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Full-Text Articles in Agronomy and Crop Sciences
Incorporation Of Summer Annual Mixtures Into Grazing Systems In Kentucky, Kelly Marie Mercier
Incorporation Of Summer Annual Mixtures Into Grazing Systems In Kentucky, Kelly Marie Mercier
Theses and Dissertations--Plant and Soil Sciences
Utilizing summer annual grass-legume forage mixtures has the potential to improve forage yield and nutritive characteristics, and/or animal performance during times when cool-season pasture growth is limited by high temperatures. Legumes can utilize atmospheric nitrogen, which can increase crude protein and forage digestibility in mixtures. As nitrogen application generally improves both the yield and nutritive characteristics of summer annual forages, but can have a negative effect on legume competitiveness, nitrogen fertilizer recommendations for legume-containing summer annual mixtures are not well established.
Two experiments were conducted to determine the feasibility of utilizing summer annual mixtures in Kentucky, USA. The first experiment …
Managing Soil Microbial Communities With Organic Amendments To Promote Soil Aggregate Formation And Plant Health, Shawn T. Lucas
Managing Soil Microbial Communities With Organic Amendments To Promote Soil Aggregate Formation And Plant Health, Shawn T. Lucas
Theses and Dissertations--Plant and Soil Sciences
The effects of managing soil with organic amendments were examined with respect to soil microbial community dynamics, macroaggregate formation, and plant physio-genetic responses. The objective was to examine the possibility of managing soil microbial communities via soil management, such that the microbial community would provide agronomic benefits. In part one of this research, effects of three amendments (hairy vetch residue, manure, compost) on soil chemical and microbial properties were examined relative to formation of large macroaggregates in three different soils. Vetch and manure promoted fungal proliferation (measured via two biomarkers: fatty acid methyl ester 18:2ω6c and ergosterol) and also stimulated …