Bioresource and Agricultural Engineering Commons^™

Classification Of Sow Postures Using Convolutional Neural Network And Depth Images, Md Towfiqur Rahman, Tami M. Brown-Brandl, Gary A. Rohrer, Sudhendu R. Sharma, Yeyin Shi

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

The United States swine industry reports an average preweaning mortality of approximately 16% where approximately 6% of them are attributed to piglets overlayed by sows. Detecting postural transitions and estimating sows’ time budgets for different postures are valuable information for breeders and engineering design of farrowing facilities to eventually reduce piglet death. Computer vision tools can help monitor changes in animal posture accurately and efficiently. To create a more robust system and eliminate varying lighting issues within a day including daytime/ nighttime differences, there is an advantage to using depth cameras over digital cameras. In this study, a computer vision …

Machine Learning-Based Disease Classification In Tomato (Solanum Lycopersicum) Plants = Klasifikasi Penyakit Berbasis Pembelajaran Mesin Pada Tanaman Tomat (Solanum Lycopersicum), Md Towfiqur Rahman, Sudipto Dhar Dipto, Israt Jahan June, Abdul Momin, Muhammad Rashed Al Mamun

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

English abstract

In Bangladesh, tomato cultivation faces significant challenges due to its susceptibility to various microorganisms, parasites, and bacterial infections. Typically, the early symptoms of these diseases first appear in roots and leaves, complicating timely detection. This study addresses the challenge of timely and accurate detection of diseases in tomato plants, crucial for effective plant protection management. Conventional manual inspection methods are time-consuming and subjective, resulting in delays in implementing necessary protection measures. Therefore, an image processing technique and machine learning algorithms were used for rapid and robust detection of diseases in tomato plant leaves, aiming to streamline the detection …

A Validation Of Wepp Water Quality Routines In Uniform And Nonuniform Agricultural Hillslopes, Ryan P. Mcgehee, Dennis C. Flanagan, Bernard A. Engel, John E. Gilley

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Nutrients in agricultural runoff may cause offsite environmental impacts. The objective of this investigation was to examine nutrient transport by overland sheet flow on sites containing swine slurry. Data examined in this study was collected during field rainfall simulation tests conducted on cropland sites in southeast Nebraska, USA. Inflow was added to the top of experimental plots in four successive increments to simulate runoff rates occurring at greater downslope distances. Runoff rates on the experimental sites ranged from 2.3 to 21.2 L min 1 and maximum equivalent downslope distances varied from 5 to 108 m. Phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) …

Inaugural Future Of Bse Days: Workshop Report, Mark Stone

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Presentations and White Papers

The inaugural Future of BSE Days (FBD) event, held on May 2-3, 2024, brought together the Biological Systems Engineering (BSE) community to discuss and shape the future of work and learning within the field. The event was designed to foster collaboration between faculty, students, industry leaders, and alumni, with the goal of reimagining the department’s educational approach, enhancing industry partnerships, and preparing students for the challenges of tomorrow. Over the course of two days, participants engaged in insightful discussions, workshops, and presentations that highlighted both the strengths of the department and opportunities for growth.

The workshop resulted in several key …

Reducing Food Scarcity: The Benefits Of Urban Farming, S.A. Claudell, Emilio Mejia

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Urban farming can enhance the lives of communities and help reduce food scarcity. This paper presents a conceptual prototype of an efficient urban farming community that can be scaled for a single apartment building or an entire community across all global geoeconomics regions, including densely populated cities and rural, developing towns and communities. When deployed in coordination with smart crop choices, local farm support, and efficient transportation then the result isn’t just sustainability, but also increasing fresh produce accessibility, optimizing nutritional value, eliminating the use of ‘forever chemicals’, reducing transportation costs, and fostering global environmental benefits.

