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Impacts Of 4r Nitrogen Management And Water Optimization On Soil Health, Kamaldeep Kamaldeep

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Farmers in Utah and Idaho are facing growing challenges due to high fertilizer costs, limited irrigation water, and pressure to improve long-term soil health. To better understand current practices and grower attitudes, a survey was conducted in 2020 targeting 5,000 producers of small grains, corn, and potatoes. Although the response rate was low, 146 growers representing over 25,000 hectares of cropland participated. Survey results showed that most growers are open to improving nitrogen and irrigation practices and care about their soil health, even if not all are fully using 4R or precision agriculture methods.

This thesis includes two field studies …

Groundwater-Dependent Ecosystems In Southeastern Utah: An Integrated Analysis Of Hydrology, Ecology, And Landscape Change, Colten Lay

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

In Southeastern Utah, springs play a critical role in sustaining groundwater-dependent ecosystems (GDEs) in a semi-arid environment. However, they remain understudied and face growing threats from climate change, land use modifications, and hydrologic alterations. This study addresses knowledge gaps in spring occurrence, hydrologic function, and ecological condition by integrating field surveys, remote sensing, and geospatial analysis across multiple spatial scales. It provides a comprehensive assessment of spring hydrology, water quality, and ecological conditions using field surveys, remote sensing, and GIS analysis to establish a foundational baseline of GDE resources in the region. I applied a multi-scale monitoring approach across the …

High-Resolution Event Stratigraphy Of Ostracods In The Ozan Formation Of Texas And Arkansas, Denali L. John

Master's Theses

This study focuses on the high-resolution event stratigraphic framework of the lower Campanian Ozan Formation in Northeast (NE) Texas and Southwest AR which is richly fossiliferous in ostracods. Little research has been published on the Ozan Formation and even less dealing with Ozan ostracods. Additionally, correlation of Upper Cretaceous units between Texas and AR is controversial due to the general lack of good exposures in both regions and extensive faulting in Northeast Texas despite similar depositional environment across the region. This study calibrates the ranges of ostracods and creates an event stratigraphic composite that is orders of magnitude higher in …

A Simple Guide For Describing Soils, 2nd Edition, Angela Stuart-Street, Nicolyn Short Dr, Paul Galloway, Noel R. Schoknecht

Natural resources published reports

Soils are enormously diverse and can be very confusing to understand and talk about. This simple guide for describing soils helps to identify the most important parts of a soil profile and provide an easy way to understand and explain what you see. It gives you a step-by-step guide of what soil properties to describe and how to describe them, along with the tools to make basic soil classifications. The soil descriptors help you to identify the soil type and aid in assigning a simple and standardised name to the soil. While this guide is designed to link with a …

The Effect Of Cellulolytic Enzyme Preparations As In Vitro Improvement For Forage Digestibility, G Bertin, Ph Hellings

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The systematic study of commercial preparations of fungal cellulases has been undertaken with the aim of determining the principal components and the contribution of each to the digestion of the plant cell wall. These enzymes, normally have three fold role-silage preservative by hydrolysing the cellulosic wall of plant material, cellulases make available fermentable sugars to the lactic bacteria. -Improvement of digestibility we can increase gain by 1 % of the dry matter in forage. - Improvement of intake if the animal digests more quickly his gut will empty more rapidly thus making it available sooner for a new intake of …

Effect Of Contamination By Aspergillus Flavus On The Nutritive Value Of Leaf Protein Concentrate Of Leucaena Leucocphala During Storage, H T. Ostrowski-Meissner, I Komang, W Supratman, I Barchia, S Cacang

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Leaf protein concentrate extracted from tree legume Leucaena leucocephala cultivar Cunningham (LLP) was stored under humid tropical conditions (24-28°C and 84-92% rh) in the form of wet cake during a 10 day period. Samples of LLP were taken every second day for chemical analyses and protein quality assays. The effect of storage on dried LLP was also assessed against two control proteins: peanut meal (PNM) and fish meal (FM), either free of aflatoxins or infected by the aflatoxigenic fungus Aspergi_llus flavus to the level 280 mcg aflatoxin B1 equivalent/kg. Storage of wet LLP under such conditions resulted in infestation by …

