Life Sciences Commons^™

Invasive Plant Species As Potential Bioenergy Producers And Carbon Contributors, Stephen L. Young, Gayathri Gopalakrishnan, Deepak R. Keshwani

West Central Research and Extension Center, North Platte

Among recent advances in developing cellulosic and noncellulosic biofuel sources, corn, switchgrass, and others (e.g., camelina, canola) have risen to the top. In surveying the landscape, a potentially promising new area of bioenergy production exists—invasive plant species. The addition of invasive plant species as a bioenergy source will help to diversify the nation’s energy dependence and help in the reduction of the negative environmental and social impacts from energy crop production. In addition, belowground carbon stores may provide an opportunity to reduce the impacts associated with global climate change.

In the agriculture sector, harvesting equipment is well advanced for facilitating …

Applications Of Weps And Sweep To Non-Agricultural Lands, John Tatarko, David G. Walker, Simon Van Donk

West Central Research and Extension Center, North Platte

Soil erosion by wind is a serious problem throughout the United States and the world. Dust from wind erosion obscures visibility and pollutes the air. It fills road ditches where it impacts water quality, causes automobile accidents, fouls machinery, and imperils animal and human health. Dust and specifically particulate matter less than 10 microns (PM10), is regulated by the US-EPA National Ambient Air Quality Standards. The Wind Erosion Prediction System (WEPS) model was developed by the USDA Agricultural Research Service, primarily for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service to simulate wind erosion and develop conservation plans on cultivated agricultural lands. …

Corn Water Use And Yield For Various Limited Irrigation Treatments, Simon Van Donk, Don Davison, Jim Peterson

West Central Research and Extension Center, North Platte

With limited water resources, it becomes more critical to know how much and when to irrigate. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of the amount and timing of irrigation on corn (Zea mays L.) yield using subsurface drip irrigation (SDI). A field study was conducted at North Platte, Nebraska in 2007 - 2009, using two SDI systems. The study was replicated eight times on the older SDI system (SDI1) and four times on the newer SDI system (SDI2). On SDI1, there were nine treatments to impose different irrigation regimes, ranging from dryland to fully …

Case Study: The Effects Of Maternal Nutrition On Steer Progeny Performance, A. F. Summers, K. H. Ramsay, Richard N. Funston

West Central Research and Extension Center, North Platte

Two locations on a commercial ranch in the Nebraska Sandhills were used to determine the effects of maternal nutrition on male progeny. Crossbred, spring-calving, multiparous cows were managed in a year-round grazing system. Cows at one location (yr 1 = 754; yr 2 = 700) received the equivalent of 0.95 kg/d (DM; 31.6% CP; HN) of supplement, and cows at the second location (yr 1 = 673; yr 2 = 766) received 0.37 kg/d (DM; LN) of the same supplement delivered 3 times weekly while grazing winter range from December through February. After weaning, a random group (yr 1 = …

Feedlot Manure Handling And Application Strategies On Surface Runoff Of Artificial Hormones Applied To Rowcrop Fields, Sagor Biswas, William L. Kranz, Shannon L. Bartelt-Hunt, Terry L. Mader, Charles A. Shapiro, David P. Shelton, Daniel D. Snow, David Tarkalson, Simon Van Donk, Tian Zhang, Steve Ensley

West Central Research and Extension Center, North Platte

Hormones are essential to the function and propagation of almost all organisms, yet the environmental fate of hormones is not well understood. Because these substances are so common in nature, the question is not whether they will be found, but rather at what concentrations and in what form (biologically active or inactive) will they be found. The objective of this research was to determine the effect of manure handling and application strategies on artificial hormone losses in runoff through the use of simulated rainfall. In 2008, rainfall simulations were conducted at the Haskell Agricultural Laboratory near Concord, NE (Latitude: 42 …

Heifer Development Systems: Dry-Lot Feeding Compared With Grazing Dormant Winter Forage, Richard N. Funston, D. M. Larson

West Central Research and Extension Center, North Platte

Two hundred ninety-nine Angusbased, nulliparous heifers (253 ± 2 kg initial BW) from 3 production years were utilized to compare traditional postweaning dry lot (DL) development with a more extensive winter grazing system utilizing a combination of corn residue and winter range (EXT). Heifers developed in the DL were offered a common diet after the weaning period for 208 d in yr 1, 194 d in yr 2, and 150 d in yr 3 until breeding. Heifers developed in EXT grazed corn residue for 135 d in yr 1, 106 d in yr 2, and 91 d in yr 3, …

The Role Of Light And Soil Moisture In Plant Community Resistance To Invasion By Yellow Starthistle (Centaurea Solstitialis), Stephen L. Young, Guy B. Kyser, Jacob N. Barney, Victor P. Claassen, Joseph M. Ditomaso

West Central Research and Extension Center, North Platte

To resist establishment by an invasive plant, a community may require one or more species functionally similar to the invader in their resource acquisition pattern. In this study, communities consisting of native winter annual forbs, non-native annual grasses, native perennials, or a combination of the two native communities were established with and without Centaurea solstitialis to determine the effect of soil moisture and light availability on plant community invasion resistance. The annual plant communities were unable to resist invasion by C. solstitialis. In the native winter annual forb community, senescence in late spring increased light penetration (>75%) to …