Imagine Doris, who is …

Red Cabbage Juice-Mediated Gut Microbiota Modulation Improves Intestinal Epithelial Homeostasis And Ameliorates Colitis, Emily Jean Wilson, Nagabhishek Sirpu Natesh, Parsa Ghadermazi, Ramesh Pothuraju, Dipakkumar R. Prajapati, Sanjit Pandey, Jussuf T. Kaifi, John R. Dodam, Jeffrey Bryan, Christian L. Lorson, Aude A. Watrelot, Jason M. Foster, Thomas J. Mansell, Siu Hung Joshua Chan, Surinder K. Batra, Jeyamkondan Subbiah, Satyanarayana Rachagani

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Gut microbiota plays a crucial role in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) and can potentially prevent IBD through microbial-derived metabolites, making it a promising therapeutic avenue. Recent evidence suggests that despite an unclear underlying mechanism, red cabbage juice (RCJ) alleviates Dextran Sodium Sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis in mice. Thus, the study aims to unravel the molecular mechanism by which RCJ modulates the gut microbiota to alleviate DSS-induced colitis in mice. Using C57BL/6J mice, we evaluated RCJ’s protective role in DSS-induced colitis through two cycles of 3% DSS. Mice were daily gavaged with PBS or RCJ until the endpoint, and gut microbiota composition …

Determining The Presence And Size Of Shoulder Lesions In Sows Using Computer Vision, Shubham Bery, Tami M. Brown-Bandl, Bradley T. Jones, Gary A. Rohrer, Sudhendu Raj Sharma

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Shoulder sores predominantly arise in breeding sows and often result in untimely culling. Reported prevalence rates vary significantly, spanning between 5% and 50% depending upon the type of crate flooring inside a farm, the animal’s body condition, or an existing injury that causes lameness. These lesions represent not only a welfare concern but also have an economic impact due to the labor needed for treatment and medication. The objective of this study was to evaluate the use of computer vision techniques in detecting and determining the size of shoulder lesions. A Microsoft Kinect V2 camera captured the top-down depth and …

Deep Learning Models To Predict Finishing Pig Weight Using Point Clouds, Shiva Paudel, Rafael Vieira De Sousa, Sudhendu Raj Sharma, Tami M. Brown-Bandl

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

The selection of animals to be marketed is largely completed by their visual assessment, solely relying on the skill level of the animal caretaker. Real-time monitoring of the weight of farm animals would provide important information for not only marketing, but also for the assessment of health and well-being issues. The objective of this study was to develop and evaluate a method based on 3D Convolutional Neural Network to predict weight from point clouds. Intel Real Sense D435 stereo depth camera placed at 2.7 m height was used to capture the 3D videos of a single finishing pig freely walking …

Deep Learning Models To Predict Finishing Pig Weight Using Point Clouds, Shiva Paudel, Rafael Vieira De Sousa, Sudhendu Raj Sharma, Tami M. Brown-Bandl

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

The selection of animals to be marketed is largely completed by their visual assessment, solely relying on the skill level of the animal caretaker. Real-time monitoring of the weight of farm animals would provide important information for not only marketing, but also for the assessment of health and well-being issues. The objective of this study was to develop and evaluate a method based on 3D Convolutional Neural Network to predict weight from point clouds. Intel Real Sense D435 stereo depth camera placed at 2.7 m height was used to capture the 3D videos of a single finishing pig freely walking …

Impact Of Irrigation On Vulnerability Of Winter Wheat Under Extreme Climate Change Scenario: A Case Study Of North China Plain, Yulian Gao, Lin Wang, Yaojie Yue

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

An inadequate understanding of the impacts of adaptation countermeasures tends to exaggerate the adverse e􀀀ects of climate change on agricultural systems. Motivated by proposing reasonable climate change adaptation countermeasures, the present study applied the EPIC model to quantify the impacts of climate change and irrigation changes with future socioeconomic development on agricultural production. Winter wheat yield losses using dynamic irrigation parameters in the North China Plain (NCP) from 2010 to 2099 under a scenario coupling climate change and future socioeconomic development (RCP8.5-SSP3), and those under an extreme climate change scenario (RCP8.5), were simulated. Results show that EPIC model demonstrates superior …

Study Of Surface And Groundwater Quality And Quantity At Watershed Scale In Mississippi, Dipesh Nepal

Theses and Dissertations

Hydrology and water quality are affected by land use and climate changes. Mississippi’s diverse agro–ecosystem comprises of a range of land use land cover (LULC) including agriculture, forest, wetlands, urban, and grasslands. The objectives of this study were to investigate the impacts of various factors such as Best Management Practices (BMPs), wetlands, LULC, and climate changes on water quality and quantity. The hydrologic and water quality responses to dynamic LULC input in Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) were evaluated. Results showed that agricultural and forest expansion were major drivers of hydrologic and water quality changes in Big Sunflower River …

Development Of An Automated Delivery System To Apply Copper Sulfate Crystals Using Precision Dry Fertilizer Application Technology, Kevin Charles Wise

