Digital Commons Network^™

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 …

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, …

Working Trees For Energy

Working Trees (USDA-NAC)

Working trees for energy: agroforestry

Using proven agroforestry practices, Working Trees for Energy can help farms, ranches and communities reduce energy use, diversify sources of income and provide environmental benefits.

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. …

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 …

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 …

Nebline, February 2012

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

Feature: 4-H Diamond Clover Program Helps Youth Plan and Achieve Goals

Farm Views

Urban Agriculture

Food & Fitness

Home & Family Living

Horticulture

Environmental Focus

4-H & Youth

Community Focus

Extension Calendar

Nutrition Education Program

Family and Community Education (FCE) Clubs

and other extension news and events

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 …

Buckhorn Plantain, Allan Sulser, Ralph Whitesides

All Current Publications

Buckhorn plantain (Plantago lanceotata) is a weed with increasing significance in Wasatch County. It is invading alfalfa fields and pastures in the Wallsburg and Heber valleys. Other names for buckhorn plantain are narrow-leaf plantain, ribwart plantain, English plantain, and ribgrass. Plantain is a problem because it reduces the health of the plants that remain by crowding out desirable plant species and using up soil nutrients, water, and light.

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.

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

A Comprehensive Method For Fractionating Soil Organic Matter Not Protected And Protected From Decomposition By Physical And Chemical Mechanisms, César Plaza, José M. Fernández, Engil Isadora Pujol Pereira, Alfredo Polo

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

The objective of this work was to describe a method for isolating meaningful and measurable soil organic matter (SOM) pools that differ in the mechanisms by which they are protected from decomposition. The proposed method is appropriate for soil C stabilization and sequestration studies. Unlike previous fractionation schemes, this procedure allows free SOM located between aggregates (unprotected C pool) and SOM occluded within both macroaggregates and microaggregates (C weakly and strongly protected by physical mechanisms, respectively) to be recovered separately, freed from the soil mineral matrix and the mineral-associated SOM pool (C pool protected by chemical mechanisms) and thus well …

2011 Vadose Zone Nitrate Study At Hastings, Ne (Revised), Roy F. Spalding, Martin Toavs

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

In an effort to assist Hastings Utilities in the management of their well-head protection area (WHP A) and to protect the groundwater from the impact of nitrate loading from potential nonpoint and point sources, Hastings Utilities subcontracted with the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture at the University of Nebraska for deep vadose zone coring. Continuous 60-ft soil cores were obtained at 36 sites within the apparent WHP A (Figure 1). The sites were selected by Marty Stange on the basis of availability for sampling, management, landuse , cropping history, and location within the WHPA. Nitrogen analyses of these deep soil …

Genome-Wide Analysis Of Syntenic Gene Deletion In The Grasses, James C. Schnable, Michael Freeling, Eric Lyons

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

The grasses, Poaceae, are one of the largest and most successful angiosperm families. Like many radiations of flowering plants, the divergence of the major grass lineages was preceded by a whole-genome duplication (WGD), although these events are not rare for flowering plants. By combining identification of syntenic gene blocks with measures of gene pair divergence and different frequencies of ancient gene loss, we have separated the two subgenomes present in modern grasses. Reciprocal loss of duplicated genes or genomic regions has been hypothesized to reproductively isolate populations and, thus, speciation. However, in contrast to previous studies in yeast and teleost …

Corn Defenses Probed For New Pest-Fighting Clues, Jan Suszkiw, Eric Schmelz, Alisa Huffaker

Agricultural Research Magazine

On one front, a team led by ARS plant physiologists Eric Schmelz and Alisa Huffaker has identified 10 compounds in corn, kauralexins and zealexins, which rapidly accumulate at fungal infection sites, impeding the microbes’ spread. Kauralexins and zealexins, members of a larger family of plant-defense compounds known as “terpenoid phytoalexins,” are also partly triggered by insect chewing—with Ostrinia nubilalis, the European corn borer, among species that find them distasteful.

