Life Sciences Commons^™

Leaf Optical And Indirect Lai Measurements In Wheat And Alfalfa At Maciv: Agmet Progress Report 89-4, E. A. Walter-Shea, B. L. Blad

School of Natural Resources: Documents and Reviews

No abstract provided.

Proposing Urban Agroforestry Designs For Lincoln, Nebraska: A Model From Berlin, Germany, Noah Johnson

Honors Theses

Given the threat of a worsening climate crisis, there is a strong need for community and ecosystem resilience. Diverse urban agroforestry systems have the potential to accomplish both and meet many of the objectives outlined in the city of Lincoln, Nebraska’s climate action plan. Additionally, Berlin, Germany could provide an effective model for Lincoln in this regard given the city’s extensive history of established urban agroforestry systems. The objective of this study then is to develop a design for an urban agroforestry site modeled on Berlin’s allotment gardens and tailored to Lincoln’s needs. The methods for creating this design included …

Determining The Impacts Of Corn Silage Mixing Ratios On Hydrogen Production From Beef Cattle Manure, Katya Faber-Quimby

Honors Theses

With global warming becoming an increasingly serious threat and a growing population requiring additional energy resources, interest in the production of clean energy from the agricultural sector has surged in popularity. Biohydrogen, also known as green hydrogen, is H₂ that has been produced using renewable energy, such as from agricultural byproducts or waste materials. It presents a promising alternative to nonrenewable resources due to its high potential for energy storage and lack of carbon emissions when used. Cattle manure has been explored as a resource for the production of biohydrogen. Selecting for hydrogen-producing microbes in the manure serves the …

The Future Of The Organization Of The Petroleum Exporting Countries, Mikayla Gross

Honors Theses

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is a multinational and intergovernmental organization that dictates the petroleum exportation policies of 13 countries: Algeria, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, the Republic of the Congo, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela (About Us, 2023). The mission of OPEC is to ensure a stable supply of petroleum through its shared policies for its Member Countries and consumers (Our Mission, 2023). Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela founded OPEC in 1960 under the foundations and principles that dictated the international world order. Those foundations and principles …

Analyzing Phototaxis And Related Visual Behaviors Among Diverse Species Of Drosophila, Madeline M. Hill

Honors Theses

Phototaxis and related visual behaviors can vary between species, and thus members of the genus Drosophila make an excellent study system to examine the evolution of vision. While some existing research points to these phototactic behaviors arising due to mating requirements or due to their species-specific ecology or environmental factors, there exists a lack of understanding as to why striking behavioral differences can exist between closely related species, or between members belonging to the same genus. The present research seeks to uncover the specifics regarding these discrepancies in visual evolution and aims to provide a foundation of knowledge about visual …

Toxicological Effects And Treatment Of Accidental Ingestion Of Simparica Trio® In Felis Catus: An Investigative Review, Aussia Stander

Honors Theses

Simparica TRIO^®, a canine endectocide manufactured by Zoetis, contains sarolaner, moxidectin, and pyrantel pamoate salt in an orally administered chewable tablet. These compounds are all toxic to both cats and dogs in sufficient amounts. As Simparica TRIO^® rises in popularity among pet owners, Felis catus (felines, cats) in multi-pet households (households with both cats and dogs) are at increased risk of overdosage and toxicosis from accidental ingestion of Simparica TRIO^® due to their smaller weight.

Simparica TRIO^® is not for feline use and little literature exists on the symptoms of and treatment for accidental ingestion …

Sarcopenia And The Importance Of Resistance Training And Protein-Rich Diets For Prevention Of Muscle Loss In Older Adults: A Literature Review And Informational Pamphlet, Madison Steele

Honors Theses

The growing prevalence of sarcopenia among older adults as well as youths has prompted further research aimed at developing effective preventative measures and treatment plans. Sarcopenia is often thought to occur solely due to aging, but several other factors contribute to progressive muscle loss. Previous research studies have found an effect of physical activity and dietary protein levels on the risk of developing sarcopenia as well as its onset age. This study aims to review existing knowledge in the field to compile an extensive list of sarcopenia causes and methods of prevention. The main causes identified in this review are …

Investigating Large Repeats In The Arabidopsis Thaliana Mitochondrial Genome Using Mitotalens, Megan Gusso

Honors Theses

This lab project explores the complexity of the mitochondrial genome by investigating large genomic repeats and their effect on flowering plants’ reproduction and viability. Mitochondria are the site of cellular respiration to create energy and contain their own DNA. This is counterintuitive because the byproducts of cellular respiration impose a threat of mutation for the stored DNA. The mitochondrial genome differs in size between animals and plants. Plant mitochondrial DNA is larger due to the presence of large, noncoding repeated sequences, and a large amount of DNA of unknown function. These sequences undergo high levels of recombination and rearrangement. The …

