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Women In Beekeeping: Impacts Of A Beekeeper Educational Program, Bridget Gross

Department of Entomology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The decline in honey bee populations over the past two decades in the United States is alarming. The management provided by beekeepers to their honey bee colonies influences the survival of the colony. However, there is a lack of information on the experiences of beekeepers, specifically women beekeepers. The Center for Rural Affairs (CFRA) in Nebraska hosted the “Honey Bees on the Farm: Connecting Women Beekeepers and Women Farmers for Environmental and Economic Benefit” program that provided informal, educational events to women beekeepers and landowners. Using a convergent mixed methods design, the first research question examines the impacts of the …

The Uniform Soybean Tests: Northern Region 2020, Guohong Cai, Adam Brock

Uniform Soybean Tests Northern Region

The purpose of The Uniform Soybean Tests is to critically evaluate the best of the experimental soybean lines developed by federal and state research personnel in the U.S. and Canada, for their potential release as new varieties. A test is established for each of ten maturity groups. Uniform Test 00 includes maturity Group 00 strains adapted to production in the northern fringe of the present area of soybean production. Uniform Tests 0 through IV include later maturing strains adapted to locations progressively further south in the North Central States and areas of similar latitude. Each year new selections are added …

Developing Methods To Survey, Collect, Process, And Screen Endemic Entomopathogenic Fungi Against The Asian Citrus Psyllid In The Lower Rio Grande Valley, Jonathan Cisneros

Theses and Dissertations

The Asian citrus psyllid (ACP), Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Hemiptera: Liviidae), vectors “Candidatus Liberibacter spp.”, the causative agent of Citrus Greening Disease. Managing ACP is imperative given the continuous increase in HLB positive trees. An aspect of integrated pest management (IPM) is the use of entomopathogenic fungi for the biological control of D. citri.

In order to identify endemic entomopathogenic fungi actively infecting D. citri, ACP were collected from local residential areas, surface sterilized, and plated on a semi-selective agar medium. Collection of over 9,300 samples from 278 sites throughout the LRGV led to the positive identification of …

Incorporation Of Native Plants For Biodiversity Conservation In South Texas Agroecosystems, Kaitlynn M. Lavallee

Theses and Dissertations

I address the concerning disconnect between food production and regenerative ecological principles. First, understanding the foundational processes of seed-dormancy and germination are essential for successful restoration efforts using native species. We examine four common seed treatments (aerated hydroprime, acid scarification, cold stratification, sand scarification) on twelve commercially available species native to south Texas. Pappophorum bicolor Fourn. (pink pappusgrass) was sown in the field with the aerated hydroprime treatment, D. virgatus (Willd.) B.L. Turner (prostrate bundleflower) was planted after sand scarification treatment, and Ratibida columnifera (Nutt.) Woot. & Standl. (Mexican hat) was seeded without treatment. Small-scale field trials were conducted to …

Native Plant Allelopathy: A Potential Approach To Limit Invasive Grass Encroachment In Thorn Forest Restoration, Emily A. Mullins

Theses and Dissertations

Less than 5% of the Tamaulipan thorn forest remains in the United States. For this reason, there have been many attempts at restoration of this ecosystem. Oftentimes these attempts are unsuccessful due to the high prevalence of invasive African grasses that outcompete the seedlings. In an effort to improve the efficacy of these restoration efforts, native plant allelopathy has been examined for its ability to exclude invasive guineagrass. Native species were surveyed and selected species were tested for allelopathy in laboratory bioassays. The species that exhibited allelopathy in the laboratory were then evaluated in pot experiments for their ability to …

Entry-Level Workplace Competencies Needed By Graduates Of A Community College Agriculture Program: A Midwest Case Study Using The Delphi Technique, Blake Colclasure

Journal of Research in Technical Careers

Community colleges have a strong history of providing vocational education and occupational training to meet changing workforce demands of local industries. In the Midwest, agricultural industries have expressed an expanding need for middle-skilled workers with postsecondary, prebaccalaureate credentials. The 21st century agricultural landscape has changed as a result of the need for efficiency and sustainability, and resulting emergent agricultural technologies. Community colleges will be integral to establishing a qualified agriculture workforce for entry-level, middle-skilled positions. This study utilized a modified Delphi approach to identify entry-level workplace competencies needed by graduates of a community college agriculture program. Delphi panel experts represented …

