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Agronomy & Horticulture Newsletter, January 27, 2012, Kathy Schindler

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Monthly Newsletters

Mark the Date!............1

Sam Shafer Retirement Reception is Today............1

IANR ALL HANDS session set for Feb. 10............1

Judges Needed for Science Fair............1

Short Course Planned for June 26-28............2

Please welcome new employees............

News from HAPPI and the Office Pros.............3

Information For and About Graduate Students............4

KEIM 264 to be distance learning classroom............4

See website for Funding Announcements............4

RFI Focuses on Building for the Future............4

A Global Assessment Of The Water Footprint Of Farm Animal Products, Mesfin Mekonnen, Arjen Y. Hoekstra

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

The increase in the consumption of animal products is likely to put further pressure on the world’s freshwater resources. This paper provides a comprehensive account of the water footprint of animal products, considering different production systems and feed composition per animal type and country. Nearly one-third of the total water footprint of agriculture in the world is related to the production of animal products. The water footprint of any animal product is larger than the water footprint of crop products with equivalent nutritional value. The average water footprint per calorie for beef is 20 times larger than for cereals and …

Agronomy & Horticulture Newsletter, January 13, 2012, Kathy Schindler

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Monthly Newsletters

Mark the Date!..........1

Shafer Honored with Retirement Reception..........1

Green Plans Two Informational Sessions..........1

Schacht Returns from Fellowship in Namibia ..........2

Interviews Set for Department Position..........2

'Backyard Farmer’ ratings reach all-time high ..........3

Welcome to our new Computer Technician..........3

Live Healthy Neb. Challenge starts Jan. 23 ..........4

Heuermann Series offers Food for Thought..........4

OrientationSessions Set on Email Change..........4

Sympathy offered to Jeanette Gorz family..........4

Sympathy extended to Donald Janssen family..........4

Information For and About Graduate Students..........5

In the News..........5

W-2s Are in Firefly..........5

Check for Funding..........5

A Word from Your Office Professionals..........5

The Awarding Of The Copley Medal And The ‘Discovery’ Of The Law Of Conservation Of Energy: Joule, Mayer And Helmholtz Revisited, David Cahan

Department of History: Faculty Publications

This article analyses the awarding of the Royal Society’s Copley Medal to James Prescott Joule (1870), Julius Robert Mayer (1871) and Hermann Helmholtz (1873) in the wake of the establishment of the law of conservation of energy during the 1850s and 1860s. It seeks to reconstruct the context in which the awards occurred, emphasizing at once a combination of individual scientific achievement, advocacy on behalf of Joule’s supporters, nationalism, and the special role that Helmholtz played thanks to the strong social relationship that he had developed with the British scientific elite in the two decades before receiving his award, the …

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 …

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 …

Phosphorus In Phoenix: A Budget And Spatial Representation Of Phosphorus In An Urban Ecosystem, Genevieve S. Metson, Rebecca L. Hale, David M. Iwaniec, Elizabeth M. Cook, Jessica R. Corman, Christopher S. Galletti, Daniel L. Childers

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

As urban environments dominate the landscape, we need to examine how limiting nutrients such as phosphorus (P) cycle in these novel ecosystems. Sustainable management of P resources is necessary to ensure global food security and to minimize freshwater pollution. We used a spatially explicit budget to quantify the pools and fluxes of P in the Greater Phoenix Area in Arizona, USA, using the boundaries of the Central Arizona– Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research site. Inputs were dominated by direct imports of food and fertilizer for local agriculture, while most outputs were small, including water, crops, and material destined for recycling. Internally, …

Dynamics Of Predation, Alison N.P. Stevens

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

2012 Interior Least Tern And Piping Plover Monitoring, Research, Management, And Outreach Report For The Lower Platte River, Nebraska, Mary Bomberger Brown, Joel G. Jorgensen, Lauren R. Dinan

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

This document reports on our monitoring, research, management, and outreach activities during the past 12 months (2012). We prepared it to inform our partners, cooperating agencies, funding sources, and other interested parties of our activities and to provide a preliminary summary of our results.

