Digital Commons Network^™

A Review Of The Financial Value Of Faecal Sludge Reuse In Low-Income Countries., Adrian Mallory, Rochelle Holm, Alison Parker

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Faecal sludge reuse could promote responsible waste management and alleviate resource shortages. However, for this reuse to be carried out at scale, it needs to be financially viable. This paper reviews the financial values of resource recovery from 112 data points from 43 publications from academic and grey literature. The results found 65% of the existing literature is projected rather than being based on observed data from products in practice, with limited studies providing actual experiences of revenue in practice. Some of the estimates of the potential value were ten times those observed in data from operating businesses. Reasons for …

News - Digital Library Of Georgia, Mandy L. Mastrovita

Georgia Library Quarterly

No abstract provided.

How To Talk With Ranchers About Drought And Climate Resilience: Lessons From Knowledge Exchange Workshops In Montana, Mitch J. Lassa, Hailey Wilmer, Madison Boone, Zach Brown, Justin D. Derner, Dannele E. Peck, Carmen Thissen, Clayton Marlow

Journal of Extension

This article offers the Extension community a pathway to drought resilience and climate-related conversations through knowledge exchange workshops. In 2017, a "flash drought" affected eastern Montana, and ranchers in the region faced numerous challenges. Moreover, drought-favorable climate conditions are predicted to increase for the region. We held five workshops to facilitate an exchange of adaptive drought management strategies, focusing on key themes for drought resilience: (a) drought planning and adaptive management, (b) use of local knowledge networks, (c) flexible stocking and grazing, and (d) adaptation to shifting baselines. Extension can use this approach to foster multidirectional knowledge sharing to strengthen …

Role Of Farmer Knowledge In Agroecosystem Science: Rice Farming And Amphibians In The Philippines, Catherine R. Propper, Lisa J. Hardy, Brittni D. Howard, Rica Joy B. Flor, Grant R. Singleton

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Rice (Oryza sativa) agriculture provides food and economic security for nearly half of the world’s population. Rice agriculture is intensive in both land and agrochemical use. However, rice fields also provide aquatic resources for wildlife, including amphibians. In turn, some species may provide ecosystem services back to the farmers working in the rice agroecosystem. The foundation for understanding the complexity of agroecosystem–human relationships requires garnering information regarding human perceptions and knowledge of the role of biodiversity in these rice agroecosystems. Understanding farmer knowledge and perceptions of the ecosystem services provided by wildlife in their fields, along with their …

Distribution And Activity Patterns Of Large Carnivores And Their Implications For Human–Carnivore Conflict Management In Namibia, Summer Fink, Richard Chandler, Michael Chamberlain, Steven Castleberry, Shannon Glosenger-Thrasher

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Human–wildlife conflicts (HWCs) are increasing globally and contributing to the decline of wildlife species. In sub-Saharan African countries such as Namibia, most of the suitable land has been or is currently being converted to crop and livestock production to support income or subsistence agriculture. These changes in land use often incur increased levels of HWCs because of crop and livestock depredation by native species. To quantify livestock predation risks posed by carnivores in Namibia, we deployed 30 trail cameras on a 6,500-ha farm in the Khomas region of Namibia from May to July 2018. We developed occupancy models to make …

Ujamaa Policies And Women Gender Issues Of Land Tenure In Tanzania, Nasa S. Edgar

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

History has shown us that women always have a part to play in society and that they have fought to receive equal opportunity with their male counterparts. In the United States in the late 1800s and early twentieth century, this movement by women became known as the women’s suffrage movement. It paved the way to women fighting for equal opportunity including for the right to vote and equal pay. In Tanzania, women fought and continue to fight against customary practices that are discriminatory against them. In this thesis I make three arguments: 1. I argue that the history of the …

Long‐Distance Natal Dispersal Is Relatively Frequent And Correlated With Environmental Factors In A Widespread Raptor, Hanna M. Mccaslin, T. Trevor Caughlin, Julie A. Heath

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

1. Dispersal is a critical process influencing population dynamics and responses to global change. Long‐distance dispersal (LDD) can be especially important for gene flow and adaptability, although little is known about the factors influencing LDD because studying large‐scale movements is challenging and LDD tends to be observed less frequently than shorter‐distance dispersal (SDD).
2. We sought to understand patterns of natal dispersal at a large scale, specifically aiming to understand the relative frequency of LDD compared to SDD and correlates of dispersal distances.
3. We used bird banding and encounter data for American kestrels (Falco sparverius) to investigate the effects of …

Biosecurity Council Of Western Australia Annual Report 2019/2020, Biosecurity Council Of Western Australia

Biosecurity published reports

In order to develop constructive advice, it is important for the Biosecurity Council to understand the needs and challenges of industry, government and the community, and how changes to the biosecurity system might impact these groups. During 2019/20 the Council continued to monitor biosecurity-related developments at national and State levels and proactively engaged with industry, community and government on biosecurity matters.

