Agriculture Commons^™

Imitating The “Breeder’S Eye”: Predicting Grain Yield From Measurements Of Non-Yield Traits, Hongyu Jin, Michael C. Tross, Ruijuan Tan, Linsey Newton, Ravi V. Mural, Jinliang Yang, Addie M. Thompson, James C. Schnable

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Plant breeding relies on information gathered from field trials to select promising new crop varieties for release to farmers and to develop genomic prediction models that can enhance the efficiency of genetic improvement in future breeding cycles. However, generating the genetic marker data required to apply genomic prediction at the early stages of a breeding program remains costly for many public-sector breeding programs as well as for many plant breeders operating in developing countries. As the pace of climate change intensifies, the time lag of developing and deploying new crop varieties requires plant breeders to make selection decisions without knowing …

Pollen-Mediated Gene Flow From Herbicide-Resistant Yellow Corn To Non-Genetically Engineered Food-Grade White Corn, Mandeep Singh, Vipan Kumar, Stevan Z. Knezevic, John L. Lindquist, Suat Irmak, Santosh Pitla, Amit J. Jhala

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Nebraska is the number one producer of food-grade white corn in the United States. Pollen-mediated gene flow (PMGF) from genetically engineered high alpha-amylase corn, known as Enogen corn, to food-grade white corn can have undesirable outcomes. Alpha-amylase can convert starch in white corn to sugar during or after its processing, degrading the quality of processed products. Thus, proximity to Enogen corn puts white corn production at risk. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the PMGF from herbicide-resistant yellow corn to food-grade white corn and assess the significance of wind speed and direction. Field experiments were set up using …

Leveraging Digital Agriculture For On-Farm Testing Of Technologies, Laila A. Puntel, Laura J. Thompson, Taro Mieno

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

The Precision Nitrogen Project (PNP) worked with more than 80 corn and winter wheat producers to inexpensively design and implement randomized, replicated field strip trials on whole commercial farm fields, and to provide site-specific testing of current nitrogen (N) technologies. This article proposes a conceptual framework and detailed procedure to select the N technology to be tested; design and implement field trials; generate, process, and manage field trial data; and automatically analyze, report, and share benefits from precision N technology. The selection of the N technology was farmer-driven to ensure a good fit and to increase the likelihood of future …

Modelling The "Bottom-Up" Development Pattern Of Tar Spot Disease In Corn, Brenden Lane, Joaquín Guillermo Ramírez-Gil, Carlos Góngora-Canul, Mariela Sofia Fernandez Campos, Andres Cruz-Sancan, Fidel E. Jiménez-Beitia, Alex G. Acosta-Guatemal, Wily Sic, C. D. Cruz

Graduate Industrial Research Symposium

In 2015, the corn-infecting pathogen Phyllachora maydis (causal agent of tar spot disease) was reported for the first time in the United States. The disease has since spread across the US, causing major yield losses. In 2021 alone, 5.88 million metric tons (231.3 million bushels) of US corn yield were lost to this disease, costing an estimated US$1.25 billion. Though fungicides can protect against these agroeconomic losses, application timing can be difficult to optimize because our understanding of tar spot dynamics is still evolving. The current view is that tar spot typically develops bottom-up through a repeating infection cycle. Because …

Variation In Leaf Chlorophyll Concentration In Response To Nitrogen Application Across Maize Hybrids In Contrasting Environments, Kyle M. Linders, Dipak K. Santra, James C. Schnable, Brandi Sigmon

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Leaf chlorophyll concentration was measured for 84 publicly available maize hybrids grown under three nitrogen fertilizer treatments in two contrasting environments in Nebraska. The effect of nitrogen treatment on chlorophyll response was found to be significant (p < 0.05) for both locations. In Scottsbluff, chlorophyll concentrations increased significantly with increasing nitrogen rate, while no significant difference was found between medium and high nitrogen in Lincoln. Within equivalent nitrogen treatments, chlorophyll was more abundant in Lincoln than Scottsbluff for nearly every hybrid. Hybrid response was not consistent between environments, with approximately 11% of variance explained by genotype by environment interaction.

Arkansas Cotton Variety Tests 2023, F. Bourland, J. Gann, B. Milano, B. Guest, L. Martin, J. Mcalee

Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Series

The primary goal of the Arkansas Cotton Variety Tests is to provide unbiased data regarding the agronomic performance of cotton varieties and advanced breeding lines in the major cotton-growing areas of Arkansas. This information helps seed companies establish marketing strategies and assists producers in choosing varieties to plant. These annual evaluations will then facilitate the inclusion of new, improved genetic material in Arkansas cotton production. Adaptation of varieties is determined by evaluating the lines at five University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture research sites (Manila, Keiser, Judd Hill, Marianna, and Rohwer). The 2023 tests at Keiser were adversely affected …

Calibration Of Hybrid-Maize Model For Simulation Of Soil Moisture And Yield In Production Corn Fields, Anthony A. Amori, Olufemi P. Abimbola, Trenton E. Franz, Daran Rudnick, Javed Iqbal, Haishun Yang