The Lower Platte River and its major tributaries provide important nesting habitat for two state and federally protected bird species, the Interior Least Tern (Sternula antillarum athalassos) and Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus). The Tern and Plover Conservation Partnership (TPCP), based at the University of Nebraska-School of Natural Resources, and the Nongame Bird …

Utility Of Improvised Video-Camera Collars For Collecting Contact Data From White-Tailed Deer: Possibilities In Disease Transmission Studies, Michael J. Lavelle, Scott E. Hygnstrom, Aaron M. Hildreth, Tyler A. Campbell, David B. Long, David G. Hewitt, Jeff Beringer, K. C. Vercauteren

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Rapidly evolving electronic technology enables wildlife researchers to collect previously unobtainable data. To explore possibilities of using deer-borne cameras (DBCs) to collect behavioral data from an animal’s point of view, we constructed DBCs and deployed them on 26 adult male whitetailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) within a closed population (405-ha fenced area) in southern Texas just prior to the breeding season during autumn 2010. Our DBCs consisted of global positioning system collars with attached motion-activated trail cameras. We obtained 21,474 video clips from 17 functional DBCs over a period of 14 days. Individual-based data are invaluable in disease and …

Environmental And Organismal Predictors Of Intraspecific Variation In The Stoichiometry Of A Neotropical Freshwater Fish, Rana W. El-Sabaawi, Tyler J. Kohler, Eugenia Zandona, Joseph Travis, Michael C. Marshall, Steven A. Thomas, David N. Reznick, Matthew Walsh, James F. Gilliam, Catherine Pringle, Alexander S. Flecker

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The elemental composition of animals, or their organismal stoichiometry, is thought to constrain their contribution to nutrient recycling, their interactions with other animals, and their demographic rates. Factors that affect organismal stoichiometry are generally poorly understood, but likely reflect elemental investments in morphological features and life history traits, acting in concert with the environmental availability of elements. We assessed the relative contribution of organismal traits and environmental variability to the stoichiometry of an insectivorous Neotropical stream fish, Rivulus hartii. We characterized the influence of body size, life history phenotype, stage of maturity, and environmental variability on organismal stoichiometry in …

An Alternative Method Using Digital Cameras For Continuous Monitoring Of Crop Status, Toshihiro Sakamoto, Anatoly A. Gitelson, Anthony L. Nguy-Robertson, Timothy J. Arkebauer, Brian D. Wardlow, Andrew E. Suyker, Shashi B. Verma, Michio Shibayama

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Crop physiological and phenological status is an important factor that characterizes crop yield as well as carbon exchange between the atmosphere and the terrestrial biosphere in agroecosystems. It is difficult to establish high frequency observations of crop status in multiple locations using conventional approaches such as agronomical sampling and also remote sensing techniques that use spectral radiometers because of the labor intensive work required for field surveys and the high cost of radiometers designed for scientific use. This study explored the potential utility of an inexpensive camera observation system called crop phenology recording system (CPRS) as an alternative approach for …

Groundwater Quality And Its Health Impact: An Assessment Of Dental Fluorosis In Rural Inhabitants Of The Main Ethiopian Rift, Tewodros Rango, Julia Kravchenko, Behailu Atlaw, Peter G. Mccornick, Marc Jeuland, Brittany Merola, Avner Vengosh

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

This study aims to assess the link between fluoride content in groundwater and its impact on dental health in rural communities of the Ethiopian Rift. A total of 148 water samples were collected from two drainage basins within the Main Ethiopian Rift (MER). In the Ziway-Shala basin in particular, wells had high fluoride levels (mean: 9.4 ± 10.5 mg/L; range: 1.1 to 68 mg/L), with 48 of 50 exceeding the WHO drinking water guideline limit of 1.5 mg/L. Total average daily intake of fluoride from drinking groundwater (calculated per weight unit) was also found to be six times higher than …

G12-425 Nebraska Beef Report Summaries 2012, Richard J. Rasby, Dennis Brink, Galen E. Erickson

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

Brief synopsis of recent UNL beef research. Each year the UNL Department of Animal Science reports its current beef cattle research. This 2012 NebGuide discusses the research topics of Cow/Calf, Growing, Finishing and Beef Products.

Research And Creative Activity:July 1, 2011 – June 30, 2012: Major Sponsored Programs And Faculty Awards For Research And Creative Activity, Office Of Research And Economic Development, University Of Nebraska-Lincoln

Office of Research and Economic Development: Publications

This eleventh annual “Major Sponsored Programs and Faculty Awards for Research and Creative Activity” booklet highlights the successes of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln faculty during the fiscal year July 1, 2011-June 30, 2012. It lists the funding sources, projects and investigators on major grants and sponsored program awards received during the year; published books and scholarship; fellowships and other recognitions; startups and intellectual property licenses; and performances and exhibitions in the fine and performing arts. This impressive list grows each year and I am pleased to present evidence of our faculty’s accomplishments. Grants and contracts in a diverse range of …

Abundance And Dynamics Of Filamentous Fungi In The Complex Ambrosia Gardens Of The Primitively Eusocial Beetle Xyleborinus Saxesenii Ratzeburg (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Scolytinae), Peter H.W. Biedermann, Kier D. Klepzig, Michael Taborsky, Diana L. Six