Buying Revenue Protection (Rp) Versus Buying The Rp With Harvest Price Exclusion (Rphpe) Version Of Multi-Peril Crop Insurance, Matt Stockton, Shannon Sand

Cornhusker Economics

In a conversation with one of the TAPS participants about Multi-Peril Crop Insurance (MPCI) he suggested that you would never recommend RPHPE, due to the risk associated with a higher fall harvest price compared to the spring or predicted price. Since the year 2000, this has occurred about one-third of the time. This price reversal may alter indemnity size considerably, depending on which insurance is selected and if one qualifies for an indemnity. The discussion with the TAPS participant focused on the concern of risk exposure from pre-selling uninsured grain due to an unexpected increase in harvest price. This relates …

Net Farm Income Impacts Net Worth Growth, Glennis Mcclure

Center for Agricultural Profitability

The beginning of the year is busy for businesses in finalizing records and filing annual income taxes. Farm and ranch operations are no exception. Beyond the net income or loss showing on the farm’s Schedule F, analyzing the true picture of the operation’s net farm income, and earned net worth change for the year is important.

Preparing an income statement using accrual adjustments will tell us more about the operation’s profitability and performance beyond what income tax statements provide. The income statement tells the story of revenue, expenses, and depreciation between the beginning of year balance sheet and the end …

Ideas For Estate And Transition Planning: Gifting, Jessica Groskopf

Center for Agricultural Profitability

For many farm and ranch families, bringing children or grandchildren into the operation is the ultimate goal. Successfully bringing additional family members into the operation may require some creativity as all parties need to maintain a viable standard of living. This article is part of a series that will highlight ideas and tactics for bringing another family member into the operation. If this is the first article you are seeing in this series, I would encourage you to go back to the previous article for background and additional guidance.

The second tactic to transfer wealth between generations is gifting. The …

Gamma Sigma Delta, Nebraska Chapter Newsletter, Issue #64 Spring 2024

Gamma Sigma Delta, Nebraska Chapter: Newsletters

President-Elect's message, John R. Ruberson

Nominations form for Gamma Sigma Delta, Nebraska chapter

2023 Outstanding Graduate Student Award nominations solicitation

2023 Teaching Award nominations solicitation

2023 Research Award nomination solicitation

2023 Extension Award nomination solicitation

2023 Award of Merit nomination solicitation

Annual dues notice

List of active members with expiration terms

Membership renewal form

Outstanding Graduate and Undergraduate Student Award fund solicitation

In memoriam:

Raymond "Gene" White (October 10, 1930-May 28, 2021)

ΓΣΔ pledge

Nebraska Women In Agriculture Conference Marks 39 Years, Ryan Evans, Sarah Treffer, Jessica Groskopf

Cornhusker Economics

The Nebraska Women in Agriculture program marked 39 years of educating and empowering females in farming, ranching, and agribusiness, with nearly 380 people attending its annual conference on February 22 and 23, 2024 in Kearney, Nebraska, with a pre-conference session held on February 21. Including 25 workshops, 5 keynotes, and activities to help learn about risk management, farm and ranch improvement, and successful business practices.

Will Saf Turbocharge The Corn Ethanol Market?, Richard Perrin, Lilyan Fulginiti, Felipe Miranda De Souza Almeida

Cornhusker Economics

The long-run outlook for the corn ethanol industry is questionable, due to a transition to electric and hybrid vehicles. One source of hope for the long run is the potential demand for producing Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). SAF is a key component in the United States Aviation Climate Action Plan, a path to net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the aviation industry by 2050. Demand for ethanol for SAF offers hope to the ethanol industry, but it depends a great deal on policy decisions that are being made now. Here we sketch out this story.

Based on the information available …

Retaining Heifers: Is It Worth It?, Tonya L. Meyer

Center for Agricultural Profitability

Replacing females in the beef cow herd plays a pivotal role in a sustainable and profitable cow-calf operation. Analyzing the cost of raising replacements versus purchasing them can help make informed decisions. If retaining replacements, cattle producers must consider both the costs and potential returns associated with raising and integrating these heifers into the breeding herd. This article offers some key financial considerations.

Value Of Gain In The Lamb Feeding Industry, Jay Parsons

Cornhusker Economics

Value of gain (VOG) is a term in the livestock feeding industry that refers to the average value of a pound of gain. It is the most appropriate revenue value to use in comparison to the cost of gain to determine profit margin.

