Agriculture Commons^™

High Glucosinolate Mustard And Potato Trial, Heather Darby, Hannah Harwood, Erica Cummings, Susan Monahan

Northwest Crops & Soils Program

High glucosinolate mustard (HGM) can be planted as a cover crop to suppress weeds and disease. Studies have shown a reduction in soil-borne diseases, as well as advantages in mitigating weed pressure, after planting HGM cover crops. Mustards, and many other cruciferous plants, contain glucosinolates, which are allelopathic, meaning they produce biochemicals that affect the growth and survival of other organisms. High glucosinolate mustard varieties have high levels of glucosinolates and have been shown to suppress the growth of weed seedlings, as well as helping to reduce soil-borne disease. The glucosinolates in HGM plants hydrolyze into molecules called volatile isothiocyanates, …

Oilseed Meal As A Fertility Amendment In Sweet Corn, Heather Darby, Hannah Harwood Harwood, Conner Burke, Erica Cummings, Susan Monahan

Northwest Crops & Soils Program

Many Northeast growers are integrating oilseed crops such as canola, soybeans, and sunflower into their operation, in hopes of on-farm fuel production, value-added products, and/or livestock feed. Many producers are using small-scale presses to mechanically separate oil from the seed. Oilseed meal, the high-protein byproduct left after the extrusion of oil, can be milled and used as a soil amendment to increase fertility and organic matter. This material has the potential to replace high-cost imported fertilizers, especially for organic growers.

Organic Winter Wheat Variety Trial Report, Heather Darby, Erica Cummings, Conner Burke, Hannah Harwood, Susan Monahan

Northwest Crops & Soils Program

In 2013, the University of Vermont Extension, in collaboration with the University of Maine, began the fourth year of extensive organic variety trials evaluating hard red winter wheat in order to determine which varieties thrive in the Northeast. The trials were established at the Borderview Research Farm in Alburgh, Vermont and at Cornell University’s Willsboro Research Farm in Willsboro, New York. This trial is one of several in a USDA Organic Research Education Initiative grant focused on the production of high quality organic bread wheat in New England.

National Sunflower Survey, Hannah Harwood, Heather Darby

Northwest Crops & Soils Program

In 2013, UVM Extension participated in the National Sunflower Survey for the fourth consecutive year. The goal of survey is to monitor regional sunflower production as well as to contribute to the national database. The survey is organized by the National Sunflower Association, which seeks to gain an understanding of yields, agronomic practices, and production constraints across a broad range of environments. Adding the region’s data to this archive helps quantify our regional systems as well as putting New England’s expanding oilseed production on the map.

Sunflower Insect Monitoring Projects, Hannah Harwood, Scott Lewins, Heather Darby

Northwest Crops & Soils Program

During the 2013 growing season, UVM Extension’s Northwest Crops & Soils Program conducted studies to document the prevalence and impact of sunflower insect pests. Understanding the pest pressures unique to this region is crucial in producing a viable crop. Surveys of sunflower fields in the Northeast have shown that though plant populations are similar to the national averages, estimated yields are lower, primarily due to pest issues. Entire sunflower fields have been lost to pest pressures such as birds, weeds, insects, and disease, but Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies can help sunflower growers mitigate these problems.

Sunflower Interseeding Trial, Heather Darby, Hannah Harwood, Erica Cummings, Susan Monahan

Northwest Crops & Soils Program

Sunflower, a relatively new crop for Vermont, has the potential to add value to a farm operation in the form of fuel, feed, food, and fertilizer. However, pest pressures, including weed competition, have limited the yield potential of Vermont sunflower in the past. The practice of interseeding, or planting cover crops between rows, could limit the early-season weed pressures and allow for a competitive advantage for sunflower, increasing yields and quality. Crops like clover, tillage radish, and annual ryegrass may also benefit long-term soil health and decrease expensive inputs by adding organic matter and nutrients into the soil.

