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Back Matter Agricultural Research Magazine February 2012

Agricultural Research Magazine

U.S. Department of Agriculture

Agricultural Research Magazine

5601 Sunnyside Ave.

Beltsville, MD 20705-5129

Infrared Heating: Hot Idea For Keeping Almonds Safe To Eat, Marcia Wood, Zhongli Pan, Maria T. Brandl

Agricultural Research Magazine

Crisp, crunchy almonds make a tasty and nutritious snack any time.

In Albany, California, investigators Zhongli Pan and Maria T. Brandl are collaborating in leading-edge studies that explore the use of a still-evolving technology, infrared heating, to help make sure almonds remain safe to eat.

The federal government, the U.S. almond industry, and food safety researchers are keeping an especially watchful eye on Salmonella enterica.

It’s generally thought that almonds are not naturally contaminated with high levels of this pathogen. Nevertheless, all almonds processed for sale in the United States today have to be pasteurized in order to zap …

Gene Helps With Multiple Leaf Diseases In Corn, Sharon Durham, Peter Balint-Kurti, Jim Holland, Matt Krakowsky

Agricultural Research Magazine

Corn is one of the most widely grown crops in the United States, which produces 40 percent of the world crop. But as with all crops, diseases threaten corn production.

Three diseases, southern corn leaf blight, northern leaf blight, and gray leaf spot, all cause lesions on corn leaves. In the U.S. Midwest Corn Belt, northern leaf blight and gray leaf spot are significant problems.

Agricultural Research Service scientists and university colleagues found a specific gene in corn that seems to confer resistance to all three of these leaf diseases. This discovery, published in 2011 in the Proceedings of the …

Locations Featured In This Magazine Issue February 2012

Agricultural Research Magazine

Locations Featured in This Magazine Issue

United States Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center,

Hilo, Hawaii
2 research units ■ 72 employees

Western Regional Research Center, Albany, California
8 research units ■ 243 employees

Yakima Agricultural Research Laboratory, Wapato, Washington
1 research unit ■ 58 employees

Vegetable and Forage Crops Research Unit, Prosser, Washington
1 research unit ■ 39 employees

Range and Meadow Forage Management Research Unit, Burns, Oregon
1 research unit ■ 44 employees

Small Grains and Potato Germplasm Research Unit, Aberdeen, Idaho
1 research unit ■ 66 employees

U.S. Sheep Experiment Station, Dubois, Idaho
1 research unit ■ 23 …

Battling Problem Pests In Paradise, Stephanie Yao, Dennis O’Brien

Agricultural Research Magazine

Sandy beaches, blue water, warm weather, and—invasive insects? One of these things certainly doesn’t belong. When we think of island paradise, invasive insects don’t usually come to mind. But these pesky pests are a problem for countries all over the world.

In two separate projects, Agricultural Research Service scientists are working with their Azorean and French Polynesian counterparts to help control invasive insects there. Since these pests are also invasive in the United States, these collaborations may have mutual benefit. So far, the results have been promising.

An Infestation in the Azores

Off the coast of Portugal lies an archipelago …

Nixing Nitrate Flow From The Farm, Ann Perry

Agricultural Research Magazine

When early settlers arrived in the Midwest, they began constructing an underground network of tile drains to channel water away from the soggy prairies, which then became some of the most fertile crop fields in the country. But now when nitrate from soils and fertilizers leaches out of those flourishing fields, the subsoil engineering also facilitates the discharge of nitrates into nearby streams and rivers.

Because these local waterways are part of the vast Mississippi River Watershed, the nitrates are eventually transported into the Gulf of Mexico, where they can feed the development of oxygen-deficient “dead zones.” But nitrate management …

A New Way To Map Drought And Water Use Worldwide, Don Comis, William P. Kustas, Martha C. Anderson

Agricultural Research Magazine

Every month, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Center for Climate Prediction has a drought briefing by teleconference to identify the latest drought areas in North America.

ARS scientists Martha Anderson and Bill Kustas are hoping that in a year or so, data from their computer model/satellite package will give evapotranspiration (ET) maps a seat at that briefing. With funding from NOAAand the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), they have developed a modeling system that NOAA will use to generate ET estimates over the continental United States. NOAA will evaluate these ET products to see how well they …

Multi-Pronged Fight Against Zebra Chip Disease In Potatoes, Jan Suszkiw

Agricultural Research Magazine

Thanks to the investigations of scientiststurned- detectives, potato growers in the western United States and abroad now know the identities of the pathogen and insect responsible for outbreaks of the costly tuber disease known as “zebra chip.”

So named for the dark stripes it forms inside afflicted tubers when cut and fried to make chips or cooked at high temperatures for other dishes, zebra chip has caused millions of dollars in production and processing losses since its first reported U.S. occurrence in potato fields near McAllen and Pearsall, Texas, in 2000. The disease, whose above-ground symptoms include necrosis and purplish, …

A Dose Of Selenium That Goes A Long Way, Sandra Avant, J. Bret Taylor

Agricultural Research Magazine

In western parts of the United States where some rugged ranges can only be reached by horseback, ranchers often find themselves saddling up weekly to deliver mineral supplements to livestock grazing in nutrient-deficient regions, especially areas scarce in selenium. The routine is not only time-consuming but also costly, and in some leased-land arrangements, such supplementation practices are prohibited.