A Dietary Variety: Analyzing The Impacts Of Diverse Vs Worm-Exclusive Diets On The Blanding’S Turtle (Emydoidea Blandingii), Caitlin F. Copenhaver

Honors Theses

The endangered Blanding’s turtle (Emydoidea blandingii) is a species with a generally diverse diet in their freshwater wetland habitats; they consume prey such as crayfish and snails. In captivity, these options often become more limited due to logistical reasons. As ex situ conservation efforts such as captive rearing and head-starting are becoming more popular for this species, it will be important to gain more insight on how these more limited diets might affect these turtles. This study describes a comparison between diets in six captive Blanding’s turtles from September to November of 2023, with three turtles receiving only …

Field Research Report: Results From The Enreec Vri Field For The 2021, 2022, And 2023 Crop Seasons, Derek M. Heeren, Ali T. Mohammed, Eric Wilkening, Christopher M. U. Neale, Alan L. Boldt, Ankit Chandra, Precious Nneka Amori, Ivo Z. Goncalves, Yeyin Shi, Guillermo R. Balboa

Department of Biological Systems Engineering: Conference Presentations and White Papers

Long-term irrigation management research has been conducted from 2014 to 2023 for corn and soybean at the Eastern Nebraska Research, Extension, and Education Center (ENREEC) Variable Rate Irrigation (VRI) Field located in subhumid east-central Nebraska (in the Lower Platte North Natural Resources District). The objective of this report was to present the overall results from the VRI Field for 2021 to 2023. Across the three growing seasons, there were the following irrigation treatments: Best Management Practice (BMP), 50% BMP, 125% BMP, rainfed, Spatial ET Modeling Interface (SETMI), SDD1, SDD2, machine-learning-based Cyber-Physical System (CPS), a student team recommended rate, and industry …

Evaluation Of Ndot’S Sediment Barrier Practices Using Performance Data, Michael A. Perez, Wesley N. Donald, J. Blake Whitman, Brian G. Roche

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

To protect waterways adjacent to construction projects with disturbed land, a 50 ft (15 m) vegetated buffer or equivalent sediment controls are required. However, there is little guidance on the effectiveness of vegetated buffers in removing sediment or how sediment barriers can aid shorter buffers or replace buffers. A modeling methodology was developed and used to determine the performance of 11,664 50 ft (15 m) vegetated buffer configurations with Nebraska conditions; sediment capture averaged 92.6% and ranged from 18.5% to 99.5%. To determine the performance of Nebraska Department of Transportation standard and modified sediment barrier installations, a large-scale testing methodology …

The Casnr L.I.N.K.S. Newsletter: Learning Innovation Network For K-12 Schools, Volume 3, Edition 3, March 2024, Bailey Feit, Tammy Mittelstet

CASNR L.I.N.K.S. Newsletter

The purpose of this L.I.N.K.S. newsletter is to provide a monthly update of opportunities and resources for K-12 schools to connect with the University of Nebraska's CASNR Food, Energy, Water, and Societal Systems (FEWS²) programs and partners.

Included in this edition:

K-12 curriculum and resources

CASNR Ag Tech Day, April 23

2024 Summer Soybean Institute, May 29-30 and July 16-18

Youth Energy Leadership Camp July 22-26

Other upcoming events

Analytic investigators spotlight: UNL Statstics, Forensic Science, Ag Economics

Educators workshops

Student opportunities including NAYI, Native American Coalition, Cultivando Caminos, Big Red Camps, and more

Teacher opportunities including Economic tidbits from …

2022 Census Of Agriculture: Nebraska Highlights, Kathleen Brooks, Bradley Lubben

Cornhusker Economics

In February 2024, the United States Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service published data from the 2022 Census of Agriculture. This data is collected every five years. The current article highlights a few of the Nebraska numbers. Two significant highlights from the data are the total number of farms and the total value of production. U.S. farm numbers declined modestly in the U.S. from 2.04 million in 2017 to 1.90 million in 2022. The total value of production for U.S. farms and ranches increased substantially from $388.5 billion in 2017 to $543.1 billion in 2022. Crop production accounted for …

Bull Value Cow-Q-Lator (Bvcql): What It Is And How To Use It, Matt Stockton, Shannon Sand, Randy Saner

Center for Agricultural Profitability

It’s that time of year when commercial ranchers and cattle producers are looking to make bull purchases for their operation. With so many different breeds and types of bulls available, picking the right bull at the right price is not easy. To help in making the best selection possible the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Beef Economics Team created the Bull Value Cow-Q-Lator (BVCQL). This tool can be used to compare your current bull value with up to 10 bulls. The Bull Value Cow-Q-Lator is a spreadsheet available to download at https://cap.unl.edu/livestock/tools.