Optimization Of In-Vessel Food Waste Composting: Enzyme Activity And Microbial Dynamics, Ayawovi Selom Ametepe

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A series of greenhouse-based, rotary-drum bioreactor experiments was designed to study microbial dynamics and enzyme activity during optimization of food waste composting. This work aims to optimize food waste composting by defining the best food waste-to-bulking agent proportion controlling conditions and by evaluating the food waste composting process when inoculated by a bacterial inoculant product compared to uninoculated compost. Three experiments were run in total. The two first experiments were conducted for 48 days with sampling at each step of composting, while the third experiment last 50 days and included one extra sampling date. In the first experiment, 50:50, 65:35 …

Influence Of Burning And Grazing Management Practices On Subirrigated Sandhill Meadow Hay Production, Tara M. Harms

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Subirrigated meadows are a valuable forage resource to Sandhills ranching operations being used for hay production, grazing, or a combination of both. Practices that sustain meadow productivity should be encouraged to ensure a consistent feed supply for cattle. The potential influence of prescribed burning or pre-freeze and post-freeze grazing on forage production and quality are not well understood on these meadows. In grasslands, including meadows, excess dead plant material can accumulate, causing a potential reduction in forage yield and quality. Results of our three-year field study suggest that burning meadows in the spring is a suitable management option to remove …

Corn And Soybean Response To Wastewater-Recycled Phosphorus Fertilizers, Shane Ylagan

Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

The ability to recycle phosphorus (P) from wastewaters could provide a sustainable, continuous source of P that might also help protect surface water quality from P enrichment. The mineral struvite (MgNH4PO4·6H2O) is an understudied material that can be created from Pcontaining wastewater and has been shown to have agricultural fertilizer value. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of electrochemically precipitated struvite (ECST), chemically precipitated struvite (Crystal Green; CG), diammonium phosphate (DAP), monoammonium phosphate (MAP), rock phosphate (RP), and triple super phosphate (TSP) on corn (Zea mays) and soybean (Glycine max) response in a 79-day greenhouse pot …

Leadership Styles And Barriers To Leadership For Women In Agriculture: A Mixed Methods Study, Erica Ramsey Louder

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Women are a growing demographic in agriculture, yet women holding positions in agricultural leadership is limited. This research sought to identify the ways women in agriculture lead by examining their leadership styles and the barriers they face as they strive to advance within their professions.

The results show that women are relationship-based leaders and that there are significant barriers that inhibit women’s advancement in agriculture. Many of these barriers are related to gender bias, self-perception, and life issues such as stress and workload.

Interaction Of Urea With Frequency And Amount Of Distillers' Grains Supplementation For Growing Steers On A High Forage Diet, Haley F. Linder

Department of Animal Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Two studies were conducted to determine interactions of urea inclusion to a dried distillers grains plus solubles (DDGS) supplement fed at two amounts and two frequencies to steers on a high forage diet. In Exp. 1, 120 steers were fed individually for 84 d. Steers received ad libitum grass hay and 1 of 8 treatments. Supplement was fed either every day (D) or 3x/week (ALT), amount of supplement fed was 6.36 kg/week (LO) or 12.73 kg/week (HI), and contain either no urea (-U) or 1.3% urea (+U). Hay DMI and steer BW were measured. In Exp. 2, 8 ruminally cannulated …

Improving The Accuracy Of Genomic Predictions: Investigation Of Training Methods And Data Pooling, Johnna Lynn Baller

Department of Animal Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

One of the primary factors in the response to selection is the accuracy of selection. This study focused on methodologies to predict breeding values (BV) accurately within multi- and single-step genomic evaluations. Factors including cross-validation methods, dependent variables, and genotyping strategies were assessed on the accuracy of genomic BV while using multi-step prediction in real and simulated data. In both cases, random clustering led to largest estimated accuracies compared to clusters based on k-means, k-medoids, and principle component analysis, but differences in bias were not detected. Using deregressed estimated BV (EBV) to estimate SNP effects led to larger accuracies and …

