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Forage News [2011-03], Department Of Plant And Soil Sciences, University Of Kentucky

Forage News

• Kentucky Alfalfa Awards
• KFGC Update
• Grazing School Offers Classroom and Field (Hands-on) Activities
• Roundup Ready® Alfalfa
• Ash Content in Hay
• Caution Advised with Grazing & Cutting Heights of Orchardgrass
• Heart of America Grazing Conference Proceedings and Photos
• Agriculture Returns as a Bright Spot in the Economic Recovery

What's New In Forage Equipment?, Dan Undersander

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

The forage equipment industry is changing in response to farmers’ needs. These changes consist of innovations to increase capacity, to improve the usability of the machine, and to improve the quality of the product. Most changes are occurring with existing equipment, but some totally new product innovations are occurring.

Alfalfa Hay For Horses: Myths Vs. Reality, Laurie Lawrence

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

Does it really matter if hay has some mold in it?

Hay that is high in dust or mold can irritate the horse’s respiratory tract. Optimum athletic performance depends on a healthy respiratory tract, therefore dusty/moldy hay should never be fed to horses used (or intended for) athletic events. A chronic respiratory disease commonly called “heaves” can be aggravated by moldy and dusty hay. Horses with heaves can have so much difficulty breathing that even mild exercise is impossible. In addition, moldy hay may contain toxins that could affect the horse if they are ingested.

Horse owners should not rely …

Hay Drying, Preservatives, Conditioning, Ash Content, Dan Undersander

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

Drying forage for hay has always been a challenge. While we cannot control the weather we can manage cut forage to maximize drying. The purpose of this paper is to give a few principles of hay and silage making and discuss machinery available relative to these principles. Then we will also talk about minimizing ash in hay to optimize the total digestible nutrients of the forage.

High Activity Mutants Of Butyrylcholinesterase For Cocaine Hydrolysis, Chang-Guo Zhan, Fang Zheng, Wenchao Yang

Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Patents

Butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) polypeptide variants of the presently-disclosed subject matter have enhanced catalytic efficiency for (−)-cocaine, as compared to wild-type BChE. Pharmaceutical compositions of the presently-disclosed subject matter include a BChE polypeptide variant having an enhanced catalytic efficiency for (−)-cocaine. A method of the presently-disclosed subject matter for treating a cocaine-induced condition includes administering to an individual an effective amount of a BChE polypeptide variant, as disclosed herein, to lower blood cocaine concentration.

Aspirin Treatment Of Mice Infected With Trypanosoma Cruzi And Implications For The Pathogenesis Of Chagas Disease, Shankar Mukherjee, Fabiana S. Machado, Huang Huang, Helieh S. Oz, Linda A. Jelicks, Cibele M. Prado, Wade Koba, Eugene J. Fine, Dazhi Zhao, Stephen M. Factor, J. Elias Collado, Louis M. Weiss, Herbert B. Tanowitz, Anthony W. Ashton

Center for Oral Health Research Faculty Publications

Chagas disease, caused by infection with Trypanosoma cruzi, is an important cause of cardiovascular disease. It is increasingly clear that parasite-derived prostaglandins potently modulate host response and disease progression. Here, we report that treatment of experimental T. cruzi infection (Brazil strain) beginning 5 days post infection (dpi) with aspirin (ASA) increased mortality (2-fold) and parasitemia (12-fold). However, there were no differences regarding histopathology or cardiac structure or function. Delayed treatment with ASA (20 mg/kg) beginning 60 dpi did not increase parasitemia or mortality but improved ejection fraction. ASA treatment diminished the profile of parasite- and host-derived circulating prostaglandins in infected …

Evaluation Of Immune Responses Following Infection Of Ponies With An Ehv-1 Orf1/2 Deletion Mutant, Gisela Soboll Hussey, Stephen B. Hussey, Bettina Wagner, David W. Horohov, Gerlinde R. Van De Walle, Nikolaus Osterrieder, Lutz S. Goehring, Sangeeta Rao, David P. Lunn

