Life Sciences Commons^™

Producers Willingness To Adopt A Prescribed Grazing System East Of The 100th Meridian, Caroline Elizabeth Holt

Masters Theses

With the climate change concerns facing the United States, the contributions of the beef industry to greenhouse gasses are difficult to overlook. The agriculture industry is estimated to be the largest producer of methane emissions in the United States, and within agriculture, livestock are the largest contributor with cattle producing 73 percent of the methane emissions from all livestock (Johnson and Johnson 1995).

This thesis focuses on factors influencing beef cattle producers’ east of the 100th meridian interest in adopting prescribed grazing; including how a government cost share system could enhance adoption. Information was obtained for the study through a …

Hydrogeology Of The Little River Animal Agriculture Environmental Research Unit And Impacts Of Dairy Operations On Groundwater, Robert Wesley Hunter

Masters Theses

This thesis describes the development of an integrated hydrogeologic/hydrologic site assessment and groundwater/surface water quality monitoring program at the University of Tennessee – Little River Dairy Farm, located near Townsend, TN. Hydrologic/hydrogeologic investigations of streams and groundwater at the site have been underway for more than 5 years, and these are expected to provide background data for assessing impacts of dairy wastes. The lower half of the ~180 ha site consists of low-relief fields used for row crops, which are underlain by 4 – 9 m of alluvial deposits on top of black shale or limestone that include sinkhole features. …

Forage And Biomass Dual-Purpose Harvest System Using Native Warm-Season Grasses, David Weston Mcintosh

Masters Theses

There has been increasing interest in utilizing native warm-season grasses (NWSGs), especially switchgrass, as a biomass feedstock for cellulosic ethanol production. Millions of hectares of crop and pasture in the mid-South are forecast to potentially be planted with switchgrass for biomass feedstock production. This could have a substantial impact on the region’s cattle industry, reducing forage production hectares. This study was conducted to determine the effect of early season harvest timing on forage and biomass of NWSGs designed for use in cellulosic ethanol production. The over-all hypothesis was to determine if an early forage harvest can be included in a …

Data Storage Alternatives For A Gridded Crop Disease Risk Forecasting System, Paul J. Roehsner

Masters Theses

Three separate storage technologies able to serve gridded data were selected for comparison of performance in terms of providing speed and expandability to a crop disease forecasting system. The three storage technologies chosen were PostgreSQL (a relational database management system), MongoDB (NoSQL system), and netCDF files. Speed tests were performed for each by running two different crop disease risk forecasting models requiring data of different spatiotemporal resolutions. Multiple trials were done using different storage hardware. Systems were then qualitatively compared for expandability by noting the process involved in adding successive crop disease forecasting models.

It was found that due to …

The Influence Of Organically Managed High Tunnel And Open Field Production Systems On Strawberry (Fragaria X Ananassa) Quality And Yield, Tomato (Solanum Lycopersicum) Yield, And Evaluation Of Plastic Mulch Alternatives, Jeffrey Thomas Martin

Masters Theses

High tunnels extend the production season, and increase fruit quality, yield and crop marketability of high-value crops, but have been underutilized in the Southeast. In this study, organically managed variety trials of two high-value crops, strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa) and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), were conducted in high tunnel (HT) and open field (OF) production systems to compare yield and quality. Furthermore, specialty crops are commonly grown on black plastic mulch to increase earliness of harvest, fruit quality and yield. However, plastic disposal is time consuming and costly. Degradable mulches reduce removal costs, lessen environmental impacts, and …

Selected Costs And Benefits Of Protecting Vital Wildlife Habitats While Producing Biofuel, Benjamin Lewis Totty

Masters Theses

The objective of this study is to estimate selected costs and benefits of meeting the 2022 biofuel production mandates using switchgrass as the feedstock. This study involves the simulation of three scenarios to evaluate the cost of protecting and promoting biodiversity while producing switchgrass for biofuel. Two models are used in this study. The first, the Biofuels Facility Location Analysis Modeling Endeavor (BioFLAME), was developed at the University of Tennessee to study biorefinery location, feed stock source areas and costs associated with biofuel production. The second model was developed by the Nature Conservancy as part of Tennessee’s State Wildlife Action …

Intensity Of Adoption Of Direct Marketing Strategies Among Fruit And Vegetable Farmers In Tennessee, Carey Ann Wolanin

Masters Theses

Consumer interest in fresher foods has increased over the past few years and has stimulated the growth of direct-to-consumer outlets. Tennessee currently hosts many types of direct food outlets, including farmer markets, CSAs, roadside stands, and pick-your-own operations. Using data from a 2011 survey of Tennessee fruit and vegetable producers, factors associated with the percentage of sales fruit and vegetable producers make through direct-to-consumer outlets or intensity of adoption of direct-to-consumer marketing strategies are evaluated using fractional logit and logit regressions. Findings suggest that the percentage of sales a producer makes through direct-to-consumer outlets is associated with farmer age, the …