Effect Of Stage Growth And Chopping Length On Ensiling Characteristics, Digestibility And Palatability Of Guinea-'A', S Panditharatne, J P. Fontenot, V G. Allen, M.C N. Jayasuriya

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Ensiling of forages is a common practice in temperate areas, but is not used extensively in tropical countries. Preservation of excess forage during rainy seasons would provide a more even distribution of feed during the year. Experiments were conducted to investigate fermentation characteristics, and digestibility and palatability of Guinea-'A' (Panicum maximum, ecotype A) silage by sheep. Guinea-'A' grass was harvested after 2- and 3-week growth periods, and ensiled chopped or unchopped in 210 liter metal drums, double lined with polyethylene. Cutting grass at 2 weeks decreased pH and increased lactic acid of silage, compared to cutting at 3 weeks. Chopping …

The Use Of Microbiological Processes In The Fractioning Of Plant Green Mass, M J. Beker, A A. Klintsare, D J. Upite, V E. Ramnietse, V F. Bekere, R Carlsson

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The work discusses anaerobic fermentation of juice and press cakes of plant green mass in order to obtain stabilized feeds upon minimum energy expenses. We have studied the conversion of carbohydrates into acids, protein coagulation and proteolysis. There has been constructed a new technology "TPF-1". The work deals also with the stability and biological effectivity of the fermented juice and coagulate. Zootechnical experiments on pigs, calves, bull-calves established that a stabilized juice or coagulate can replace upto 30-40% of protein in traditional ratios without a decrease in animal productivity. It was established that, in order to ensure complete wastelessness and …

Predicting In Vitro Digestibility With A Simple Potent Cellulase Procedure, S S. Bughrara, D A. Sleper, O H. Calvert, G C. Marten

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Reliable, inexpensive and rapid methods of determing in vitro dry matter digestibility (DMD) are necessary to evalute animal production potential of a given herbage. The objective of this research was to determine the relationship between DMD measured by a procedure using a potent cellulase solution (from Trichoderma reese1) and by a procedure using rumen liquor. Herbage from 22 species was assayed. Correlations between in vitro DMD determined by the cellulase procedure and rumen liquor procedure ranged from 0.24 to 0.99. Most correlations were highly significant and greater than 0.95. Regression coefficients ranged from 0.26 to 1.43. The cellulase procedure was …

Development Of A Conductivity Transducing Cannula For Measuring Forage Intake Of Grazing Livestock, J R. Forwood

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The quantity of forage consumed over a given time by livestock is an extremely important measurement of the quality of that forage. Intake differences may reflect differences in palatability, digestibility, forage chemical composition, rate of passage and overall animal performance. Although forage intake is a critical measurement, much more emphasis has been placed on improving parameters such as forage yield, persistence, and winter hardiness. One reason for this is that the above parameters can be measured with accuracy and relative ease while forage intake measurement of grazing livestock is difficult, expensive and often-times inaccurate. In an attempt to directly and …

Effect Of Bent Grass (Agrostis Tenuis) On The Growth And Wool Production Of Sheep In South East Australia, M E. Boyd

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

An experiment determined the effect of infestation by bent grass on the productivity of pastures grazed by sheep in Victoria. The 5-year study of liveweights and wool production from sheep grazing bent grass and treated pasture demonstrated that the presence of bent grass can reduce the productivity from sheep grazing such pastures by up to 63%. Thorough, shallow cultivation (5-7 cm deep) during summer, followed by resowing of more desirable species, produced the greatest increase in animal production. The average wool production/head of wethers grazed at 8.6/hectare on pasture dominated by bent grass was the same as that of sheep …

Research On The Grassland Ecosystem In Inner Mongolia Of China And The Strategy Of Utilization, Shu Jiang