Veterinary Science Faculty Publications

Equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) infection remains a significant problem despite the widespread use of vaccines. The inability to generate a protective immune response to EHV-1 vaccination or infection is thought to be due to immunomodulatory properties of the virus, and the ORF1 and ORF2 gene products have been hypothesized as potential candidates with immunoregulatory properties. A pony infection study was performed to define immune responses to EHV-1, and to determine if an EHV-1 ORF1/2 deletion mutant (ΔORF1/2) would have different disease and immunoregulatory effects compared to wild type EHV-1 (WT). Infection with either virus led to cytokine responses that coincided with …

Differential Gene Expression In Liver And Small Intestine From Lactating Rats Compared To Age-Matched Virgin Controls Detects Increased Mrna Of Cholesterol Biosynthetic Genes, Antony Athippozhy, Liping Huang, Clavia Ruth Wooton-Kee, Tianyong Zhao, Paiboon Jungsuwadee, Arnold J. Stromberg, Mary Vore

Statistics Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Lactation increases energy demands four- to five-fold, leading to a two- to three-fold increase in food consumption, requiring a proportional adjustment in the ability of the lactating dam to absorb nutrients and to synthesize critical biomolecules, such as cholesterol, to meet the dietary needs of both the offspring and the dam. The size and hydrophobicity of the bile acid pool increases during lactation, implying an increased absorption and disposition of lipids, sterols, nutrients, and xenobiotics. In order to investigate changes at the transcriptomics level, we utilized an exon array and calculated expression levels to investigate changes in gene expression …

Extended Grazing And Reduced Stored Feed, Edward N. Ballard

Kentucky Grazing Conference

Feed costs represent the major cost in most livestock production systems. A recently completed analysis of 225 Standardized Performance Analysis (SPA) Beef Cow Records on herds in Illinois and Iowa showed that feed cost was the overriding factor determining profitability, explaining over 57 percent of the herd-to-herd variation. Typically the cost of supplying nutrients to ruminant livestock is much greater using harvested feedstuffs as opposed to grazing pastures or crop residues. The primary function of a grassland farm is to convert solar energy to marketable livestock products in the most efficient manner. The fewer steps between the animal product and …

Grazing Non-Traditional Forages, Jeff Mccutcheon

Kentucky Grazing Conference

In the Heart of America region we are blessed with perennial cool-season grasses and legumes as the bulk of our forage production. Efficiently taking advantage of that perennial production is the focus of most grazing operations. Occasionally there are times when the production from our cool- season grass and legume pasture is not sufficient. In Ohio, that is late summer and late fall through winter till early spring. Nontraditional forages could be used when cool season forages are not producing. Non-traditional forages can provide a large volume, of high-quality feed during specific times of the year.

Grazing Goats And Cattle And Other Co-Species Grazing, Jason Tower

Kentucky Grazing Conference

Multispecies, co-species, mixed species grazing, it does not really matter what it is called they all revolve around the same premise; grazing more than one species of livestock on a given land area to improve resource use efficiencies.

Integrating Weed Management Practices To Enhance Productivity Of Grazed Pastures, Jonathan D. Green, Joshua Allen Tolson

Kentucky Grazing Conference

As animal grazing has intensified within Kentucky and the surrounding region problematic weeds such as tall ironweed, spiny amaranth, horsenettle, buttercup, common cocklebur, and thistles have been increasing. These weeds become prominent in pastures because they have spines, thorns, or are unpalatable to animals. Animals selectively graze and avoid these weedy plants and with intensive grazing practices their populations are allowed to increase. Livestock producers are seeking ways to increase pasture productivity by minimizing the impact of these and other weeds on grazed lands.