The Surveillance Of Gastrointestinal Parasitic Nematodes Of Northwest Arkansas Dairy Cattle Using Traditional And Genetic Parasitological Identification Procedures, Eva M. Wray

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Traditional and genetic parasitological identification procedures were compared using naturaland artificial nematode parasite infections in Holstein steer calves. The traditional parasitological procedures measured fecal egg counts, coprocultures with subsequent larval collection and adult nematodes collected at necropsy. The genetic identification procedures measured ITS-2 sequences extracted from different stages of nematode development: raw feces, concentrated nematode eggs, third stage larvae and adults. The primary nematodes observed were Cooperia oncophora, Cooperia punctata and Ostertagia ostertagi. The traditional techniques were not significantly different from one another, while the genetic sequencing showed variation amongst the different procedures. The raw feces sequences showed the most …

Row Covers, Nick Volesky, Katherine Wagner

All Current Publications

In agricultural use, a row cover is a transparent or semitransparent material that is used over crops (typically vegetables) for a variety of purposes. As an integrated pest management tool, row covers act as a physical barrier that prevents the movement of pests such as insects, birds, and mammals, to host plants. This form of management is popular in organic production to avoid chemical application. Row covers are also used to shield crops from environmental factors like cold or hot temperatures, and wind. Commonly used methods of application include floating row covers, hoop-supported row covers (also called low tunnels), and …

Can Soil Phosphorus Sorption Saturation Estimate Future Potential Legacy Phosphorus Sources?, A. N. Sharpley, K. R. Brye, J. M. Burke, L G. Berry, M. B. Daniels, P. Webb

Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Various soil extraction methods are used to indicate plant available P in soil but do not account for soil specific sorption of subsequent applications of P. Thus, estimates of soil phosphorus sorption saturation (PSS; estimated from Mehlich-3 extractable P, Al, and Fe) have been used in conjunction with Mehlich-3 extractable soil phosphorus (M3P) to overcome these limitations. As less is known about the effect of land management on PSS than M3P under field conditions, the effect of field management on PSS was investigated for three pastures over 5 yr (2014-2018). Swine slurry was applied to two fields (Field 1 received …

Evaluating The Untapped Potential Of U.S. Conservation Investments To Improve Soil And Environmental Health, Andrea Basche, Katherine Tully, Nora L. Alvarez-Berrios, Julian Reyes, Laura Lengnick, Tabitha Brown, Jennifer M. Moore, Rachel E. Schattman, Lana Koepke Johnson, Gabrielle Roesch-Mcnally

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

There is increasing enthusiasm around the concept of soil health, and as a result, new public and private initiatives are being developed to increase soil health-related practices on working lands in the United States. In addition, billions of U.S. public dollars are dedicated annually toward soil conservation programs, and yet, it is not well quantified how investment in conservation programs improve soil health and, more broadly, environmental health. The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) is one of the major U.S. public conservation programs administered on privately managed lands for which public data are available. In this research, we developed a …

Finding Aid For The Thomas G. Abernethy Collection (Mum00001)

Archives & Special Collections: Finding Aids (alphabetical)

Thomas G. Abernethy represented Mississippi in the U.S. House of Representatives between 1943 and 1973. The 454 boxes in this collection contain files created during Abernethy's tenure in office.

Distribution Of Antibiotic-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae Pathogens In Potable Spring Water Of Eastern Indian Himalayas: Emphasis On Virulence Gene And Antibiotic Resistance Genes In Escherichia Coli, Ashish Kumar Singh, Saurav Das, Santosh Kumar, Varsha Rani Gajamer, Ishfaq Nabi Najar, Yanchen D. Lepcha, Hare Krishna Tiwari, Samer Singh

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Every year millions of people die due to fatal waterborne diseases around the world especially in developing countries like India. Sikkim, a northeastern state of India, greatly depends on natural water sources. About 80% of the population of Sikkim depends on natural spring water for domestic as well as agricultural use. Recent waterborne disease outbreaks in the state raises a concerning question on water quality. In this study, we analyzed water quality especially for the detection of Enterobacteriaceae members from four districts of the state. Isolation with selective culture media techniques and taxonomic characterization of Enterobacteriaceae bacteria with 16S rRNA …