The key areas of advice that were progressed during the year were:

• biosecurity research and development
• border biosecurity
• the declaration of non-agricultural pests under the BAM Act; and
• recognised biosecurity groups and declared pest rates

The Haudenosaunee Legend Of The Three Sisters As A Children’S Picture Book, Jill Ann Long

Theses - ALL

This thesis aims to explain the importance of illustrating this Native American legend in a

children’s book. The Three Sisters is a timeless indigenous legend orally passed down from generation to generation over centuries in many different versions. The legend teaches many lessons: caring for the community as a large family, awareness of the sustainability of resources as a way of life, respecting the land in which they live, and living in harmony with the earth. My inspirations for this picture book are my family influences and childhood experiences with my extended family among the Haudenosaunee people. The thesis will …

Signals In The Soil: Subsurface Sensing, Abdul Salam, Usman Raza

Faculty Publications

In this chapter, novel subsurface soil sensing approaches are presented for monitoring and real-time decision support system applications. The methods, materials, and operational feasibility aspects of soil sensors are explored. The soil sensing techniques covered in this chapter include aerial sensing, in-situ, proximal sensing, and remote sensing. The underlying mechanism used for sensing is also examined as well. The sensor selection and calibration techniques are described in detail. The chapter concludes with discussion of soil sensing challenges.

Decision Agriculture, Abdul Salam, Usman Raza

Faculty Publications

In this chapter, the latest developments in the field of decision agriculture are discussed. The practice of management zones in digital agriculture is described for efficient and smart faming. Accordingly, the methodology for delineating management zones is presented. Modeling of decision support systems is explained along with discussion of the issues and challenges in this area. Moreover, the precision agriculture technology is also considered. Moreover, the chapter surveys the state of the decision agriculture technologies in the countries such as Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Israel, Malaysia, Pakistan, United Kingdom, Ukraine, and Sweden. Finally, different field factors such as GPS accuracy and …

Photovoltaic Systems On Dairy Farms: Financial And Renewable Multi-Objective Optimization (Farmoo) Analysis, Michael Breen, J. Upton, Michael D. Murphy

Publications

No abstract provided.

An Analysis Of Irrigation Policy In The Mississippi Delta, Brooklyn Mooney

Honors Theses

This thesis aims to provide a sustainable irrigation alternative that could be easily adopted by farmers in the Mississippi Delta in order to improve water resource management. The Mississippi Alluvial Valley Aquifer, the groundwater system that lies under the Mississippi Delta, is being depleted at rapid rates due to industrial farming and unsustainable, outdated irrigation methods. The intent of this research is to evaluate the water scarcity problem in the Mississippi Delta by assessing water extraction rates and the progression of agriculture in the region. Then, various irrigation methods will be evaluated before a final suggestion is made. Through extensive …

Evolution Of Fed Cattle Carcass Value, Madeline Poss

Theses and Dissertations

Fed cattle carcass characteristics on the live animal (lean and fat deposition) evolve over time directly impacting weight, quality and yield grades. Given buyer valuation is ultimately based on these characteristics’, fed cattle output value evolve as well. Fed beef is a time dependent process where input costs accrue over time. Previous dynamic profit optimization simulations for live animal transactions outperformed marketing based on a carcass end-point target from live animal evaluations. However, the profit model assumed constant live cash price and did not account for the evolution of the underlying carcass value over time. The model developed in this …

Nitrate Dynamics And Source Within Nested Watersheds Of An Agricultural Stream, Nebraska, Usa, Galen Richards

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Nitrate concentrations have been increasing throughout the globe, primarily due to heightened agricultural activity. Nitrate concentrations in Bazile Creek, located in Northeastern Nebraska, have been steadily rising since the early 2000s. Groundwater nitrate concentrations within the Bazile Creek watershed are high (> 10 mg/L nitrate-N), and there is strong connectivity between groundwater and surface water systems. This study aimed to better understand temporal nitrate concentration variability within the watershed through sampling tributaries and the main channel during baseflow conditions. Nitrate source was also investigated though the use of dual δ¹⁵N and δ¹⁸O nitrate isotopes, with samples …

Phenotypic Characterization Of Arabidopsis Thaliana Lines Overexpressing Avp1 And Miox4 In Response To Abiotic Stresses, Nirman Nepal, Jessica P. Yactayo‐Chang, Ricky Gable, Austin Wilkie, Jazmin Martin, Chineche L. Aniemena, Roberto Gaxiola, Argelia Lorence