Theses and Dissertations

The digenetic trematode, Bolbophorus damnificus, poses a substantial threat to catfish aquaculture, causing significant economic losses. Infestations lead to suppressed feed consumption, secondary bacterial infections and poor production performance. Survey data reveals widespread infestation in the in the southeastern United States. Current control strategies involve the application of a concentrated copper sulfate solution to reduce snail populations which serve as the first intermediate host of the trematode life cycle. This study aimed to improve treatment efficacy by developing a granular copper sulfate application system. A modified Gandy fertilizer applicator, equipped with a programmable control system, demonstrated accurate distribution of copper …

Systematic Comparison Of Nonviral Gene Delivery Strategies For Efficient Co-Expression Of Two Transgenes In Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Tyler Kozisek, Luke Samuelson, Andrew Hamann, Angela K. Pannier

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Background Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) are being researched for cell-based therapies due to a host of unique properties, however, genetic modification of hMSCs, accomplished through nonviral gene delivery, could greatly advance their therapeutic potential. Furthermore, expression of multiple transgenes in hMSCs could greatly advance their clinical significance for treatment of multifaceted diseases, as individual transgenes could be expressed that target separate pathogenic drivers of complex diseases. Expressing multiple transgenes can be accomplished by delivering multiple DNA vectors encoding for each transgene, or by delivering a single poly-cistronic vector that encodes for each transgene and accomplishes expression through either use …

Nutritional-Environmental Trade-Offs In Potato Storage And Processing For A Sustainable Healthy Diet, Aubin Payne, Ebenezer M. Kwofie, Prince Agyemang, Jamie Baum

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Over the last decade, poor diets and limited access to nutritious foods have been critical drivers of micronutrient deficiency in human health. However, food fortification at an industrialized scale in developed countries has helped eliminate deficiency-related diseases. In developing countries, fortified foods and biofortified materials have been delivered to nutrient-deficient communities. While these strategies have produced significant and acclaimed results, reports from the Food and Agricultural Organization suggest that over a quarter of the world’s population suffers from micronutrient deficiency. This implies that there are still declines in micronutrients in food products at different nodes along the food value chain …

The Effects Of Silica Sand Particle Size On Drying Using A Vertical Fluid Bed Dryer, Aysun ŞengüL, Soner Celen, Ayşen Haksever

The Philippine Agricultural Scientist

The experimental and theoretical relationships of silica sand particle size and drying was compared to predict the minimum fluidization rate in drying at 9.57% moisture. The drying temperature (90°C, 120°C, and 150°C) and particle size (274 ± 0.5 μm, 563 ± 0.5 μm, and 910 ± 0.5 μm) parameters were studied as factors influencing the drying process in the experiment. Upon comparing all the test results, it was found that moisture loss accelerated as drying temperature of the silica sand samples increased. On the other hand, the minimum fluidization rate was found to have varied directly with particle size, in …

Enhancing Urban Water Quality Through Biological-Chemical Treatment: Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Community And Temporal Chlorophyll-A Response, Matthew Chaffee

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

With a growing human population, urbanization is impeding a plethora of natural waterways. Of these, urban ponds play a vital role in nutrient sequestration, flood prevention, and habitat sanctuaries. However, nutrient loading can reduce habitat effectiveness and promote harmful algae blooms. To reduce internal nutrient loads, a biological-chemical treatment strategy consisting of floating treatment wetlands (FTWs) and lanthanum were applied to two urban retention ponds, Densmore and Wilderness Ridge Ponds. To measure effectiveness, chlorophyll-a samples were collected and correlated with Sentinel-2. A novel band algorithm termed 3BR1 produced a strong correlation (R² = 0.72) to physical chlorophyll-a …

Responses Of Maize To Different Irrigation Regimes In Semi-Arid Western Nebraska, Swathi Palle

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

As the “Cornhusker State”, Maize (Zea mays) is an important crop in Nebraska. However, farmers in the state are challenged by unstable supply of surface water and limited groundwater resources. A better understanding of maize's response to water stress that occurs at different growth stages can help implement the best irrigation practices that conserve water while maintaining yields. In this study, we conducted field experiments at the Panhandle Research, Extension, and Education Center to compare the responses of maize to eight irrigation treatments which included both limited and deficit irrigation regimes during 2022 and 2023 growing seasons. Specifically, …

Renovating The Ipmu Via Internet Of Things For Pollutant Emission Estimations In Poultry Facilities, Joshua Dotto

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

The emissions of ammonia (NH₃), particulate matter (PM_2.5), and carbon dioxide (CO₂) are major concerns in poultry facilities. They can pose environmental concerns and nuances. Robust and affordable measurement systems are needed to accurately measure in-barn concentrations and quantify the emissions.

