Soil Science Commons^™

Results Of Test-Hole Drilling For Observation Well Planning In The Upper Loup Natural Resources District, Fall 2016, Douglas Hallum, Sue Olafsen Lackey

Conservation and Survey Division

The High Plains Aquifer underlies much of Nebraska (Figure 1). It is the primary source of groundwater within the Upper Loup Natural Resources District (ULNRD) of central Nebraska (Figure 2). Water derived from the aquifer is an important natural resource for the area and supplies water for recreation, wildlife and agriculture, as well as domestic, municipal, and industrial uses. A general lack of water level observations in the region (Figure 3), recently developed groundwater irrigated acres along the upper Calamus River (Figure 4), falling spring water levels measured in existing irrigation wells (Figure 5), and a stable to falling stream ...

Effect Of Sulfur And Manure On Availability Of Rock Phosphate In Soil, P. E. Brown, A. R. Gwinn

Research Bulletin (Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station)

The use of phosphorus fertilizers is now a recognized necessity in all systems of permanent agriculture. However well supplied naturally, all soils gradually become depleted in phosphorous thru the removal of crops and this element must be returned if crop production is to continue satisfactory. Many soils, especially those under long continued cultivation, have been found to respond very profitably to phosphorus fertilization while even the newer, more fertile soils are approaching a condition where phosphorus will soon become the controlling factor of growth. The interest in phosphorus fertilizers is therefore becoming more widespread and the use of these materials ...

Carbon Dioxide Production In Soils And Carbon And Nitrogen Changes In Soils Variously Treated, R. S. Potter, R. S. Snyder

Research Bulletin (Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station)

The carbon dioxide of the soil atmosphere, along with the water, has long been recognized as the most active agent in the decomposition of comparatively inert minerals to give available and soluble plant food material. It is probable that herein lies the great benefit which comes from the application to soil of organic material which not only increases the energy material easily available for the bacteria, but also improves the physical condition of the soil. This in turn increases bacterial activity, which gives rise to increased carbon dioxide production.

At the Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station, for some time past, both ...

Influence Of Humus Forming Materials Of Different Nitrogen-Carbon Ratios On Bacterial Activities, P. E. Brown, F. E. Allison

Research Bulletin (Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station)

The determination of the nitrogen-carbon ratio in soils is now considered of much importance in fertility studies. Not only does it show the organic matter content of soils more accurately than the more or less arbitrary humus determinations, concerning which considerable difference of opinion exists, but it also throws some light on the rate at which decomposition processes are occurring.

The Effect Of Some Manganese Salts On Ammonification And Nitrification, P. E. Brown, G. A. Minges

Research Bulletin (Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station)

Manganese occurs in practically all soils, but the quantities present are exceedingly variable. Twenty-six typical soils analyzed by Robinson showed the presence of manganese in amounts varying from 0.01 to 0.51 per cent of MnO. Other studies have shown the occurrence of very large amounts in certain soils, but the average of 0.071 per cent MnO given in the work referred to above probably represents fairly accurately the manganese content of normal soils in this country.

Studies In Sulfofication, P. E. Brown, H. W. Johnson

Research Bulletin (Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station)

Recent experiments have shown that sulfofication or sulfuroxidation is an important process occurring in field soils. Plants have been found to require considerable amounts of sulfates for their best growth and inasmuch as sulfur is not present in soils in that form, but as unassimilable organic and inorganic compounds, the sulfur-feeding of crops will depend very largely upon the ability of a soil on which they grow to produce sulfates from these unavailable substances. In other words, the total sulfur content of a soil, alone, will not show the sulfur available for plant growth. The sulfofying power of the soil ...

Carbon Sequestration By Australian Tidal Marshes., Peter I. Macreadie, Q. R. Oliver, J. J. Kelleway, Oscar Serrano, P. E. Carnell, C. J. Ewers Lewis, T. B. Atwood, J. Sanderman, J. Baldock, R. M. Connolly, C. M. Duarte, Paul Lavery, A. Steven, C. E, Lovelock

ECU Publications Post 2013

Australia’s tidal marshes have suffered significant losses but their recently recognised importance in CO2 sequestration is creating opportunities for their protection and restoration. We compiled all available data on soil organic carbon (OC) storage in Australia’s tidal marshes (323 cores). OC stocks in the surface 1 m averaged 165.41 (SE 6.96) Mg OC ha−1 (range 14–963 Mg OC ha−1). The mean OC accumulation rate was 0.55 ± 0.02 Mg OC ha−1 yr−1. Geomorphology was the most important predictor of OC stocks, with fluvial sites having twice the stock of OC ...

Bacterial Activities And Crop Production, Percy Edgar Brown

Research Bulletin (Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station)

Until the present time studies in soil bacteriology have dealt almost exclusively with the occurrence and activities of microorganisms in the soil and no attempt has been made to interpret experimental results from the standpoint of crop production. This is due, of course, to the fact that as a science soil bacteriology is scarcely out of its infancy and the preliminary investigations in any science must of necessity deal mainly with underlying principles and such studies are always apt to be rather fragmentary in character.