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Insect fungus gardens consist of a community of interacting microorganisms that can have either beneficial or detrimental effects to the farmers. In contrast to fungus-farming ants and termites, the fungal communities of ambrosia beetles and the effects of particular fungal species on the farmers are largely unknown. Here, we used a laboratory rearing technique for studying the filamentous fungal garden community of the ambrosia beetle, Xyleborinus saxesenii, which cultivates fungi in tunnels excavated within dead trees. Raffaelea sulfurea and Fusicolla acetilerea were transmitted in spore-carrying organs by gallery founding females and established first in new gardens. Raffaelea sulfurea had …

Drosophila Melanogaster Selection For Survival Of Bacillus Cereus Infection: Life History Trait Indirect Responses, Junjie Ma, Andrew K. Benson, Stephen D. Kachman, Zhen Hu, Lawrence G. Harshman

Department of Statistics: Faculty Publications

To study evolved resistance/tolerance in an insect model, we carried out an experimental evolution study using D. melanogaster and the opportunistic pathogen B. cereus as the agent of selection. The selected lines evolved a 3.0- to 3.3-log increase in the concentration of spores required for 50% mortality after 18–24 generations of selection. In the absence of any treatment, selected lines evolved an increase in egg production and delayed development time. The latter response could be interpreted as a cost of evolution. Alternatively, delayed development might have been a target of selection resulting in increased adult fat body function including production …

Effects Of Breed Of Sire On Carcass Composition And Sensory Traits Of Lamb, S. D. Shackelford, K. A. Leymaster, T. L. Wheeler, M. Koohmaraie

Roman L. Hruska U.S. Meat Animal Research Center: Reports

This experiment was conducted to compare meat quality and carcass composition of a diverse sampling of sheep breeds. Finnsheep, Romanov, Dorper, White Dorper, Katahdin, Rambouillet, Suffolk, Texel, Dorset, and Composite (½ Columbia rams to ¼ Hampshire × ¼ Suffolk) rams were mated to mature Composite ewes. Lambs (n = 804) were reared intensively, grain fi nished, and serially harvested over a 63-d period. Average harvest age was 216 d and average HCW was 30.7 kg. At a common harvest age, progeny of Suffolk sires were heavier than progeny of all other breeds (P < 0.05) and their carcasses were heavier (P < 0.05) than progeny of all other breeds, except White Dorper and Dorper. Progeny of Finnsheep and Romanov sires had lighter (P < 0.05) carcasses than progeny of all other breeds. Progeny of Texel, Suffolk, White Dorper, and Dorper sires had larger (P < 0.05) LM area than all other breeds. Progeny of Finnsheep and Romanov sires had smaller (P < 0.05) LM area than all other breeds. Fat thickness at the 12th rib was greater (P < 0.05) for progeny of Dorper sires than those of all other breeds, except White Dorper and Katahdin. Fat thickness at the 4th sacral vertebrae was greater (P < 0.05) for progeny of White Dorper and Dorper sires than those of all other breeds. On a carcass weight-constant basis, progeny of Suffolk sires had a lesser (P < 0.05) percentage of ether-extractable carcass fat than progeny of all other breeds, except Texel. Regardless of harvest endpoint (age-constant or HCW-constant), LM of progeny of Finnsheep and Romanov sires contained a greater (P < 0.05) percentage of intramuscular fat and received greater (P < 0.05) marbling scores than Rambouillet, Suffolk, Texel, Dorset, or Composite. Regardless of harvest endpoint, progeny of Finnsheep, Romanov, and Katahdin sires had smaller LM slice shear force values and greater trained sensory panel tenderness ratings at 7 d postmortem than did progeny of Composite, Suffolk, and Dorset sires (P < 0.05). At an age-constant basis, small differences (P < 0.05) were observed among breeds for lamb flavor intensity scores; however, when means were adjusted to a carcass weight-constant basis, breed of sire did not affect flavor intensity or off-flavor scores. These results document that each breed has relative strengths and weaknesses across traits, and that no single breed excels for all growth, carcass, and sensory traits.

Dual-Serotype Biofilm Formation By Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia Coli O157:H7 And O26:H11 Strains, Rong Wang, Norasak Kalchayanand, James L. Bono, John W. Schmidt, Joseph M. Bosilevac

Roman L. Hruska U.S. Meat Animal Research Center: Reports

Escherichia coli O26:H11 strains were able to outgrow O157:H7 companion strains in planktonic and biofilm phases and also to effectively compete with precolonized O157:H7 cells to establish themselves in mixed biofilms. E. coli O157:H7 strains were unable to displace preformed O26:H11 biofilms. Therefore, E. coli O26:H11 remains a potential risk in food safety.