The Intelligent Portable Monitoring Unit (iPMU or PMU3) developed in 2016 was reconstructed into PMU4 to include upgraded NH₃ and PM_2.5 sensors and wireless connectivity for a low-cost, robust, and accurate air quality monitoring device with contactless data transfer using the concept of Internet of Things (IoT). In addition, a user-friendly …

Development Of A Machine Learning System For Irrigation Decision Support With Disparate Data Streams, Eric Wilkening

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

In recent years, advancements in irrigation technologies have led to increased efficiency in irrigation applications, encompassing the adoption of practices that utilize data-driven irrigation scheduling and leveraging variable rate irrigation (VRI). These technological improvements have the potential to reduce water withdrawals and diversions from both groundwater and surface water sources. However, it is vital to recognize that improved application efficiency does not necessarily equate to increased water availability for future or downstream use. This is particularly crucial in the context of consumptive water use, which refers to water consumed and not returned to the local or sub-regional watershed, representing a …

Enhancing Peanut Harvesting: Evaluating Factors That Influence Yield And Developing A Web-Based Field Drying Forecast Tool, Charles Burkett

All Theses

Peanuts have one of the largest economic impacts of agronomic crops in the State of South Carolina. Peanut harvest operations involve several steps (digging, curing, combining) using equipment unique to peanut production, including peanut digger/shaker/inverters. This thesis evaluates several aspects of peanut harvest operations, including how precision agriculture technologies can enhance decision-making and enhance production. Several studies were conducted to analyze how various aspects of peanut harvesting operations contribute to decrease losses in yield and revenue. The first study evaluated the influence of operator experience on mean absolute guidance line deviation during peanut digging operations and the associated effects on …

Development Of A User-Friendly Shelf-Life Model To Evaluate The Suitability Of Sustainable Materials In Roasted And Ground Coffee Fractional Packs, Matthew Baxley

All Theses

Roasted and ground coffee is a shelf stable product yet quite sensitive to oxidative staling. A consumer acceptance-based shelf-life modeling system was proposed with intent for the rapid determination of suitable coffee packages. This model requires as input the oxygen consumption rate (OCR) of the coffee, barrier values of packages, and the size of the packaging. Within the time period tested, it was shown that this model accurately predicted the oxygen uptake of coffee over time. Four bio-based packaging systems with barrier layers including mPLA, mPE, mcellophane, and paper were compared against a control (mPET). These materials displayed a range …

Representativeness Evaluation Of Delta-Flux Eddy Covariance Towers For Assessing Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Rice Fields In The Mid-South Region, Katherine Skiles

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Rice grown in 5 states across the Mid-South (AR, LA, MS, TX, and MO) account for nearly 80% of all domestic U.S. rice production. Methane emissions produced during rice farming and the large seasonal water demand to maintain flooded fields have created a need for alternative irrigation research that can reduce methane emissions and conserve water. Structures called eddy covariance towers (ECTs) can observe methane and other flux responses to changing irrigation styles, and their data is shared across flux tower networks such as Delta-Flux in the Mid-South. The Delta-Flux network is relatively new, and its data-sharing capacity is not …

Examining The Benefits Of Using Rainfall To Supplement Alternate Wetting And Drying Irrigation In Zero-Grade Rice Fields In Central Arkansas, Leo Black

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Arkansas farmers account for more than 50% of United States production of rice, a crop that requires 3 to 5 times as much water as other regional crops. Methods of reducing water use and increasing its efficiency are being explored throughout the rice production industry, including irrigation management, better land grading, and precipitation capture. This project investigates the combination of these methods. The objectives of this project were to assess field-level water inputs, identify relationships between rice growth and water input, and analyze weather patterns in zero-grade fields in central Arkansas. Subsequent results were used to determine if there is …

Aicropcam: Deploying Classification, Segmentation, Detection, And Counting Deep-Learning Models For Crop Monitoring On The Edge, Nipuna Chamara, Geng (Frank) Bai, Yufeng Ge