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The strategy on grassland utilization based on regional vegetation investigation and longterm ecosystem research in the middle part of Innermongolia is described. Although there are some potential capacity for increasing livestock number by the estimation of the primary productivity measurement and some investigation data, but practically, the pasture in some places has been degraded even desertified caused by unreasonable utilization of overgrazing and agricultural cultivations. Therefore on the strategy, to transform the structure both of pastoral and rural area in lnnermongolia would be necessary, i.e. to introduce some means of plantation for artificial range establishing at some limited azonal places. …

Herbage And Animal Production Of A Short Grass Pasture In A Mountainous Region Of Japan, M Fukuyama, M Shimamura, M Ushiyama, T Imura

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Herbage and animal production of a short grass pasture established by unplowed sowing were investigated for seven years under continuous grazing. Herbage production and consumption on the pasture were estimated by using cages. Moreover, light intensity was measured with the new portable solarimeter devised by the authors for pastures. Standing crop was kept at 200-300 g dry matter (DM)/m2 throughout the grazing season, 32-78% of which was below 3 cm from the ground surface. From these results, it was found that the standing crop scarecely fluctuate seasonally and considerable herbage mass existed under the lower layer near the ground. Furthermore, …

The Mountain Grassland Category And Its Ecological Succession Of The Greater Xing'an Mountains, Wei Shaocheng, Zhu Tingcheng

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The mountain grassland of the Greater Xing'an Mountains are divided into two sorts, nine groups, fifteen types. It is suggested that mountain grasslands are sub-climax for its character of the climate and artificial succession. This classification and the rules of community dynamics will help us to know the grasslands of this area systematically. It will provide a scientific basis for the rational exploiting and utilizing the resources of the forest and grasslands, and determining the way of the agricultural production on it.

The Energy Intake And Its Dynamic In Alpine Grassland - Sheep Systems, Wang Qin

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The experiment was carried out on alpine grassland, from 1978 to 1979, in Tianzhu Tibetan Autonomous County, Gansu Province. Local Tibetan sheep were used as the experiment animals.

Ecology And Productive Potential Of Chusquea Genus (Bambusoideae) In Chilean Southern Humid Ecosystems, V E. Riveros, P Tellez, M Iwamoto

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

In a southern Chilean humid ecosystem, the productive potentiality of Chusquea coleu and Ch. quila was studied for animal utilization. During 2 years was seasonally recorded crude protein, neutro detergent fibre and dry matter in vitro digestibility. Also was analized the production of leaves and sprigs, and culms (utilizable and not by livestock, respectively). It was recorded a remarkable seasonality in dry matter production as well as in quality charateristics in both species. Results let conclude that both species could be an interesting animal feed resource specially in seasons in which the pasture is in a critical stage of growth, …

Models For Short Term Prediction Of Grazing Grassland Productivity: Population Model Vs. Ecosystem Model, M Shiyomi, N Koyama, M Tsuiki

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Ecosystem models to analyse energy and matter flows in Japanese grazing grassland have been developed during the past 10 years. These models have contributed much to ecosystem studies but they are not suitable, from the farmers' viewpoint, for predicting grassland productivity for two reasons: (1) as they have generally large and complex structures, they do not fit individual farmers' small personal computers; and (2) they contain so many variables that farmers cannot measure precise values of all of them in their fields. In this paper, we propose six small simple population models for describing plant and animal growth which can …

Energy Conversion Efficiencies In Grazing Grassland At Different Stocking Rates, S Takahashi, M Shiyomi, T Akiyama, T Okubo

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The effect of stocking rates on the energy conversion efficiency was examined on a grazing pasture over an eight year period from 1974. Annual stocking rates were in the range of 117-523 animal-unit days (AUD)/ha over eight years. Photosynthetically active radiation, net primary production by herbage plants and the amounts consumed by grazing cattle were measured during the plant growing season (from late March to late November). For estimations of stored energy in cattle, ARC feeding standards (1965) using the daily increment for body weight were adopted. Energy conversion efficiencies from solar energy through plants and animals were calculated as …