Sunflower Reduced Tillage Trial, Heather Darby, Hannah Harwood, Erica Cummings, Susan Monahan

Northwest Crops & Soils Program

Sunflowers are being grown in the Northeast for their potential to add value to a diversified operation as fuel, feed, fertilizer, and an important rotational crop. However, early season weed competition can limit the yields of sunflower crops, especially when wet or adverse soil conditions do not allow for mechanical cultivation in early summer. Planting sunflower into a freshly-terminated cover crop of winter rye could help reduce weed pressures. Winter rye would suppress weed germination by covering the ground early in the season, and also through the allelopathic compounds produced in the plants’ roots, which inhibit germination of small-seeded plants. …

Sunflower Reduced Tillage Trial, Heather Darby, Hannah Harwood, Erica Cummings, Susan Monahan

Northwest Crops & Soils Program

Sunflowers are being grown in the Northeast for their potential to add value to a diversified operation as fuel, feed, fertilizer, and an important rotational crop. However, early season weed competition can limit the yields of sunflower crops, especially when wet or adverse soil conditions do not allow for mechanical cultivation in early summer. Planting sunflower into a freshly-terminated cover crop of winter rye could help reduce weed pressures. Winter rye would suppress weed germination by covering the ground early in the season, and also through the allelopathic compounds produced in the plants’ roots, which inhibit germination of small-seeded plants. …

Sunflower Variety Trial, Heather Darby, Hannah Harwood, Conner Burke, Erica Cummings, Susan Monahan

Northwest Crops & Soils Program

Sunflowers are being grown in the Northeast for their potential to add value to a diversified operation as fuel, feed, fertilizer, and an important rotational crop. The major sunflower production areas are in the northern Great Plains, so seed production and agronomic management guidelines generally come from this region. Identifying varieties of sunflower that will perform well in Vermont’s particular climate is essential to viable crop production. With this in mind, UVM Extension’s Northwest Crops and Soils Program have been evaluating sunflower varieties for their performance in our microclimate.

Winter Canola Survival, Heather Darby, Hannah Harwood, Erica Cummings, Susan Monahan

Northwest Crops & Soils Program

Winter canola (Brassica napus) is a relatively new crop in Vermont. This crop has the potential to be added into a rotation to both promote soil health and yield a crop for oil production. Generally planted in late August or early September, winter canola should produce ample vegetation and root growth prior to plant dormancy (Figure 1). Growers can often fit a canola crop in after harvesting winter grains or other early crops. Regrowth in the spring depends on the harshness of winter conditions, but generally the plants are “greening up” in April, and will enter the rosette stage and …

Cover Crop Planting Date X Seeding Rate Trial, Heather Darby, Conner Burke, Erica Cummings, Hannah Harwood, Susan Monahan

Northwest Crops & Soils Program

When corn silage is harvested in the fall, the entire plant is removed, leaving the soil exposed through the winter. Many farmers have started to plant cover crops following corn harvest because of the multitude of benefits cover cropping brings to soil health and fertility. The cover crop protects the soil from erosion, adds organic matter, and also scavenges excess soil nitrogen (N), releasing it again after cover crops are terminated in the spring. This keeps the nitrogen from potentially being lost through leaching, which, in addition to the soil benefits, provides a financial benefit to farmers – less nitrogen …

Enhancing Forages With Nutrient Dense Sprays 2013 Trials, Heather Darby, Susan Monahan, Conner Burke, Erica Cummings, Hannah Harwood

Northwest Crops & Soils Program

The nutrient dense study was continued at two locations in Vermont during the 2013 growing season to evaluate the efficacy of amending forages with foliar sprays. The nutrient spray program was developed by Advancing Eco-Agriculture and consisted of five foliar sprays for the farms in this study. The recommended spray program included applications of Rejuvenate in the early spring and late fall, and a combination of PhotoMag, Phosphorus, Potassium and MicroPak applied in the spring and after each cut of hay or graze (Table 1). This study was conducted based on farmer interest in enhancing nutrient density of forages through …

Advancing Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Quantification*, Lydia Olander, Eva Wollenberg, Francesco Tubiello, Martin Herold

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Toward A Protocol For Quantifying The Greenhouse Gas Balance And Identifying Mitigation Options In Smallholder Farming Systems, T. S. Rosenstock, M. C. Rufino, K. Butterbach-Bahl, E. Wollenberg