Inoculation Of Grass-Cyclingcompost With N2-Fixing Bacteria, Merfat Taher Ben Mahmoud

Journal of the Arab American University مجلة الجامعة العربية الامريكية للبحوث

Inoculation of grass-cyclingcompost with N2-fixing bacteria may improve its quality by increasing total N and available P. Compost was inoculated with Azotobacter,Burkholderia and Azospirillum sp. each alone and all three together. Numbers of all N2-fixing bacteria in compost declined from an initial population of (5 x 105 cells/ g) during incubation. The population of Azotobacter declined to approximately (2 x 102cells/g) and the population of Burkholderia and Azospirillum declined to approximately (9 x103 and 4x 104 cells/ g) respectively, at day 40. Inoculation with N2-fixing bacteria increased acetylene reduction, total N by 5–15% and available P by 20–30% in comparison …

Economic Contribution Of Agriculture And Food To Arkansas' Gross Domestic Product 1997-2019, Leah English, Jennie Popp, Wayne Miller

AAES Research Reports and Research Bulletins

Agricultural production, processing, and retail industries are major contributors to Arkansas’ GDP. Agriculture contributes to the state economy through direct agricultural production, value-added processing, and agricultural retail activities. The Agriculture and Food Sector, which is comprised of agricultural production, processing, and retail industries, promotes economic strength through various interactions with other industries. The use of non-agricultural goods and services as inputs into the agricultural sector promotes diversified growth in Arkansas’ economy and thus plays a vital role in maintaining economic stability throughout the state. This report 1) compares the relative size of the Agriculture and Food Sector in Arkansas with …

Fostering Community Supported Agriculture In Utah, Kelsey Hall, Roslynn Brain

All Current Publications

This curriculum contains seven modules that describe the fundamentals of CSA, CSA marketing and outreach, CSA management, CSA pricing, CSA crop planning, legal concerns for CSA operations, and additional resources.

Determination Of Vitamin A And E In Fodder Concentrates And Cow Milk From The Region Of Gostivar, North Makedonia, Ilmije Vllasaku

UBT International Conference

Given the importance of oxidative effects on the health of dairy cows and their milk production, a study has been carried out on the concentration of antioxidants, vitamins A and E. The main objective of this research was to determinate the vitamins A and E in fodder concentrate and raw cow milk from the region of Gostivar, North Macedonia. The amount of vitamin A in fodder concentrate was 23.92 mcg/100 g, while the amount of vitamin E was 35.7mcg/kg. The amount of vitamin A in raw cow milk was 38.25 mcg/100 g, while the amount of vitamin E was 1.09 …

Impact Of Covid-19 On Cow's Milk Producers In Kosovo- The Case Of Gjilan Region, Medin Zeqiri, Emine Daci Zejnullahi, Mërgim Mestani, Ylli Biçoku

UBT International Conference

This paper aims to analyze the impact of Covid-19 on cow’s milk production in Gjilan region. It is a descriptive and quantitative survey. The random sampling technique was used to select the respondents of 71 dairy farms in three municipalities of Gjilan (Vitia, Kamenica, and Gjilan). Interviews include farms where 5-78 dairy cows are bred. Data on milk production, farm expenses, and returns for each farm were recorded during the period February- April 2020 and a comparison was performed with the same period for 2019. The farmers reported that restrictive measures undertaken as a result of Covid-19, did not have …

Oxidative Stress And Methods Used For Hydroxyl Radical Determination, Bashkim Misini, Imri Demelezi, Wolfhardt Freinbichler, Laura Della Corte, Wolfgang Linert

UBT International Conference

Understanding the role of oxidative stress in brain as well as developing medical strategies to reduce its damaging potential in the aging process and pathogenesis of cancer, neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s diseases and Parkinson’s diseases and other incurable illnesses is an important direction in medicine and biochemistry over the world. This review outlines the processes by which hROS may be formed, their damaging potential and determinations methods. Also, the questions upon the nature of reactive hROS in a Fenton (like) system plays a crucial role will be addressed on this part and several lines of evidences will be presented in …

