Life Sciences Commons^™

Forage News [2007-03], Department Of Plant And Soil Sciences, University Of Kentucky

Forage News

• Kentucky Alfalfa Awards
• 27^th Kentucky Alfalfa Conference
• Forages at KCA
• 2006 Hay Contest Winners
• Biotech Traits Can Improve Alfalfa
• Newly Updated: Grain and Forage Crop Guide For KY
• New Publication: Long Term Variety Test Summary
• AFGC Will Hold Its Annual Meeting This June in Pennsylvania
• Increase in Alfalfa Acreage & Yield
• Conversion from Corn to Grassland Provides Economic and Environmental Benefits to a Maryland Beef Farm
• Disc, Sickle Mowers Both Have Pluses
• Kentucky Farm Numbers
• Upcoming Events

Characterization Of Dairy Milk House Waste Water In Kentucky, Anshu Singh, Czarena L. Crofcheck, Gail M. Brion

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

This study focuses on characterization of milk house waste water from eight different farms in Kentucky. The farms were separated into three groups based on the number of cows: small (20-30), medium (30-60), and large (over 60 cows). Samples were collected once a month from four farms and twice a month from the remainder. Samples were analyzed for chemical, biochemical, and microbiological characteristics. Results indicated a large and significant variation in the chemical and microbiological characteristics between the farms. Farm size had a significant effect on the nutrient content of the waste water. Though samples exhibited seasonal variation, there was …

Agricultural Lime Recommendations Based On Lime Quality, Greg Schwab, Lloyd W. Murdock, David C. Ditsch, Monroe Rasnake, Frank J. Sikora, Wilbur Frye

Agriculture and Natural Resources Publications

Soil acidity is one of the most important soil factors affecting crop growth and ultimately, yield and profitability. It is determined by measuring the soil pH, which is a measure of the amount of hydrogen ions in the soil solution. As soil acidity increases, the soil pH decreases. Soils tend to be naturally acidic in areas where rainfall is sufficient to cause substantial leaching of basic ions (such as calcium and magnesium), which are replaced by hydrogen ions. Most soils in Kentucky are naturally acidic because of our abundant rainfall. Some nitrogen fertilizers are also a source of soil acidity, …

Loline Alkaloid Gene Clusters Of The Fungal Endophyte Neotyphodium Uncinatum, Christopher L. Schardl, Heather H. Wilkinson, Martin J. Spiering

Plant Pathology Faculty Patents

Loline alkaloids (LA), which are 1-aminopyrrolizidines with an oxygen bridge, are produced by Epichloë (anamorph=Neotyphodium) species, endophytes of grasses. LA are insecticidal, thus helping protect host plants from insect herbivory. Suppression subtractive hybridization PCR was used to isolate transcripts up-regulated during loline alkaloid production in cultures of Neotyphodium uncinatum. Subtracted cDNAs were cloned, and a λ-phage cDNA library from an LA-expressing N. uncinatum culture was screened with subtracted cDNA. In BLAST searches, several cDNAs identified had sequence similarities to aspartate kinases, and another with O-acetylhomoserine-(thiol)lyase. Differential expression of these two genes in LA-producing cultures of N. uncinatum …

How I Produced Nationally Award Winning Alfalfa Hay, Rick Alexander

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

No abstract provided.

Roundup Ready Alfalfa: Results After One Year On The Market, S. Ray Smith

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

Roundup Ready alfalfa has now been on the market for over a year with close to 30 varieties available or soon to be available across the U.S. This technology provides many new options for alfalfa producers in Kentucky. Several people have asked us which variety is highest yielding and unfortunately we have not been able to provide a good answer. The technology is so new (just approved fall 2005) that few of these varieties have been entered into University yield trials. Companies do have some private data, but they often don’t compare to the varieties you are familiar with. So …

Cowpea Aphids: Where Did They Come From, Will They Be Back?, Lee H. Townsend

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

Clearly, something was unusual back in March when large numbers of very dark aphids were found covering stems and tips in Logan, Marion, and Barren counties. They were the cowpea aphid or black legume aphid (Aphis craccivora), a sap-feeding insect known to occur in at least 28 states scattered over the US and into Canada. The cowpea aphid is the only black aphid found infesting alfalfa. Winged or wingless adults are usually shiny black, while the smaller nymphs are dull gray to black. Usually. they are lined along stems or clustered in the expanding leaf tips.

Hay Heating, Hay Sweat And Spontaneous Combustion, Tom Keene, Doug Overhults

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

Making hay in central Kentucky can be one of the most trying on farm endeavors a producer can undertake. Our plentiful moisture, rolling topography, and climate make Kentucky ideal for producing high quality forage for either grazing or hay making. However, that same moisture either in the form of rain or high humidity can sometimes make it devilishly hard to make quality hay here in Kentucky.