Mob Grazing, High Density Grazing, Management-Intensive Grazing: What's The Difference?, Mark Kennedy

Kentucky Grazing Conference

Before we can answer that question we need to review some basic fundamentals of successful grazing management. Four goals of any sustainable grazing management strategy should be: 1) Meet the nutritional needs of livestock from standing pasture as many days as possible; 2) Optimize pasture yield, quality and persistence; 3) Maintain or enhance the natural resource base; 4) Integrate the appropriate technology and knowledge into a practical and profitable system that fits your available resources and meets your objectives. We will use these goals to compare and contrast these 2 grazing management techniques. Both techniques should be considered tools in …

Organic Dairying: Role Of Grazing, Jake Schmitz

Kentucky Grazing Conference

Certified organic and many conventional dairy farmers are using grazing techniques for a number of reasons, including building better soil, reducing feed costs, improving milk quality, and enhancing herd health. Additionally, certified organic farmers must utilize their pastures because the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) organic rule requires organic cows to graze. Both the farmer and the USDA are working hard to ensure that “organic dairy” is synonymous with “grazing cows,” because the organic consumer vehemently demands dairy products from pasture-grazed livestock.

Impact Of The Endophyte On Animal Production, Glen Aiken

Kentucky Grazing Conference

Tall fescue is productive and well adapted to the soils and climate in a region commonly referred to as the “fescue belt”, which overlays the transition zone between the temperate northeast and subtropical southeast. Persistence of the grass under low input management is attributed to a fungal endophyte that infects most fescue plants and produces alkaloids that impart tolerance to heat, drought, and grazing stresses. Unfortunately, the endophyte also produces ergot alkaloids that can induce toxicosis. Signs of “fescue toxicosis” are elevated body temperature and respiration rate, retention of winter hair coats through the summer months, hormonal imbalances, and reduction …

How Much Pasture Do I Have And How Long Will It Feed My Cows?, S. Ray Smith

Kentucky Grazing Conference

A very common question asked by cattlemen is, “How much pasture do I have and how long will it feed my cows.” The purpose of this paper is to provide some guidelines and tools for answering this question. In pasture systems, determining the amount of pasture is much harder than in grain-based feeding systems because feed may be allocated for more than one day and feed quantity and quality is influenced by weather, fertility, stand density, and season. In addition, not all the available forage is consumed and the plants continue to grow after they are grazed. Variation in quality …

From Confinement To Grazing, Bill Payne

Kentucky Grazing Conference

A Tale of Two Businesses:

I would like share an account of a transition from a conventional dairy operation to our current Management Intensive Grazing (MIG) enterprise. In 1974, I joined my father who had been dairying on a 265 acre farm in Lincoln County, Kentucky for twenty five years. We fed our registered Holsteins corn silage and alfalfa haylage and purchased a manufactured feed. Our herd of 70 Holsteins spent most of their time on concrete. We did make an effort to allow access to an exercise lot when weather permitted. However, during most of the 1990’s we spent …

Foreword And Conference Information [2011], Garry D. Lacefield, Christi L. Forsythe

Kentucky Grazing Conference

No abstract provided.

Cx3cl1 Reduces Neurotoxicity And Microglial Activation In A Rat Model Of Parkinson's Disease, Mibel M. Pabon, Adam D. Bachstetter, Charles E. Hudson, Carmelina Gemma, Paula C. Bickford

Sanders-Brown Center on Aging Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Parkinson's disease is characterized by a progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. The cause of the neurodegeneration is unknown. Neuroinflammation has been clearly shown in Parkinson's disease and may be involved in the progressive nature of the disease. Microglia are capable of producing neuronal damage through the production of bioactive molecules such as cytokines, as well as reactive oxygen species (ROS), and nitric oxide (NO). The inflammatory response in the brain is tightly regulated at multiple levels. One form of immune regulation occurs via neurons. Fractalkine (CX3CL1), produced by neurons, suppresses the activation of microglia. CX3CL1 …