Meat Consumption In Kosovo And Consumer Perception Of Animal Welfare, Vlora Rama

UBT International Conference

Meat is an important source of nutrition and include fats, protein, vitamins B1, B6, B12, D, iron and zinc. The recommended amount of protein for adults is generally 0.8gr per kg of body weight. This research determines the quality and consumption of meat. The survey include 170 people were responded about animal welfare, meat quality and consumption. From 170 respondents, 64.7% are female, 35.3% are male, which 33.5% are under 25 years old, 60.5% are 25-45 years old, 4.8% are 45-65 years old and 1.2% are over 65 years old. 96.4% of them consume meat while only 3.6% are not …

Research On Microbiological And Physico-Chemical Characteristics Of Cow Milk Collected From Farms In The Region Of Prizren, Arianeta Nura, Veton Haziri, Herolinda Halimi, Doruntina Coçaj

UBT International Conference

This study was conducted for 6 months in the region of Prizren. During the research period, December 2019 – May 2020 were collected 292 samples from four smallholders in the “SHARRI” dairy. Samples were collected using a proportional random sampling method. Samples were subject to microbiological (total bacterial count and somatic cells) and physicochemical ((fat, protein, lactose, SNF, TS, FPD, density and acidity, density) measurements of raw cow milk, by international standard methods. The results of samples from the four farmers showed that the number of samples that belonged to the third class of TBC count was: farmer 1 - …

A Scientometric Analysis Of Journal Of Agronomy And Crop Science (2000 -2019) Indexed In Web Of Science, Ali K. S., Ghouse Modin Nabeesab Mamdapur, Manjunath D. Kaddipujar, Manjunath B. Hadimani, Engin Senel

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The present study attempts to analyze the publication productivity of the "Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science" during the year 2000-2019. The study was based on the data extracted from the Web of Science database. The primary purpose of the study is to analyze the research contributions of the journal under review. Through this investigation, the authors have tried to know the publication trend in the field of agronomy and related areas. The analysis covers the number of articles, year-wise distribution of articles along with citations, authorship pattern, institutions/organizations with the highest contributions, and the study also gives year-wise h-index …

#Eggs: Social And Online Media-Derived Perceptions Of Egg-Laying Hen Housing, Nicole Olynk Widmar, Courtney Bir, Christopher Wolf, John Lai, Yangxuan Liu

Department of Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

Enormous quantities of data are generated through social and online media in the era of Web 2.0. Understanding consumer perceptions or demand efficiently and cost effectively remains a focus for economists, retailer/consumer sciences, and production industries. Most of the efforts to understand demand for food products rely on reports of past market performance along with survey data. Given the movement of content-generation online to lay users via social media, the potential to capture market-influencing shifts in sentiment exists in online data. This analysis presents a novel approach to studying consumer perceptions of production system attributes using eggs and laying hen …

Presenting Smaller ‘Component Designs’ In Place Of Large Discrete Choice Experiment, Courtney Bir, Michael S. Delgado, Nicole Olynk Widmar

Department of Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

Employing a sample of US residents, a new WTP (willingness-to-pay) data collection method using component discrete choice experiments is proposed and compared to the traditional method. The WTP experiments elicit consumer's WTP for potentially animal welfare improving production practices and product attributes in yogurt. The new data collection method was designed to decrease complexity by having respondents participate in fewer choice scenarios. Incidences of attribute non-attendance (ANA), a potential simplifying heuristic, occurred less frequently for all but one attribute in the new WTP data collection method. Exhibiting ANA for any attribute was negatively correlated with the time for completion.

Size And Scope Of Tooele County Agriculture 2019, Ryan Feuz, Ryan Larsen, Linden Greenhalgh

All Current Publications

Tooele County is in northwestern Utah. It borders Nevada. Other surrounding Utah counties include Box Elder, Weber, Davis, Salt Lake, Utah, and Juab. As of 2017, the population of Tooele County was estimated at 67,456. The Great Salt Lake Desert covers much of the western portion of the county while the eastern portion contains many small towns outside of Salt Lake City. Tooele County is the second-largest county in Utah. This fact sheet reviews the land ownership, growing season, crop and livestock production, and farm income and age of farm operators in Tooele County.