Selenium, a trace mineral and component of important selenoprotein antioxidants, is essential for good health in livestock and humans. If the body cannot form these important antioxidant proteins, it predisposes the animal to sickness and eventually death at a young age.

Selenium …

Step-By-Step Strategies For Restoring Western Rangelands, Ann Perry, Roger Sheley

Agricultural Research Magazine

Invasive plants exploit every environmental angle in their favor. So restoring damaged rangelands in the western United States involves a lot more than just getting rid of bad plants and bringing in good plants.

Since 1990, Agricultural Research Service ecologist Roger Sheley has been refining a process for identifying factors that give the undesirable space invaders their territorial edge—and figuring out strategies for restoring a healthy mix of native vegetation for rangelands in need of remediation.

“Killing a weed is like treating a symptom,” says Sheley, who is co-located at Oregon State University’s Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center in Burns, …

Tillage And Crop Residue Removal Effects On Evaporation, Irrigation Requirements, And Yield, Simon Van Donk, Norman L. Klocke

West Central Research and Extension Center, North Platte

Irrigators in the western Great Plains and other irrigated regions face water restrictions caused by decreased well capacity, water allocations imposed by water policy, and/or rising energy costs. These growers require water management practices that optimize grain production. When not enough water is available to produce full yields, the goal for water management is to maximize transpiration and minimize nonessential water losses such evaporation of soil water.

It is generally believed that increasing crop residue levels leads to reduced evaporation. However, crop residue that is removed from the field after harvest is gaining value for use in livestock rations and …

Agricultural Production Economics, David L. Debertin

Agricultural Economics Textbook Gallery

Agricultural Production Economics (Second Edition, Amazon Createspace 2012) is a revised edition of the textbook Agricultural Production Economics published by Macmillan in 1986 (ISBN 0-02-328060-3). This is a free pdf download of the entire book. As the author, I own the copyright. Amazon markets bound print copies of the book at amazon.com at a nominal price for classroom use. The book can also be ordered through college bookstores using the following ISBN numbers:

• ISBN-13 978-1469960647
• ISBN-10 1469960648

The format and coverage remains similar to the first edition, many small revisions and updates have been made. All graphs have been redrawn …

Third Thursday 2-2012, Institute Of Agriculture

Third Thursday

No abstract provided.

Considerations When Marketing Commodities Far Ahead Of Harvest, Matthew Diersen, Scott W. Fausti, Emmanuel Opoku

Economics Pamphlet Series

Crop and livestock producers face a complex challenge when marketing. High commodity prices give a strong incentive to sell, price, or protect revenue far ahead of the traditional cash sale date. However, high and volatile input costs such as rent, fertilizer and feed work against locking in a profit. What follows is a general overview of preliminary material for a series of workshops and programming. The outline of the document and workshops is similar. At the beginning of the workshops (or components) we ask a series of questions of participants. We provide the general format of those here. Then we …

Agricultural Production Economics: The Art Of Production Theory, David L. Debertin

Agricultural Economics Textbook Gallery

Agricultural Production Economics: The Art of Production Theory is a companion book of color illustrations to Agricultural Production Economics (Second Edition, Amazon Createspace 2012) and is a free download. A bound print copy is also available on amazon.com at a nominal cost under the following ISBN numbers:

• ISBN- 13: 978-1470129262
• ISBN- 10: 1470129264

This is a book of full-color illustrations intended for use as a companion to Agricultural Production Economics, Second Edition. Each of the 98 pages of illustrations is a large, full-color version of the corresponding numbered figure in the book Agricultural Production Economics. The illustrations are …

Beef Heifer Retention Decisions, Cody Reed, Dale Zobell

All Current Publications

This publication discusses a number of general factors that are essential to an effective decision regarding whether to retain heifers or not.

True Integrated Weed Management, Stephen L. Young

West Central Research and Extension Center, North Platte

Using the simplest of definitions, integrated weed management has been described as “putting components [of weed control] together, not taking them apart.” Yet, weed science has stopped at the “field edge” in assembling the components into a truly integrated approach. What is keeping weed scientists from developing real integrated weed control regardless of space and time? The answer to this question lies with our colleagues in the engineering and computer science fields, who have made significant advances in developing automated machinery for real-time detection and control of weeds in cropping systems. By using the latest technologies that can quickly identify …

Organizing A Poultry Showmanship Contest, Troy D. Cooper, David D. Frame

All Current Publications

Poultry showmanship is an opportunity for young people to demonstrate their ability to present and display their bird and communicate their knowledge of poultry husbandry to others.

Agriculture Futures: Potential Rural Land Uses On The Palusplain, Rodney Safstrom, Nicolyn Short Dr

Resource management technical reports

The purpose of this project was to identify agricultural land use options and opportunities within the Serpentine–Jarrahdale and Murray Shires, with particular focus on the Palusplain wetland section. The report will contribute to the Department of Planning’s natural resource management plan for the region and guide development of regional and local planning strategies. Historically, the Palusplain was a slowly moving, interconnected, seasonal wetland system with areas of higher ground. Extensive clearing and drainage occurred in the late 1800s through to the mid-1900s to facilitate agriculture; however, agriculture has been found to be a major contributor of nutrients to the system. …

What Is Expected Of The Poultry Showman?, Troy D. Cooper, David D. Frame

All Current Publications

Showmanship is an exhibitor focused activity. The bird serves as a prop, while the exhibitor does the performing