Mpges-1 Null Mice Are Resistant To Bleomycin-Induced Skin Fibrosis, Matthew R. Mccann, Roxana Monemdjou, Parisa Ghassemi-Kakroodi, Hassan Fahmi, Gemma Perez, Shangxi Liu, Xu Shi-Wen, Sunil K. Parapuram, Fumiaki Kojima, Christopher P. Denton, David J. Abraham, Johanne Martel-Pelletier, Leslie J. Crofford, Andrew Leask, Mohit Kapoor

Internal Medicine Faculty Publications

INTRODUCTION: Microsomal prostaglandin E2 synthase-1 (mPGES-1) is an inducible enzyme that acts downstream of cyclooxygenase (COX) to specifically catalyze the conversion of prostaglandin (PG) H2 to PGE2. mPGES-1 plays a key role in inflammation, pain and arthritis; however, the role of mPGES-1 in fibrogenesis is largely unknown. Herein, we examine the role of mPGES-1 in a mouse model of skin scleroderma using mice deficient in mPGES-1.

METHODS: Wild type (WT) and mPGES-1 null mice were subjected to the bleomycin model of cutaneous skin scleroderma. mPGES-1 expressions in scleroderma fibroblasts and in fibroblasts derived from bleomycin-exposed mice were assessed by Western …

Specific Thiazolidinediones Inhibit Ovarian Cancer Cell Line Proliferation And Cause Cell Cycle Arrest In A Pparγ Independent Manner, Linah Al-Alem, R. Chase Southard, Michael W. Kilgore, Thomas E. Curry

Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Peroxisome Proliferator Activated Receptor gamma (PPARγ) agonists, such as the thiazolinediones (TZDs), have been studied for their potential use as cancer therapeutic agents. We investigated the effect of four TZDs--Rosiglitazone (Rosi), Ciglitazone (CGZ), Troglitazone (TGZ), and Pioglitazone (Pio)--on ovarian cancer cell proliferation, PPARγ expression and PPAR luciferase reporter activity. We explored whether TZDs act in a PPARγ dependent or independent manner by utilizing molecular approaches to inhibit or overexpress PPARγ activity.

PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Treatment with CGZ or TGZ for 24 hours decreased proliferation in three ovarian cancer cell lines, Ovcar3, CaOv3, and Skov3, whereas Rosi and Pio had no …

Membrane Potentials, Synaptic Responses, Neuronal Circuitry, Neuromodulation And Muscle Histology Using The Crayfish: Student Laboratory Exercises, Brittany Baierlein, Alison L. Thurow, Harold L. Atwood, Robin L. Cooper

Biology Faculty Publications

The purpose of this report is to help develop an understanding of the effects caused by ion gradients across a biological membrane. Two aspects that influence a cell's membrane potential and which we address in these experiments are: (1) Ion concentration of K⁺ on the outside of the membrane, and (2) the permeability of the membrane to specific ions. The crayfish abdominal extensor muscles are in groupings with some being tonic (slow) and others phasic (fast) in their biochemical and physiological phenotypes, as well as in their structure; the motor neurons that innervate these muscles are correspondingly different in …

Physiological Experimentation With The Crayfish Hindgut: A Student Laboratory Exercise, Ann S. Cooper, Bonnie Leksrisawat, Allison B. Gilberts, A. Joffre Mercier, Robin L. Cooper

Biology Faculty Publications

The purpose of the report is to describe dissection techniques for preparing the crayfish hindgut and to demonstrate how to make physiological recordings with a force transducer to monitor the strength of contraction. In addition, we demonstrate how to visually monitor peristaltic activity, which can be used as a bioassay for various peptides, biogenic amines and neurotransmitters. This preparation is amenable to student laboratories in physiology and for demonstrating pharmacological concepts to students. This preparation has been in use for over 100 years, and it still offers much as a model for investigating the generation and regulation of peristaltic rhythms …