Arkansas Biosciences Institute

Premise AVP1 (H+-pyrophosphatase) and MIOX4 (myo-inositol oxygenase) are genes that, when overexpressed individually, enhance the growth and abiotic stress tolerance of Arabidopsis thaliana plants. We propose that pyramiding AVP1 and MIOX4 genes will further improve stress tolerance under water-limited and salt-stress conditions. Methods MIOX4 and AVP1 reciprocal crosses were developed and phenomic approaches used to investigate the possible synergy between these genes. Results Under normal and stress conditions, the crosses had higher foliar ascorbate content than the wild-type and parental lines. Under water-limited conditions, the crosses also displayed an enhanced growth rate and biomass compared with the control. The observed …

Examining The Efficacy Of Cover Crops As An Integrated Pest Management Tool In Organic Farms In The Lower Rio Grande Valley, Lili M. Martinez

Theses and Dissertations

The Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV) consists of a mix in subtropical and costal habitats, a combination that provides a favorable environment for the animals and plants that inhabit it. This is a problem for organic farmers as they refrain from using synthetic chemicals and therefore led them to seek other methods of dealing with insect herbivory. Of the many alternative methods available, we looked specifically at integrated pest management methods (IPM) to determine their efficacy in reducing insect herbivory among cash crops. Chapter II discusses an experiment performed in an organic farm in Edinburg, Texas consisting of a two-year …

Essays On Climate Change-Related Extreme Events, Alvin E. Harris

Dissertations

There are increasing and urgent calls for global economies to join in the fight against the impacts of climate change (World Bank, 2020). With reports such as the World Bank (2020) of climate change costing billions of dollars in losses for economies, the purpose of my dissertation is to examine the effects of climate change-related extreme events and their potential economic effects in three areas: agriculture, migration, and the labor market.

My first essay focuses on the factors that influence farmers’ perception of risk and adaptive strategies against the effects of climate change-related extreme events. I examine whether farmers’ social …

On-Farm Research And Student Engagement To Assess And Promote The Use Of Organic Amendments To Improve Agricultural Soil Health And Resilience Of Crop Production Systems In Nebraska, Agustin Jose Olivo

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In nearly every production environment, there are opportunities to capture profits if waste streams can be further processed or enhanced to create “value added” products. On-farm research studies were initiated in 2019 at four locations across Nebraska to assess the impacts of livestock manure, cedar mulch from forestry management and coal char from sugar beet processing, on agricultural cropland. Study treatments included beef cattle manure (CM), beef cattle slurry (CS), coal char (CC), woody biomass (WB) CM+WB, CS+WB, CM+CC and control (CON; no organic amendment). Soil properties and corn yield were evaluated after a single growing season. Results indicate that …

Spatial And Temporal Patterns Of Bat Activity In A Southeast Nebraska Agricultural Landscape, Christopher Fill

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Intensive agriculture is associated with biodiversity loss and species decline. Yet wild species, such as bats, may provide critical ecosystem services to agriculture, even in transformed landscapes. In the United States, bats have been estimated to save the agricultural industry billions of dollars per year. However, white-nose syndrome and habitat loss have led to the decline of many bat species in North America, including the federally threatened northern long-eared bat, Myotis septentrionalis.

To better evaluate the effectiveness of these pest-controlling services, and to increase understanding of bat foraging behavior in these extreme landscapes, I deployed 11 grids of 24 detectors, …

Becoming Agricultured: Creating An Agriculture Literacy Podcast For Consumers, Madalyn C. Souza

Agricultural Education and Communication

Today’s consumers want to become more aware of where their food comes from. There is a need and a desire to bridge the gap between consumers and production agriculture. One way to reach consumers is through audio podcasts. Podcasts are digital audio recordings that are streamed online. The podcast Becoming Agricultured will be a platform to show the relationship between agriculture and the environment, food, fiber and energy, animals, lifestyle, the economy and technology. The podcast is aimed to tell agriculture's story through factual research and personal accounts of those involved in different sectors of the agriculture industry and cultivate …

The Effect Of An Educational Workshop On High School Future Farmers Of America Parliamentary Procedure Leadership Development Teams, Brooke Gilstrap, Alyssa Snow

Agricultural Education and Communication

Within the California Future Farmers of America Association (FFA), there are a variety of Leadership Development Events (LDE’s) including the Parliamentary Procedure contest. Within this contest students sharpen their knowledge through reviewing Robert's Rules of Order and applying this knowledge to an exam as well as a live demonstration. Through this contest, students also improve upon their public speaking skills and research agricultural education and industry issues. Students compete in several invitational contests before entering the sectional, regional, and state levels of competition where their advanced knowledge comes into play with a wider audience. Over the span of California, there …

Disconnect Within Agriculture And Ecosystem Climate Effects, Adaptations And Policy, Anastasia W. Thayer, Aurora M. Vargas, Thomas E. Lacher, Bruce A. Mccarl

Applied Economics Faculty Publications

Frequently, agriculture and ecosystems (AE) are seen as separate entities, causing entity specific solutions in response to threats. Anthropogenic climate change simultaneously stresses both agriculture and ecosystems along with their interactions. Induced increasing surface temperatures [1], altered precipitation [2], drought intensification [3], altered ground and surface water quantity/quality [4,5], and diminished soil moisture [6] force adaptations for AE, but these adaptations fail to be efficient when interdependencies are not considered. Additional adaptations will be necessary, as future projections anticipate even greater climate change [1].