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Precision Agriculture (PA) promises to meet the future demands for food, feed, fiber, and fuel while keeping their production sustainable and environmentally friendly. PA relies heavily on sensing technologies to inform site-specific decision supports for planting, irrigation, fertilization, spraying, and harvesting. Traditional point-based sensors enjoy small data sizes but are limited in their capacity to measure plant and canopy parameters. On the other hand, imaging sensors can be powerful in measuring a wide range of these parameters, especially when coupled with Artificial Intelligence. The challenge, however, is the lack of computing, electric power, and connectivity infrastructure in agricultural fields, preventing …

Determining The Presence And Size Of Shoulder Lesions In Sows Using Computer Vision, Shubham Bery, Tami M. Brown-Brandl, Bradley T. Jones, Gary A. Rohrer, Sudhendu Raj Sharma

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Shoulder sores predominantly arise in breeding sows and often result in untimely culling. Reported prevalence rates vary significantly, spanning between 5% and 50% depending upon the type of crate flooring inside a farm, the animal’s body condition, or an existing injury that causes lameness. These lesions represent not only a welfare concern but also have an economic impact due to the labor needed for treatment and medication. The objective of this study was to evaluate the use of computer vision techniques in detecting and determining the size of shoulder lesions. A Microsoft Kinect V2 camera captured the top-down depth and …

Optimal And Robust Control Problems Of Microalgae Cultivation, Mariana Rodriguez-Jara, Luis A. Ricardez-Sandoval, Carlos E. Ramirez-Castelan, Hector Puebla

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.

Modeling Overdraft-Driven Nitrate Transport In Shallow Wells For Mitigation And Scenario Planning, Jonathan Cronk

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

In Nebraska, average nitrate concentrations in groundwater have doubled since 1974, making water quality management more important than ever. As droughts, heat waves, and floods become more common climate events, understanding their impacts will be necessary to make informed management decisions. Emerging literature describes that drought correlates to an increase in the concentration of nitrate-N at domestic and irrigation wells, however the relative contributions of the mechanisms thought to be responsible is currently unknown.

This research assessed the impact of recharge and pumping rate changes as two mechanisms affecting nitrate-N concentration during drought, assessed the relationship between well depth and …

An Amplification-Free Crispr-Sers Biosensor For Specific, Sensitive And Rapid Detection Of Salmonella Typhimurium In Poultry, Fei Jia, Bingyan Li, Yawen He, Yafang Shen, Juhong Chen, Xingmin Li, Yanbin Li

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

CRISPR (Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) has been a cutting-edge biotechnology in both gene editing and biosensing due to its desirable features, such as high base resolution and set-and-forget operation. However, as a nucleic acid detection method, an DNA/RNA amplification procedure is still inevitable in CRISPR biosensors. In this study, a highly-ordered nanopore array SERS substrate, coated with silver nanoparticles, was fabricated and utilized as a platform for the specific detection of Salmonella Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) without the time-consuming DNA amplification step. The smart sensing strategy was established by introducing an ssDNA labeled with a Raman active molecule …

A Text Analytics Model For Agricultural Knowledge Discovery And Sustainable Food Production: A Case Study From Oklahoma Panhandle, Ali Bagheri, Saleh Taghvaeian, Dursun Delen

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

With recent increases in the use of social media in agricultural communities, many farmers are showing more and more interest in participating in social media and sharing different aspects of their profession with peers and policymakers. However, researchers have not explored this valuable data source well enough to help improve agribusiness decision-making. This study aims to investigate the potential capability and richness of social media for agricultural knowledge discovery, which can help monitor, detect, and predict critical agricultural events and activities and develop more sustainable food production and agricultural economy. This research utilizes text-mining tools and techniques to collect, process, …

Statistical And Machine Learning Approaches To Describe Factors Affecting Preweaning Mortality Of Piglets, Md Towfiqur Rahman, Tami M. Brown-Brandl, Gary A. Rohrer, Sudhendu R. Sharma, Vamsi Manthena, Yeyin Shi

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

High preweaning mortality (PWM) rates for piglets are a significant concern for the worldwide pork industries, causing economic loss and well-being issues. This study focused on identifying the factors affecting PWM, overlays, and predicting PWM using historical production data with statistical and machine learning models. Data were collected from 1,982 litters from the United States Meat Animal Research Center, Nebraska, over the years 2016 to 2021. Sows were housed in a farrowing building with three rooms, each with 20 farrowing crates, and taken care of by well-trained animal caretakers. A generalized linear model was used to analyze the various sow, …