Alfalfa For Summer Grazing, John Johns

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

Alfalfa can make an excellent grazing forage for cattle in the summer as well as at other times of year provided that good grazing management is utilized. Alfalfa can be grazed very close to the ground but should not be grazed continuously. Initial regrowth after grazing comes from nutrient reserves in the root; therefore, a sufficient rest period or regrowth period without grazing must be allowed for these nutrients to be replenished. In summer, this rest period is 30 to 35 days. In adequate rest for root nutrient replenishment is not allowed, the plant will be weakened and stand life …

Alfalfa Hay For Horses, Robert Coleman

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

Horses are designed to eat forage and quality forage is the basis for the feeding programs of all classes of horse. However, when one considers hay as that basic forage, what criteria are used to describe quality horse hay? In general terms, quality horse hay should supply needed nutrients, be palatable and should be free of anything harmful to the horse.

Requirements For Successful Alfalfa Establishment, Garry D. Lacefield

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

Establishing a good stand of alfalfa is expensive and time consuming, but the success rate is high if you give attention to the important factors. The following steps won’t insure success, but will increase greater likelihood.

How The Alfalfa Plant Grows: Impact On Management, S. Ray Smith

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

Alfalfa is the premier forage crop with high yield, high forage quality, season long productivity, drought tolerance, and extended stand life. Alfalfa requires intensive management to insure that yield, quality, and stand life are maximized. It should be planted on deep, well drained soils and maintained with optimal fertilizer inputs. It also requires adequate rest periods between cutting for hay or grazing. Alfalfa can be prone to significant insect damage and stands may require insecticide treatments. There are many details to successfully managing an alfalfa stand, but if you understand how the plant grows then you will better understand the …

Alfalfa Information On The Web, Scott Flynn

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

No abstract provided.

Foreword And Recipients Of Kentucky Alfalfa Awards [2007], Garry D. Lacefield, Christi L. Forsythe

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

No abstract provided.

Forage News [2007-02], Department Of Plant And Soil Sciences, University Of Kentucky

Forage News

• 27th Kentucky Alfalfa Conference
• Forages at KCA
• Heart of America Grazing Conference
• AFGC in Pennsylvania
• 1st National Grass-Fed Beef Conference
• AFGC Update
• 2007 Variety Trial Reports Available
• Top Ten Agricultural Counties (2005)
• Top Ten Counties (2005)
• Transporting Hay to be Subject to New Regulations
• FDA: Hay Farmers Clear Of Records Law
• Hay Sampling
• Use of Feedstuffs by Livestock in the United States
• Upcoming Events

Forage Quality: What Is It? What Can We Do About It? And, Will It Pay?, Garry D. Lacefield

Forage Symposium at the Kentucky Cattlemen’s Convention

Profitable livestock production almost always requires a forage program that will supply large quantities of adequate quality, homegrown feed. A major percentage of the feed units for beef (83%) and dairy cattle (61%) come from forages. In addition, forages supply an estimated 91%, 72%, 15% and 99% of the nutrients consumed by sheep and goats, horses, swine, and wildlife, respectively.

Matching Pasture To Animal Needs, S. Ray Smith

Forage Symposium at the Kentucky Cattlemen’s Convention

Cattle have a wide range of nutrient requirements depending on maturity, weight, growth potential, pregnancy, milk production, desired daily production, and other factors.

Can I Afford To Seed Novel-Endophyte Tall Fescue?, Kenneth H. Burdine

Forage Symposium at the Kentucky Cattlemen’s Convention

Tall fescue is the predominant forage grass of Kentucky. It is an easily established, relatively persistent bunchgrass that has reasonable drought tolerance and does well in clay or loam soils. However, the endophyte fungus found in the grass was linked to poor animal performance in the late 1970’s (Ball, Hoveland, and Lacefield). It has been estimated that 85% of Kentucky’s fescue pastures are endophyte infected, making it a serious problem for Kentucky cattle producers (Lacefield, Henning, and Philips). Producers interested in establishing or replacing tall fescue stands have several options available to them.

How I Produce, Manage And Market Forages, Bill Payne

Forage Symposium at the Kentucky Cattlemen’s Convention

I would like to amend the title to: “How I Produce, Manage and Market Forages, Profitably.” My experience has led me to believe that keeping things simple has allowed me to focus better and that has led to profitability. This has led me to make every effort to reduce my reliance on machinery and to allow the cows to do the work. I focus on maximizing forage utilization and minimizing the number of days of feeding stored feeds.

Where To Find Forage Information On The Web, Tom Keene

Forage Symposium at the Kentucky Cattlemen’s Convention

The Internet can take you almost anywhere you want to go these days. You can gather information, shop, take classes, play games, etc. So, it is logical to assume that you can find lots of information about forages on the Internet.

Foreword [2007], Garry D. Lacefield, Christi L. Forsythe

Forage Symposium at the Kentucky Cattlemen’s Convention

No abstract provided.

Public Health Performance, F. Douglas Scutchfield Md

Preventive Medicine and Environmental Health Presentations

No abstract provided.