The Perceptions Of Professionals, Faculty, And Students Regarding The Implementation Of An Agricultural Communications Degree Program In The United Kingdom, Abigail Taylor

Agricultural Education, Communications and Technology Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions of professionals, faculty, and students regarding the implementation of an agricultural communications degree program in the United Kingdom. It aimed to gather detailed opinions to aid in the planning of future agricultural communications disciplines. This study used a qualitative approach in the form of interviews. Interviews were designed to gain in-depth opinions on four different research objectives. Subjects were pooled from three different subject groups: Professionals, faculty, and students. Subjects expressed that writing and journalistic skills were extremely important for agricultural communications graduates to possess. Interpersonal skills were also useful. …

A View From Above: Alternative Perspectives On Smallholder Livelihoods And Agrobiodiversity Conservation In Northern Ecuador, Chris Hair

Dissertations

Food security and deintensification of agriculture are serious concerns in Latin America. Agriculture, especially at small-scale subsistence levels, is hard work, and comes with some economic and physical risk. Transitions from traditional multi-cropping to mono-cropping systems introduce two particular risks that are new to most smallholders: (1) the loss of agricultural diversity and (2) the potential for widespread failure when focusing on the cultivation of a single crop. This research explores how Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS), or drones, can be used for rapid inventories of crop diversity and to enhance crop management techniques on small-scale farms. In the community …

"A Glass Of Milk Strengthens A Nation." Law Development, And China's Dairy Tale, Xiaoqian Hu

Journal of Food Law & Policy

Historically, China was a soybean nation and not a dairy nation. Today, China has become the world’s largest dairy importer and third largest dairy producer, and dairy has surpassed soybeans in both consumption volume and sales revenue. This article investigates the legal, political, and socioeconomic factors that drove this transformation, and building upon fieldwork in two Chinese counties, examines the transformation’s socioeconomic impact on China’s several hundred million farmers and ex-farmers and political impact on the Chinese regime. The article makes two arguments. First, despite changes of times and political regimes, China’s dairy tale is a tale about chasing the …

Cultivating Alternative Subsistence Farming Practices In Dangriga, Belize, Alexander Johnson

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

Subsistence farming, also referred to as backyard farming, is an important opportunity for families in areas of low economic status. Small scale poultry farming is another practice often used by families in similar situations because of the financial and nutritional benefits provided. By combining the two practices in a process where they each benefit from the other, a sustainable system can be created. The poultry-garden system can provide a source of food for the household and, if run effectively, supplemental income can be generated through the sale of excess poultry, eggs, or vegetation. This project attempted to take the concept …

Ranchers Adapting To Climate Variability In The Upper Colorado River Basin, Utah, Hadia Akbar

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Changes in climate influence agricultural production. This study looks at the impacts of climate variability in the Utah regions of the Upper Colorado River Basin by combining regression techniques with interview data to explore how climate variability affects agricultural production and how the farmers are adapting their practices to these changes. The results show that climate does not have any significant impact on cattle and hay production in the study area on a decadal scale. However, on an annual basis temperature seems to have more impact than precipitation. Among non-climatic variables, commodity prices and their regulations by the government are …

An Analysis Of Crispr-Cas Gene Editing In Agriculture, Ashley Laliberte

Honors Scholar Theses

The CRISPR-Cas system is a promising form of gene editing, especially for the agriculture industry. The ability to make single-nucleotide edits within a gene of interest, without the need to introduce foreign DNA, is a powerful tool for designing healthier and more efficient crops and food animals. This system provides opportunity for increased nutritional value, decreased food waste, and more economically and environmentally sustainable food production. Though this biotechnology is facing mechanistic limitations due to off-target effects and inefficient homology-directed repair, vast improvements have already been made to improve its efficacy. The CRISPR-Cas system is already the most advanced form …

Strengths And Weaknesses Of National Agricultural Research Systems: Attracting The Next Generation Of Grasslands Researchers, James E. Pratley, Casper W. Roxburgh

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

In the 1960s and 1970s the world faced up to the poverty and hunger facing a significant proportion of the global population, which at the time was around 4 billion people. The efforts of Norman Borlaug and the Green Revolution resulted in food production increasing as the technologies and knowledge known at the time were directed to that task. The success of the Green Revolution was such that governments and the world communities turned attention to other issues and agricultural development slid down the list of priorities. The world population is now over 7 billion and projected to be over …