Contributions Of The Maternal Uterine Environment And Piglet Genotype On Weaning Survivability Potential: I. Development Of Neonatal Piglets After Reciprocal Embryo Transfers Between Meishan And White Crossbred Gilts, Jeremy R. Miles, J. L. Vallet, J. J. Ford, Brad A. Freking, R. A. Cushman, William T. Oliver, Lea Ann Rempel

Roman L. Hruska U.S. Meat Animal Research Center: Reports

In commercial pigs, the greatest susceptibility for pre-weaning mortality occurs in low birth-weight piglets. Despite their overall decreased birth weight, Meishan (MS) piglets have decreased pre-weaning mortality rates compared with contemporary Western breeds. The objective of the current study was to determine the contributions of the maternal uterine environment, piglet genotype, and their interaction on the development of neonatal piglets pertaining to pre-weaning survivability using reciprocal embryo transfer between MS and White crossbred (WC) pigs. Twenty-five successful pregnancies were produced from 2 farrowing seasons, generating litters of maternal uterine environment (MUE) by piglet genotype (PigG) combinations; MS × MS ( …

Physiology And Endocrinology Symposium: How Single Nucleotide Polymorphism Chips Will Advance Our Knowledge Of Factors Controlling Puberty And Aid In Selecting Replacement Beef Females, W. M. Snelling, Robert Cushman, M. R. S. Fortes, A. Reverter, G. L. Bennett, J. W. Keele, L. A, Kuehn, T. G. Mcdaneld, Mark Thallman, M. G. Thomas

Roman L. Hruska U.S. Meat Animal Research Center: Reports

The promise of genomic selection is accurate prediction of the genetic potential of animals from their genotypes. Simple DNA tests might replace low-accuracy predictions for expensive or lowly heritable measures of puberty and fertility based on performance and pedigree. Knowing with some certainty which DNA variants (e.g., SNP) affect puberty and fertility is the best way to fulfill the promise. Several SNP from the BovineSNP50 assay have tentatively been associated with reproductive traits including age at puberty, antral follicle count, and pregnancy observed on different sets of heifers. However, sample sizes are too small and SNP density is too sparse …

2012 Annual Report

Lancaster County, Nebraska Extension: Reports

B1G Outreach

B1G Connection

B1G Community Value

Celebrating 150 Years of the Land-Grant Legacy

Big Impact

http://lancaster.unl.edu = B1G Outreach & B1G Connection

Lancaster Extension Education Center Conference Facilities

B1G Honors, Awards, and Accomplishments

B1G Benefit to Youth

B1G Volunteerism

B1G Community Service

B1G Local Programs

Food & Nutrition

Yard & Garden

Pests & Wildlife

B1G Diagnostic Services

Extension Responds With Drought Resources

Families & Home

Farms & Acreages

Step Test Performance And Risk Of Stress Fractures Among Female Army Trainees, David N. Cowan, Sheryl A. Bedno, Nadia Urban, Dara S. Lee, David W. Niebuhr

United States Army: Publications

Background: Stress fractures and other musculoskeletal injuries are major sources of morbidity among female military trainees. Several risk factors have been postulated, particularly pre-existing fıtness, usually assessed with post-entry run time for ≥ 1.0 mile.

Purpose: Physical fıtness is not formally evaluated prior to Army entry. If a valid and simple test that identifıed women at increased risk of stress fracture were available and could be applied prior to entry, it would facilitate cost– benefıt studies of deferral or interventions. These analyses were undertaken to determine if a 5-minute step test conducted before entry identifıed women at increased …

Using Agroforestry Practices To Reduce Pesticide Risks To

Agroforestry Notes (USDA-NAC)

No abstract provided.

Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge In

Agroforestry Notes (USDA-NAC)

No abstract provided.

Forest Grazing, Silvopasture, And Turning Livestock

Agroforestry Notes (USDA-NAC)

No abstract provided.

Windbreaks: A "Fresh" Tool To Mitigate Odors From Livestock

Agroforestry Notes (USDA-NAC)

No abstract provided.

Pine Straw: A Profitable Agroforestry

Agroforestry Notes (USDA-NAC)

No abstract provided.

State Of Nebraska 2011 Youth Risk Behavior Survey Results, Bureau Of Sociological Research

Nebraska Student Health and Risk Prevention Surveillance System (SHARP)

No abstract provided.