Determination Of Amino Acids And Nitrates In Soils: Amino Acids, Ammonia And Nitrates In Manured And Limed Soil, R. S. Potter, R. S. Snyder

Research Bulletin (Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station)

In view of the fact that no data had ever been obtained on the quantitative relationships of the organic material in the soil by such methods as would preclude a chemical transformation, two things seemed desirable, in continuing the humus investigations at the Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station. First, to attempt the analysis of the organic material of the soil without subjecting it to hydrolysis or other chemical change, and second, to correlate the proportionate quantities of the compounds or classes of compounds found with the kind of soil, its history, treatment, fertility, etc.

Photo Highlights Of The 36th Kentucky Alfalfa And Stored Forages Conference, Kentucky Alfalfa And Stored Forages Conference

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

No abstract provided.

Alfalfa Conference Speakers From The Beginning, Kentucky Alfalfa And Stored Forages Conference

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

No abstract provided.

Kentucky Alfalfa Awards History, Kentucky Alfalfa And Stored Forages Conference

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

The Kentucky Alfalfa Awards Program was initiated in 2000 at the 20th Anniversary of the Kentucky Alfalfa Conference. The Awards Program is funded annually from revenues generated each year for the Silent Auction during the Annual Conference.

Save The Date! [Announcement], S. Ray Smith, Krista Lea

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

This is an announcement of upcoming events.

Selecting Summer Annual Varieties Using Yield And Digestibility, Christopher D. Teutsch

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

Although cool-season grasses can provide ample and high quality forage for grazing livestock in the spring and fall, forage growth during the summer months is often restricted by high temperatures (Figure 1). In contrast warm-season annual grasses are most productive during the summer months and do not reach peak growth until temperatures approach 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Summer annual grasses such as forage sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench), sudangrass (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench), sorghum-sudangrass hybrids, and pearl millet (Pennisetum americanum (L.) Leeke) can provide high quality summer grazing for ruminant livestock in many regions of the United States.

The Economics Of Hay Quality, Madeline L. Dant, Kenneth H. Burdine, Brandon Sears

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

Hay quality is often discussed when one considers the viability of cash hay operations. A great deal is known about how production impacts quality and how quality impacts animal performance. This knowledge certainly has economic implications, but the economics of hay quality has primarily been evaluated from the animal performance perspective. Analyzing the economics of hay quality from the cash hay producer’s prospective becomes more difficult due to data limitations.

There are approximately 2.5 million acres of hay produced in Kentucky annually. The vast majority of this hay is grass type hay that is produced and fed on ...

What Is New In Seed Coatings, Bill Talley

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

Seed Coatings started many centuries ago when the Chinese wrapped their rice seed in a mud ball when planting their rice fields. The ball would keep the seed from floating to the top when they flooded their fields. Seed treatment of Alfalfa first began with preinoculation of the seed to make it more convenient to plant. The farmer did not have to go through the process of inoculating the seed himself, and this was a great improvement at the time. In 1975 Ramsey Seed in California acquired technology from a New Zealand company to begin coating seed with a buildup ...

Western Hay Production Vs. Eastern Hay Production, Tom Keene

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

Early in the history of mankind, man was nomadic and moved from location to location in order to gather and find sustenance for themselves as well as their livestock. At some point in time, man decided that rather than keep moving, they would establish a community in one location, usually near running water (or fresh water of some kind), and would begin to sustain themselves with production agricultural practices.

Planting and harvesting soon took the place of packing up and moving every time the current resources had been depleted. Each year a new crop would be planted; livestock also became ...

Why Is Intake Reduced When Cattle Are Fed Tall Fescue?, James L. Klotz

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

A major problem for the cattle producer that utilizes tall fescue forage is the unrealized or reduced gains in body weight in growing animals. This result has been reproduced across numerous studies evaluating cattle performance on tall fescue (Hoveland et al., 1983; Boling, 1985; Schmidt et al., 1986; Goetsch et al., 1987). Cattle have gained from 30 to 100% less consuming toxic endophyte-infected tall fescue compared to consumption of an endophyte-free tall fescue (Paterson et al., 1995). This effect of reduced gain is a consequence of a fungal endophyte present within the grass that produces toxins called ergot alkaloids. Fungal ...

Understanding And Improving Fermentation In Alfalfa And Grass Baleage, Dennis Hancock

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

The ancient Egyptian and Carthaginians are believed to be the first conserve forage by ensiling it in the absence of oxygen. Though the technique has been refined in the 3500 years since, the basic fermentation process has not changed. Populations of naturally-occurring bacteria on the plant surface can consume some of the readily available carbohydrates and produce organic acids. These organic acids lower the pH of the forage material and prevent fungal deterioration of the product. Fermentation has been used for millennia as a natural method for preserving food. Similar bacterial fermentation occurs when one makes yogurt, sour cream, or ...

Hay Making Weather In Kentucky: How To Get Good Information, Matthew Dixon, Tom Priddy

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

The UK Agricultural Weather Center, housed within the Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, was developed in 1978. As part of the Cooperative Extension Service, the goal of the Ag Weather Center is to minimize weather and climate related surprise for Kentucky residents and their agricultural needs, ultimately for profitable and sustainable production. In doing so, numerous tools and models have been developed throughout the years to further help farmers and producers in management and production related decisions.