Each ranch or farm is going to have different …

Increasing Workforce Skills: The Possible Disconnect Between Employers And Potential Job Seekers, Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel

Cornhusker Economics

In a multi-year survey of potential job seekers, those who are likely to change jobs in the next year or who are likely to reenter the workforce in the next year, several key training obstacles for improving their employment situation were identified. There seemed to be only slight differences in how they viewed these challenges, regardless of whether they saw their potential job as a career, a steppingstone to a career, or just a job to get by. The cost of training, the lack of available training, the distance or transportation to the training, lack of time, and the knowledge …

Paying Family Members On The Farm Or Ranch, Jessica Groskopf

Center for Agricultural Profitability

For many farm and ranch families, bringing children or grandchildren into the operation is the ultimate goal. Successfully bringing additional family members into the operation may require some creativity as all parties need to maintain a viable standard of living. This is the first in a series of articles that will highlight ideas and tactics for bringing another family member into the operation.

One tactic is to provide new family members with monetary compensation, such as an hourly wage or salary. The total compensation should be comparable to the market value of wages to hire a non-family member to do …

Embracing Diversity In Agricultural Economics, Timothy L. Meyer

Cornhusker Economics

To steal an overused cliché, “There’s room in the tent for everyone.” Over the 2023 academic year, I have reiterated this message to all my students, with one addition. Not only is there room for everyone, but all are invited AND welcome. Food is something we all have in common, no matter the background. I think this is why producers in the state of Nebraska feel as strongly as they do about the food they produce; it is life-giving and should be taken seriously. Nebraska Agriculture is part of what makes our state great, and that is not a secret …

Predicting Sedentarism And Its Impact On Caloric Requirements, Jacob Michels, John C. Beghin

Yeutter Institute International Trade Policy Review

A recent study conducted by PhD candidate Jacob Michels and Agricultural economist John Beghin delves into the question of whether global estimates of food insecure populations need a reevaluation of their methodology to account for increasing sedentarism. This reevaluation is prompted by the increasing prevalence of sedentary lifestyles worldwide, which calls for a redefinition of caloric thresholds indicating the onset of food insecurity. In this short article, we provide a nontechnical summary of their investigation recently published in Michels and Beghin (2024).

The Importance Of Strategic Planning For Farmers And Ranchers, Larry Van Tassell

Center for Agricultural Profitability

Planning, or more specifically, strategic planning, is a process of defining long-term goals and objectives of an organization and determining the best course of action to achieve them. It involves such steps as defining the current situation, identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, and developing a plan of action to take advantage of opportunities and overcome challenges. Parsons (2018) outlined six key components of a business plan and why a farm or ranch should make the effort to develop a business plan.

The Casnr L.I.N.K.S. Newsletter: Learning Innovation Network For K-12 Schools, Volume 3, Edition 2, February 2024, Bailey Feit, Tammy Mittelstet

CASNR L.I.N.K.S. Newsletter

The purpose of this L.I.N.K.S. newsletter is to provide a monthly update of opportunities and resources for K-12 schools to connect with the University of Nebraska's CASNR Food, Energy, Water, and Societal Systems (FEWS²) programs and partners.

Included in this edition:

K-12 curriculum and resources and upcoming events

Career explorations: pathways for students

Teacher and student opportunities

CASNR Ag Tech Day

Data Driven 4-H statistics field day

2024 Summer Soybean Institute

UNL CASNER six interest areas

School of Natural Resources

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture

Environmental stewards spotlight

Seed Your Future Green Career Week

Cultivando Caminos

Kudos to our partners …

Taxonomic Advances Driven By The Genomic Analysis Of Butterflies, Jing Zhang, Qian Cong, Jinhui Shen, Leina Song, Nick V. Grishin

The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey

This study presents new findings based on a large-scale analysis of butterfly genomic sequences. Focusing on species identification through comparative genomics, we define subspecies as populations differentiated to a lesser extent than distinct species ("species in the making"). Additionally, we propose further adjustments to the current butterfly classification. As a result, 3 subgenera, 12 species, and 4 subspecies are described as new. New subgenera are (type species in parenthesis): Hyalaus Grishin, subgen. n. (Papilio epidaus E. Doubleday, 1846) of Eurytides Hübner, [1821] (Papilionidae Latreille, [1802]) and Astria Grishin, subgen. n. (Lycaena astraea Freyer, 1851) of Glaucopsyche Scudder, 1872 …

Slight Cost Of Production Changes Noted In The 2024 Nebraska Crop Enterprise Budgets, Glennis Mcmclure

Cornhusker Economics

The Nebraska crop budgets are available for the 2024 production season. The 84 enterprise budgets prepared in the October 2023 timeframe use input prices collected as of that time. Overall, estimates reflect slight cost of production decreases in the budgets when compared to the 2023 cost estimates. For 2024, the main drivers of cost decreases are due to decreased fuel and fertilizer costs. In some cases, pesticide costs decreased, yet for some of those products, prices increased. Seed and interest costs have increased for 2024 adding to cash expenses, while land opportunity costs and depreciation costs have continued to rise …