Energy Flow Through Cell Wall And Cellular Contents Of Plants On Grazing Pasture, N Koyama, M Tsuiki, M Shiyomi

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Energy flow from sun to grazing animals, especially the functions of cellular contents (CC) and cell wall (CW) in this regard, was examined at the Fujinita Experimental Grazing Pasture of the National Grassland Research Institute, Tochigi which is situated at 36 °55'N and 136 °58 E, with a mean annual air-temperature of 12.3 °C and mean annual rainfall 1631 mm. Grazing experiments were conducted under two different nitrogen application regimes in 1983 and 1984. The net primary production was 53 and 33 Mkcal/ha/yr for plot of high (HN) and low (LN) nitrogen applications, respectively. Dry matter of the standing crop …

The Species Composition Index: A Tool For Explaining Variability In Steer Grazing Experiments, Henry A. Fribourg, J B. Mclaren

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Forage growth and consumption, and animal performance were estimated in two beef steer (Bos sp.) backgrounding experiments concurrently with several environmental, plant, and animal characteristics. This paper describes, evaluates and validates a technique that combines the dynamic changes in species composition of grass-legume pastures over time into a Species Composition Index (SCI). This index then can be related to the effects of year, season, grazing pressure, forage quality, precipitation, and air temperature on forage growth and consumption, and animal performance. The SCI was compared to the traditional classification variable 'treatment' to describe seven different pasture conbinations of forage species for …

On The Improvement Of Natural Meadow By Using Shepherding Fences, Wang Ching Jui, Cao Xi Min

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The shepherding fence is an effective measure for mankind to make reasonable use of the animal factor to influence and transform the plant community on the subalpine meadow, to achieve the cultivation of the meadow in a direction-finding way and to increase the productivity of the meadow. It can enable us to use animals to cultivate grasses, promote the growth of the grasses for livestock, and lengthen the utilizing seasons of the meadow. Our six-year experiments and researches have proved that the shepherding fence can increase the output of the unit area on the meadow by 4.5-7 times.

Using Creature And Its Nitrogen Fixation To Enhance The Soil Fertility, Dong Min-Fu

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Proper rotation of crops, combination of great promotion of growing green manure and herbage with development of animal husbandry, and use of creature and its nitrogen fixation to accumulate organic matter and increase nitrogen in the soil prove to be an effective way to improve the physiochemical properties of soil and its structure, and enhance the soil fertility.

Manurial Value Of By-Product From The Marine Industry On The Growth Of Oat, H Takizawa, H Nagai, H Miyazaki

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

There are many sorts of discharge around the marine industry in Hokkaido. An attempt was carried out to process one of the discharges, to be called Froth or Scum, some of which contains ether-extract (Lipid) at concentration more than 60%, moreover to evaluate the manurial value of raw material by oat in comparison with it fermented aerobically. Even the Froth having more than 60% of Lipid could be processed on mixing fermented material in proportion to 10%, which resulted in making it 30% below. Variability of moisture content, pH value and nutrient composition, Lipid content on DM of pre to …

Preliminary Fertilizer Requirement Studies For Legume Based Pasture In Mid-Altitude Zone, Central Yunnan Province, Wang Jinjing, J R. Bruce-Smith, Li Jixin, Wang Mingliang

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

There are large areas of hilly land swathed in poor native pasture in Yunnan. While not suited for intensive cropping, the mid altitude areas (1500-3000m) seem ideally suited for development into legume based permanent pastures capable of supporting a substantial grazing industry. The objective of a joint Chinese -Australian project is to find suitable pasture species and define their fertilizer requirements at selected sites within the Province. The field and glass house experiments described here demonstrate there is a need for phosphorous and possibly lime as an essential part of successful legume establishment. There is also an additional requirement for …