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Factors Contributing To Carbon Fluxes From Bioenergy Harvests In The U.S. Northeast: An Analysis Using Field Data, Anna M. Mika, William S. Keeton

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

With growing interest in wood bioenergy there is uncertainty over greenhouse gas emissions associated with offsetting fossil fuels. Although quantifying postharvest carbon (C) fluxes will require accurate data, relatively few studies have evaluated these using field data from actual bioenergy harvests. We assessed C reductions and net fluxes immediately postharvest from whole-tree harvests (WTH), bioenergy harvests without WTH, and nonbioenergy harvests at 35 sites across the northeastern United States. We compared the aboveground forest C in harvested with paired unharvested sites, and analyzed the C transferred to wood products and C emissions from energy generation from harvested sites, including indirect …

Influence Of Riparian Buffer Management Strategies On Soil Properties, Amanda A. Gumbert

Theses and Dissertations--Plant and Soil Sciences

The Kentucky Division of Water indicates that agriculture is responsible for 55% of the Commonwealth’s assessed streams not supporting their designated uses. Riparian buffers reduce nonpoint source pollution in agroecosystems by storing and cycling nutrients, stabilizing streambanks, increasing infiltration, and storing water. Specific information regarding riparian buffer management is needed for land managers to maximize buffer effectiveness at reducing agricultural contaminants impairing water quality.

Baseline soil properties (texture, pH, C and nutrients) of the riparian buffer surrounding a tributary of Cane Run Creek in Fayette County, KY were characterized prior to imposing three mowing regimes (intense, moderate, and no mow …

Bri: The First Five Years, Biosecurity Research Institute

Special Publications

This 2012 Annual Report highlights the history of the first five years of the Biosecurity Research Institute (BRI) at Kansas State University. Topics include the facility, its operations and safety, education and training, partners and funding, research highlights and leadership, since the Institute's founding in 2007.

Accounting For Product Substitution In The Analysis Of Food Taxes Targeting Obesity, Zhen Miao, John C. Beghin, Helen H. Jensen

Department of Agricultural Economics: Faculty Publications

We extend the existing literature on food taxes targeting obesity. We systematically incorporate the implicit substitution between added sugars and solid fats into a comprehensive food demand system and evaluate the effect of taxes on sugars and fats. The approach conditions how food and obesity taxes affect total calorie intake. The proposed methodology accounts for the ability of consumers to substitute leaner low-fat and low-sugar items for rich food items within the same food group. This substitution is integrated into a calibrated demand system in addition to the substitution among food groups, using recent food intake data and existing demand …

Systems Biology In Animal Breeding: Identifying Relationships Among Markers, Genes, And Phenotypes [Breeding And Genetics Symposium], John B. Cole, Ronald M. Lewis, C. Maltecca, S. Newman, K. M. Olson, R. G. Tait

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

The Breeding and Genetics Symposium titled “Systems Biology in Animal Breeding: Identifying relationships among markers, genes, and phenotypes” was held at the Joint Annual Meeting of the American Society of Animal Science and the American Dairy Science Association in Phoenix, Arizona, July 15-19, 2012. The primary goal of the symposium was to demonstrate the use of high-density SNP genotypes to determine the complex regulatory relationships among genotypes and phenotypes but also to present methods for studying complex relationships among phenotypes. Case studies from mammalian and avian species were included to emphasize the broad applicability of these methods.

Index Selection In Terminal Sires Improves Lamb Performance At Finishing, G. C. Márquez, W. Haresign, M. H. Davies, Rainer Roehe, L. Bünger, G. Simm, Ronald M. Lewis

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Lamb meat is often perceived by consumers as fatty, and consumption has decreased in recent decades. A lean growth index was developed in the UK for terminal sire breeds to increase carcass lean content and constrain fat content at a constant age end point. The purposes of this study were 1) to evaluate the effects of index selection of terminal sires on their crossbred offspring at finishing and 2) to evaluate its effectiveness within terminal sire breeds. Approximately 70% of lambs marketed in the UK have been sired by rams of breeds typically thought of as specialized terminal sires. The …