Controlling Weeds In Horse And Cattle Pastures, Byron Sleugh, Robert Masters

Forage Symposium at the Kentucky Cattlemen’s Convention

Weed control is one of the most talked about concerns of forage-animal systems. Producers will sometimes pay more attention to some pests than others and more so in some crops than others. For example, a producer may have a very low threshold for weed infestation in their corn, soybean or tobacco field but will have a very high tolerance for weeds in their pastures. This is usually because the “direct” dollar value of the forage is not seen while we can “see” how a reduction in soybean or corn yield will affect the bottom line of our operation. Vegetation manipulation …

Endophyte In Tall Fescue: Impact On Horses And Cattle, S. Ray Smith, Krista Cotton

Forage Symposium at the Kentucky Cattlemen’s Convention

Tall fescue [Lolium arundinaceum (Schreb.) Darbysh.] is an introduced cool-season perennial grass from Europe. Originally imported for regularly flooded pastures, tall fescue is now widespread across the United States due to its adaptability of a wide range of soils and climate. Kentucky 31 tall fescue is the ecotype discovered in 1931 by E.N. Fergus, which launched its popularity as a dependable, adaptable, and palatable pasture crop. In the mid-1970s, the negative effects caused by consuming tall fescue were termed fescue toxicosis. The source of fescue toxicosis was not identified until Charles Bacon first reported evidence of an endophytic fungus …

Strategies For Reducing Losses To Forage Related Disorders, Jeff Lehmkuhler

Forage Symposium at the Kentucky Cattlemen’s Convention

Forage induced disorders are not uncommon. These may be the result of poor harvesting and storage, symbiotic relationships with other organism such as endophtye-infected tall fescue, or environmentally induced. Poisonous plants can also be problematic when they are present in areas where cattle actively graze or forage is harvested. Yet, in many instances, problems are rare and often limited not affecting the entire herd. A primary management strategy is to ensure forage availability is not limiting forcing cattle to consume poisonous plants. Additionally, farming involves a given amount of management in all daily activities and one cannot simply ignore the …

Hay For Horses: Needs And Wants, Laurie Lawrence

Forage Symposium at the Kentucky Cattlemen’s Convention

Hay producers have to satisfy two types of clients, horses and humans. Horses need clean hay that has a nutritional value that is appropriate for the requirements of the horse. Clients want hay that IS consistent, convenient and cost effective. So, in many cases the “needs” of the horse and “wants” of the human are not exactly the same.

Forages: Back To Basics, Garry D. Lacefield

Forage Symposium at the Kentucky Cattlemen’s Convention

Over the past fifteen years, we have covered many forage-related topics ranging from the species we grow through marketing our final products. Through all of these themes, we have attempted to address the “basics” in a practical way. We will continue that theme today as we deal with some very important-practical topics.

Foreword [2011], Garry D. Lacefield, Christi L. Forsythe

Forage Symposium at the Kentucky Cattlemen’s Convention

No abstract provided.

Increased Mitochondrial Calcium Sensitivity And Abnormal Expression Of Innate Immunity Genes Precede Dopaminergic Defects In Pink1-Deficient Mice, Ravi S. Akundi, Zhenyu Huang, Joshua Eason, Jignesh D. Pandya, Lianteng Zhi, Wayne A. Cass, Patrick G. Sullivan, Hansruedi Büeler

Neuroscience Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: PTEN-induced kinase 1 (PINK1) is linked to recessive Parkinsonism (EOPD). Pink1 deletion results in impaired dopamine (DA) release and decreased mitochondrial respiration in the striatum of mice. To reveal additional mechanisms of Pink1-related dopaminergic dysfunction, we studied Ca²⁺ vulnerability of purified brain mitochondria, DA levels and metabolism and whether signaling pathways implicated in Parkinson's disease (PD) display altered activity in the nigrostriatal system of Pink1⁻/⁻ mice.

METHODS AND FINDINGS: Purified brain mitochondria of ^Pink1⁻/⁻ mice showed impaired Ca²⁺ storage capacity, resulting in increased Ca²⁺ induced mitochondrial permeability transition (mPT) that was rescued by cyclosporine A. …