Regulating Grass And Clover Growth With Mefludide, R J. Haggar, S P. Isaac

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

A three-year study on the use of mefluidide, a plant growth regulator, for suppressing seed-head production in a range of grass is reported. The first stage, involving the evaluation of a range of does and timings on up to nine grass species, indicated the potential of mefluidide applied at 150 g ha-1 in early spring to prevent the normal decline in herbage quality associated with flowering and to transfer growth from spring to mid-summer, albeit at a loss of some 30% in total dry-matter production. A supplementary investigation showed that white clover was reasonably tolerant to mefluidide treatment although a …

Preliminary Study On The Effect Of Spraying Myricyl Alchohol (1-Hydroxyriacontane, N-Triacontanol) Upon Chinese Wildrye, Wang Yulin, Luo Xinyi, Chai Feng0jiu

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The objective of this experiment was to determine the effect of different concentration, amount and spraying times of the plant growth hormone on Chinese Wildrye production, with the orthogonal comparison. It has been found by the orthogonal analysis that fresh yield per mu mas increased by 11.92%, 12.95%; 17.34%, 7.5%; 11.11%, 13.17%; in the treatment of solution concentration of 0.1 ppm, 0.05ppm; spraying times of 1, 2; solution amount of 10 kg, 20 kg per mu, as compared with that control trial (225.3 kg per mu of fresh yield), respectively. The treatment of concentration of 0.05 ppm, spraying times of …

Relationship Between Germination Tests And Field Emergence Of Perennial Warm-Season Forage Grasses, F H. Hsu, C J. Nelson

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Perennial warm-season forage grasses can be valuable components of forage systems to improve animal performance in summer, but they are difficult to get established. Therefore, two germination tests and two field experiments were conducted to determine relationships between seed germination and field emergence. Chilled and unchilled seed of big bluestem (Andropogon gerardi Vitman), caucasian bluestem ( Bothriochloa caocasica (Prin.) C. E. Hubb.), indiangrass ( Sorghastrum nutans (L.) Nash.), and switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) were germinated at different temperatures. Unchilled seed were planted in the field near Columbia, MO., at approximately 2-week intervals from early April to late June in …

Field Performance Of Tall Fescue Selected For Leaf-Area Expansion Rate, C J. Nelson, D A. Sleper, J H. Coutts

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Several morphological characters have been associated with yield of forage grasses. Our objective was to evaluate field performance of four generations of tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) that had been selected for differences in leaf area expansion rate (LAE). Yield of reproductive growth at two locations was influenced very little by selection for high LAE, despite a reduction in density of both reproductive and vegetative tillers. Conversely, selection for high LAE led to an increased yield of vegetative regrowth due to higher leaf elongation rate (LER) and higher weight/tiller (WIT) for vegetative tillers that more than offset a decreased …

The Potential For Seed Production Of Tropical Pasture Species In Zambia, J Kulich

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

One of the major constraints for forage development in Zambia is the shortage of seeds of the desired species. It has been necessary to import seed using scarce foreign exchange. A three-year study was conducted at the National Irrigation Research Station, Mazabuka, Zambia, to identify potential seed yields for seven tropical forage legumes and three forage grasses. The promising species were established in replicated pure stands. Basal (PK) fertilisers were applied, including nitrogen for the grasses. Seed was harvested by hand each time a seed crop matured. The weight of clean dry seed was recorded and the seed was assessed …

Evaluation Of Orchardgrass And Alfalfa For Its Nutritive Value And Voluntary Intake By Neutral Detergent Analysis, T Ishiguri

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

A series of trials has been carried out over a ten-year period to determine the ad lib. intake and digestibility of clipped orchardgrass and alfalfa fed at several growth stages to wethers. Forage and feces were fractionated into cell wall (CW) and cell content (CC) with neutral detergent solution, moreover the digestibility and the digestible amount of CW, CC were determined. The changing amount of digestible dry matter (D DM) in grass and legume related to the amount of digestible CC and indigestible CW, whereas digestible CW was observed to have little relation.

orchardgrass varied little between the first cut …