On another front, Huffaker led the discovery of a new peptide (protein) in corn, ZmPep1, that’s produced in response to fungal infection. In addition to serving as a sort …

Using Cactus As A Bioremediation Tool, Dennis O’Brien, Gary Bañuelos

Agricultural Research Magazine

Ancient seas that once covered the area left behind marine sediments, shale formations, and deposits of selenium and other minerals. Anything grown there needs to be irrigated, but the resulting runoff, when it contains high levels of selenium, can be toxic to fish, migratory birds, and other wildlife that drink from waterways and drainage ditches. Selenium runoff is subject to monitoring by regional waterquality officials. Periodic droughts and population growth are also squeezing supplies of the fresh water available for irrigation.

“We need to find a way to keep the land productive, but that becomes difficult when you have environmental …

There’S A New Biofuel Crop In Town, Ann Perry, Keri Cantrell, Kyoung Ro, Philip Bauer

Agricultural Research Magazine

Work by Agricultural Research Service scientists in Florence, South Carolina, suggests that farmers in the Southeast could use the tropical legume sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea) in their crop rotations by harvesting the fast-growing annual for biofuel.

Agricultural engineer Keri Cantrell, agronomist Philip Bauer, and environmental engineer Kyoung Ro all work at the ARS Coastal Plains Soil, Water, and Plant Research Center in Florence. They compared the energy content of sunn hemp with cowpea (Vigna unguiculata)—another common regional summer cover crop—in 2004 and 2006.

The crops were grown in experimental plots near Florence, and both were harvested …

Mining For Phytochemicals: A Multifaceted Effort, Kay W. Simmons, Jack Okamuro

Agricultural Research Magazine

Unlike in animals, the “fight or flight” response isn’t an option for imperiled plants—including those grown as crops for our food, fuel, and fiber needs. A plant, for example, cannot simply uproot itself and sprint to safety from an approaching caterpillar.

But plants can defend themselves, and they’ve done so for millennia, by using an abundance of potent secondary compounds broadly referred to as “phytochemicals.” Some, like glyceollins in soybeans, are produced only in response to a specific threat—similar to the adrenaline surge a person experiences from a life-threatening event. For plants, this threat can be from a grazing animal, …

Agricultural Research Magazine January 2012

Agricultural Research Magazine

Table of Contents

4 Corn Defenses Probed for New Pest-Fighting Clues

7 Comparing Light- Conversion Efficiency of Plants and Manmade Solar Cells

8 Building Baby’s Tiny Bones: Formulas and Mother’s Milk Analyzed in Animal Study

10 Recognizing the Threat of Leptospirosis

12 Using Cactus as a Bioremediation Tool

14 ARS Scientists Rally ’Round the Range

17 There’s a New Biofuel Crop in Town

18 A Search for the Sweet Spot in Sugar Beet Production

20 Nutrient Data in Time for the New Year

22 A Rough, Tough Forage for Rangeland Cattle

23 Locations Featured in This Magazine Issue

Recognizing The Threat Of Leptospirosis, Sandra Avant

Agricultural Research Magazine

“The disease in humans can often be an acute infection,” says lead scientist Richard Zuerner, a former microbiologist with the Agricultural Research Service’s National Animal Disease Center (NADC) in Ames, Iowa. “In areas where it is endemic, like Brazil, it occurs on a periodic basis, and a portion of those infected will experience pulmonary hemorrhage, which can lead to a very rapid and painful death.”

Leptospirosis in livestock can cause abortions, stillbirths, reduced milk production, and lower fertility, Zuerner says. In horses, it can also result in uveitis, a potential cause of blindness.

Less is known about leptospirosis in wildlife, …

Comparing Light-Conversion Efficiency Of Plants And Manmade Solar Cells, Donald R. Ort, Sharon Durham

Agricultural Research Magazine

When it comes to using light energy, how do manmade photo cells compare to plants’ photosynthesis? An Agricultural Research Service scientist participated in a study comparing how efficiently plants and photovoltaic cells convert sunlight into energy. The study, published in Science, could help researchers improve plant photosynthesis—a critical first link in the global supply chain for food, feed, fiber, and bioenergy production.

Comparing the two systems is a challenge. Although both processes harvest energy from sunlight, they use that energy in different ways. Plants convert the sun’s energy into chemical energy, whereas solar cells produce electricity.