Forage News [2007-01], Department Of Plant And Soil Sciences, University Of Kentucky

Forage News

• Forages at KCA
• Gerrish To Speak At HOAGC
• Hay Quality Makes a Difference
• Heart of America Grazing Conference January 24^th and 25^th
• Kentucky Alfalfa Conference: 27 Years & Growing
• National Grazing Conference Features Three Kentucky Producers
• Goats in Kentucky
• Kentucky Agricultural Economy
• Utilizing Sericea Lespedeza as a Goat Forage in Kentucky
• Upcoming Events

The Kentucky Agricultural Economic Outlook For 2007, Linda Inman, Kenneth H. Burdine

Kentucky Agricultural Economic Outlook

No abstract provided.

Kentucky Water Resources Research Institute Annual Technical Report Fy 2006, Kentucky Water Resources Research Institute, University Of Kentucky

KWRRI Annual Technical Reports (USGS’s 104b Grant Program)

The 2006 Annual Technical Report for Kentucky consolidates reporting requirements of the Section 104(b) base grant award into a single techincal report that includes: 1) a synopsis of each student research enhancement project conducted during the period, 2) citations for related reports and presentations, 3) a description of information transfer activities, 4) a summary of student support during the reporting period, 5) notable awards and achievements during the year, and 6) publications from prior projects.

Ambystoma: Perspectives On Adaptation And The Evolution Of Vertebrate Genomes, Jeramiah James Smith

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Tiger salamanders, and especially the Mexican axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum), are important model organisms in biological research. This dissertation describes new genomic resources and scientific results that greatly extend the utility of tiger salamanders. With respect to new resources, this dissertation describes the development of expressed sequence tags and assembled contigs, a comparative genome map, a web-portal that makes genomic information freely available to the scientific community, and a computer program that compares structure features of organism genomes. With respect to new scientific results, this dissertation describes a quantitative trait locus that is associated with ecologically and evolutionarily relevant …

Maptogenome: A Comparative Genomic Tool That Aligns Transcript Maps To Sequenced Genomes, Srikrishna Putta, Jeramiah J. Smith, Chuck Staben, S. Randal Voss

Biology Faculty Publications

Efforts to generate whole genome assemblies and dense genetic maps have provided a wealth of gene positional information for several vertebrate species. Comparing the relative location of orthologous genes among these genomes provides perspective on genome evolution and can aid in translating genetic information between distantly related organisms. However, large-scale comparisons between genetic maps and genome assemblies can prove challenging because genetic markers are commonly derived from transcribed sequences that are incompletely and variably annotated. We developed the program MapToGenome as a tool for comparing transcript maps and genome assemblies. MapToGenome processes sequence alignments between mapped transcripts and whole genome …

Short-Term Response Of Soil Iron To Nitrate Addition, Christopher J. Matocha, Mark S. Coyne

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Publications

The inhibition of soil Fe(III) reduction by fertilizer NO3 − applications is complex and not completely understood. This inhibition is important to study because of the potential impact on soil physicochemical properties. We investigated the effect of adding NO3 − to a moderately well-drained agricultural soil (Sadler silt loam) under Fe(III)-reducing (anoxic) conditions. Stirred-batch experiments were conducted where NO3 − was added (0.05 and 1 mM) to anoxic slurries and changes in dissolved Fe(II) and Fe(III), oxalate-extractable Fe(II), and dissolved NO3 − were monitored as a function of time. Addition of 1 mM NO3 − inhibited Fe(II) production sharply with …

A Novel Endonuclease Activity Associated With The Arabidopsis Ortholog Of The 30-Kda Subunit Of Cleavage And Polyadenylation Specificity Factor, Balasubrahmanyam Addepalli, Arthur G. Hunt

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Publications

The polyadenylation of messenger RNAs is mediated by a multi-subunit complex that is conserved in eukaryotes. Among the most interesting of these proteins is the 30-kDa-subunit of the Cleavage and Polyadenylation Specificity Factor, or CPSF30. In this study, the Arabidopsis CPSF30 ortholog, AtCPSF30, is characterized. This protein possesses an unexpected endonucleolytic activity that is apparent as an ability to nick and degrade linear as well as circular single-stranded RNA. Endonucleolytic action by AtCPSF30 leaves RNA 3′ ends with hydroxyl groups, as they can be labeled by RNA ligase with [³²P]-cytidine-3′,5′-bisphosphate. Mutations in the first of the three CCCH …

Economic Analysis Of Cellulase Production Methods For Bio-Ethanol, Jun Zhuang, Mary A. Marchant, Sue E. Nokes, Herbert J. Strobel

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

The cost of cellulase enzymes has limited the feasibility of producing ethanol from fibrous biomass. Traditional submerged fermentation (SmF) was compared to an alternative method of producing cellulase, solid state cultivation (SSC). Results from an economic analysis indicated that the unit costs for cellulase enzyme production were $15.67 (The prices are all 2004 prices in this article, except otherwise stated. We deflated newer prices to 2004 prices using a deflation factor 0.9 per year and inflated older prices to 2004 prices using an inflation factor 1.1.) per kilogram ($/kg) and $40.36/kg, for the SSC and SmF methods, respectively, while the …