegetable gardens. This fact sheet provides information on identification, lifecycle, landscape damage, and suppression and control options.


50 Common Questions About Field Crops, Matt Yost, Burdette Barker, Cody Zesiger, Jody Gale, Justin Wyatt Clawson, Mark Nelson, Matthew Palmer, Michael Pace, Cheyenne Reid, Steven Price, Earl Creech, Corey Ransom, Grant Cardon, Clara Anderson, Madelyn Kunzler Jun 2024

50 Common Questions About Field Crops, Matt Yost, Burdette Barker, Cody Zesiger, Jody Gale, Justin Wyatt Clawson, Mark Nelson, Matthew Palmer, Michael Pace, Cheyenne Reid, Steven Price, Earl Creech, Corey Ransom, Grant Cardon, Clara Anderson, Madelyn Kunzler

All Current Publications

Utah State University Extension strives to provide research-based information and knowledge to help agricultural producers. Producers often have questions about several aspects of field crop production. This article is not comprehensive of all questions about field crops but represents some of the common questions that USU faculty have received from the public, producers, and crop advisors.


A Beginner's Guide To Growing Mushrooms At Home, Jacob Hawkes, Paul R. Grossl, Melanie Stock Jun 2024

A Beginner's Guide To Growing Mushrooms At Home, Jacob Hawkes, Paul R. Grossl, Melanie Stock

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Welcome to the wonderful world of mushrooms! Researchers have shown that mushrooms are not only nutritious and delicious but also provide a myriad of known medicinal benefits, such as protection against cancer, protecting brain health, stimulating gut health, and supporting a healthy immune system. Lately, psychedelic mushrooms have been receiving considerable attention as a promising treatment for mental health conditions, such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and end-of-life anxiety among the terminally ill. This publication provides a simple guide for beginners interested in growing basic gourmet and medicinal mushrooms at home for personal use using easily accessible, relatively inexpensive materials.


Creating Sustainable School And Home Gardens: Create A Garden Anywhere, Rita Hagevik, Kathy Cabe Trundle Jun 2024

Creating Sustainable School And Home Gardens: Create A Garden Anywhere, Rita Hagevik, Kathy Cabe Trundle

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This fact sheet is part of a series about creating sustainable school and home gardens. It provides information and resources on creating gardens anywhere, such as in containers, towers, raised beds, and forests. It also includes ideas and resources for encouraging beneficial insects and providing food and habitat for pollinators.


Creating Sustainable School And Home Gardens: Rain Barrels, Daniel Findlay, Rita Hagevik, Kathy Cabe Trundle Jun 2024

Creating Sustainable School And Home Gardens: Rain Barrels, Daniel Findlay, Rita Hagevik, Kathy Cabe Trundle

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This fact sheet is part of a series about creating sustainable school and home gardens. It provides information and resources on establishing rain barrels. When attached to a downspout, a barrel collects the rain that falls on the roof, allowing for local water use and preventing flooding or runoff pollution. The water can be used to nurture plants and animals.


Creating Sustainable School And Home Gardens: Welcoming Pollinators, Kaitlin Cambell, Rita Hagevik, Kathy Cabe Trundle May 2024

Creating Sustainable School And Home Gardens: Welcoming Pollinators, Kaitlin Cambell, Rita Hagevik, Kathy Cabe Trundle

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This fact sheet is part of a series about creating sustainable school and home gardens. It focuses on welcoming pollinators to the garden by providing a safe and effective habitat, and lists recommended plantings and resources.


Creating Sustainable School And Home Gardens: Raised Bed Gardening, Rita Hagevik, Kathy Cabe Trundle May 2024

Creating Sustainable School And Home Gardens: Raised Bed Gardening, Rita Hagevik, Kathy Cabe Trundle

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This fact sheet is part of a series about creating sustainable school and home gardens. It provides information and resources on raised bed gardening, which can help gardeners maximize space and increase food or flower production, all with fewer weeds.


Creating Sustainable School And Home Gardens: Vertical Gardening, Tyelar Haines, Rita Hagevik, Kathy Cabe Trundle May 2024

Creating Sustainable School And Home Gardens: Vertical Gardening, Tyelar Haines, Rita Hagevik, Kathy Cabe Trundle

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This fact sheet is part of a series about creating sustainable school and home gardens. It provides information and resources on vertical gardening, which can maximize space, increase food production, and improve plant health.


Simple Sprinkler Performance Testing For Rich County, Kelly Kopp, L. Neil Allen, Dallen Smith, Lauren Thomson Apr 2024

Simple Sprinkler Performance Testing For Rich County, Kelly Kopp, L. Neil Allen, Dallen Smith, Lauren Thomson

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This fact sheet describes how to perform a site inspection and a sprinkler test so you can irrigate your landscape more efficiently. It also provides an irrigation schedule for Rich County, Utah.


Grazing On The Arizona Strip: Catchment History And Repair, Melanie Heaton Apr 2024

Grazing On The Arizona Strip: Catchment History And Repair, Melanie Heaton

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Water, not forage, is the limiting factor for wildlife and livestock grazing the Arizona Strip, a nearly 3-million-acre piece of land located north of the Grand Canyon and south of the Utah border. Since springs and groundwater are rare or absent, harvesting of natural precipitation is the main source of water for animals. Catchment systems, which capture precipitation on a sloped rubber apron and contain it in a large tank or lined pond, are used by government agencies and grazing permittees to efficiently provide water for wildlife and livestock. As catchments reach the end of their useful lives, tank replacement …


First-Time Market Goat, Ashley Longmore, Cheyenne Reid Apr 2024

First-Time Market Goat, Ashley Longmore, Cheyenne Reid

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This fact sheet is 4-H youth who are thinking about or have recently purchased their first 4-H goat. This fact sheet is a simple outline that provides information on selection, feeding, housing, basic care, and grooming.


First-Time Market Steer, Ashley T. Longmore, Cheyenne A. Reid Apr 2024

First-Time Market Steer, Ashley T. Longmore, Cheyenne A. Reid

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The target audience for this fact sheet is 4-H youth who are thinking about or have recently purchased their first 4-H steer. This fact sheet is a simple outline that will give them more information on selection, feeding, housing, basic care, and grooming.


First-Time Market Hog, Ashley T. Longmore, Cheyenne A. Reid Apr 2024

First-Time Market Hog, Ashley T. Longmore, Cheyenne A. Reid

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This fact sheet is for 4-H youth who are thinking about or have recently purchased their first 4-H hog. This fact sheet is a simple outline that will give them more information on selection, feeding, housing, basic care, and grooming.