Scientists know that …

January 2012- Locations Featured In This Magazine Issue

Agricultural Research Magazine

San Joaquin Valley Agricultural Sciences Center, Parlier, California

3 research units ■ 117 employees

Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center, Burns Oregon

1 research unit ■ 44 employees

The Vegetable and Forage Crops Research Unit, Prosser, Washington

1 research unit ■ 39 employees

Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory, Kimberly, Idaho

1 research unit ■ 40 employees

Logan, Utah

3 research units ■ 100 employees

Las Cruces, New Mexico

2 research units ■ 54 employees

Ames, Iowa

8 research units ■ 535 employees

Little Rock, Arkansas

9 research units ■ 67 employees (1 ARS employee, 66 university employees)

National Center for …

Building Baby’S Tiny Bones: Formulas And Mother’S Milk Analyzed In Animal Study, Marcia Wood, Jin-Ran Chen, Aline Andres

Agricultural Research Magazine

For millions of American infants, a bottle of warm, soy-based baby formula is what’s for dinner. It’s also what’s for breakfast, lunch, and all those between-meal feedings, as well.

At least, that’s the routine for a healthy, soy-fed baby’s first few months of life. After that, baby may be ready to handle solid food—puréed fruits and vegetables, for instance.

At the USDA-ARS Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center in Little Rock, principal investigator Jin-Ran Chen, M.D., is taking a close look at the effects that soy formula, cow’s-milk formula, and mother’s milk have in regard to development of strong, healthy bones. As …

Nutrient Data In Time For The New Year, Rosalie Marion Bliss, Joanne Holden

Agricultural Research Magazine

Federal rules published in 2010 require specific meat and poultry products to carry new nutrition information starting January 2, 2012. USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced that the new rules will make important nutrition information readily available to consumers on 40 of the most popular cuts of meat and poultry. Two timely data sets provided by the Agricultural Research Service’s Nutrient Data Laboratory (NDL) in Beltsville, Maryland, are being used by the beef and pork industries to provide the new Nutrition Facts labels for their products.

Previously, NDL researchers, in collaboration with representatives of the beef and pork …

Back Matter Agricultural Research Magazine January 2011

Agricultural Research Magazine

U.S. Department of Agriculture

Agricultural Research Magazine

5601 Sunnyside Ave.

Beltsville, MD 20705-5128

A Search For The Sweet Spot In Sugar Beet Production, Ann Perry

Agricultural Research Magazine

The whole point of growing sugar beets is to produce sugar. But once the beets are harvested and stored for processing—usually in huge piles that can weigh thousands of tons—they slowly start to decay, which lowers their sucrose levels.

Roots store sugar even more poorly if they originate from fields infested with the virus that causes rhizomania, a disease that also severely affects yield. Resistance genes in sugar beet help protect the plant from rhizomania, but some strains of the virus have evolved to overcome one of the resistance genes, Rz1.

“The economic loss from damage to stored beets …

Ars Scientists Rally 'Round The Range, Dennis O’Brien, Ann Perry, Tony Svejcar, Jeremy James, Mary Lucero

Agricultural Research Magazine

Rangelands in the western United States provide essential grazingland for hundreds of thousands of cattle and other livestock as well as a home for a vast array of native plants and animals. And since these rangelands make up a large part of the U.S. public land system, taxpayers often foot the bill for upkeep of the hardscrabble holdings. So Agricultural Research Service scientists across the West are collaborating to make sure the money used to sustain and repair these arid ecosystems is spent on programs that work.

A Burning Issue

For millennia, periodic wildfires have been an integral part of …

A Rough, Tough Forage For Rangeland Cattle, Ann Perry

Agricultural Research Magazine

Forage kochia (Kochia prostrata) is a shrubby Asian native that has found a new home on western U.S. rangelands. And although it is not invasive, it is still sometimes more resilient than the North American native plants.

“In some rangeland soils, it’s difficult to successfully reseed with native plants,” says geneticist Blair Waldron, who works at the Agricultural Research Service’s Forage and Range Research Laboratory in Logan, Utah. “But we’ve shown that forage kochia can be established to enhance rangelands and compete with cheatgrass successfully. It can even protect against wildfires. Some people said that livestock won’t eat …