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Model calibration is essential for acceptable model performance and applications. The Hybrid-Maize model, developed at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, is a process-based crop simulation model that simulates maize growth as a function of crop and field management and environmental conditions. In this study, we calibrated and validated the Hybrid-Maize model using soil moisture and yield data from eight commercial production fields in two years. We used a new method for the calibration and multi-parameter optimization (MPO) based on kriging with modified criteria for selecting the parameter combinations. The soil moisture-related parameter combination (SM-PC3) improved simulations of soil water dynamics, but …

U.S. Cereal Rye Winter Cover Crop Growth Database, Alexandra M. Huddell, Resham Thapa, Guillermo S. Marcillo, Lori J. Abendroth, Victoria J. Ackroyd, Shalamar D. Armstrong, Gautam Asmita, Muthukumar V. Bagavathiannan, Kipling S. Balkcom, Andrea Basche, Shawn Beam, Kevin Bradley, Lucas Pecci Canisares, Heather Darby, Adam S. Davis, Pratap Devkota, Warren A. Dick, Jeffery A. Evans, Wesley J. Everman, Tauana Ferreira De A Lmeida, Michael L. Flessner, Lisa M. Fultz, Stefan Gailans, Masoud Hashemi, Joseph Haymaker, Matthew J. Helmers, Nicholas Jordan, Thomas C. Kaspar, Quirine M. Ketterings, Eileen Kladivko, Alexandra Kravchenko, Eugene P. Law, Lauren Lazaro, Ramon G. Leon, Jeffrey Liebert, John Lindquist, Kristen Loria, Jodie M. Mcvane, Jarrod O. Miller, Michael J. Mulvaney, Nsalambi V. Nkongolo, Jason K. Norsworthy, Binaya Parajuli, Christopher Pelzer, Cara Peterson, Hanna Poffenbarger, Pratima Poudel, Mark S. Reiter, Matt Ruark, Matthew R. Ryan, Spencer Samuelson, John E. Sawyer, Sarah Seehaver, Lovreet S. Shergill, Yogendra Raj Upadhyaya, Mark Vangessel, Ashley L. Waggoner, John M. Wallace, Samantha Wells, Charles White, Bethany Wolters, Alex Woodley, Rongzhong Ye, Eric Youngerman, Brian A. Needelman, Steven B. Mirsky

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Winter cover crop performance metrics (i.e., vegetative biomass quantity and quality) affect ecosystem services provisions, but they vary widely due to differences in agronomic practices, soil properties, and climate. Cereal rye (Secale cereale) is the most common winter cover crop in the United States due to its winter hardiness, low seed cost, and high biomass production. We compiled data on cereal rye winter cover crop performance metrics, agronomic practices, and soil properties across the eastern half of the United States. The dataset includes a total of 5,695 cereal rye biomass observations across 208 site-years between 2001–2022 and encompasses …

Intensifying Rice Production To Reduce Imports And Land Conversion In Africa, Shen Yuan, Kazuki Saito, Pepijn A.J. Van Oort, Martin K. Van Ittersum, Shaobing Peng, Patricio Grassini

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Africa produces around 60% of the rice the continent consumes, relying heavily on rice imports to fulfill the rest of the domestic demand.Over the past 10 years, the rice-agricultural area increased nearly 40%, while average yield remained stagnant. Here we used a process-based crop simulation modelling approach combined with local weather, soil, and management datasets to evaluate the potential to increase rice production on existing cropland area in Africa and assess cropland expansion and rice imports by year 2050 for different scenarios of yield intensification. We find that Africa can avoid further increases in rice imports, and even reduce them, …

Filling The Agronomic Data Gap Through A Minimum Data Collection Approach, Fatima A. Tenorio, Juan I. Rattalino Edreira, Juan Pablo Monzon, Fernando Aramburu-Merlos, Achim Dobermann, Armelle Gruere, Juan Martin Brihet, Sofia Gayo, Shawn Conley, Spyridon Mourtzinis, Nester Mashingaidze, Alex Sananka, Stephen Aston, Jonathan J. Ojeda, Patricio Grassini

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Context: Agronomic data such as applied inputs, management practices, and crop yields are needed for assessing productivity, nutrient balances, resource use efficiency, as well as other aspects of environmental and economic performance of cropping systems. In many instances, however, these data are only available at a coarse level of aggregation or simply do not exist.

Objectives: Here we developed an approach that identifies sites for agronomic data collection for a given crop and country, seeking a balance between minimizing data collection efforts and proper representation of the main crop producing areas.

Methods: The developed approach followed a …

High Target Homology Does Not Guarantee Inhibition: Aminothiazoles Emerge As Inhibitors Of Plasmodium Falciparum, Sandra Johannsen, Robin M. Gierse, Arne KrüGer, Rachel L. Edwards, Vittoria Nanna, Anna Fontana, Di Zhu, Tiziana Masini, Lais Pessanha De Carvalho, Mael Poizat, Bart Kieftenbelt, Dana M. Hodge, Sophie University Of Nebraska-Lincoln,, Daan Bunt, Antoine Lacour, Atanaz Shams, Kamila Anna Meissner, Edmarcia Elisa De Souza, Melloney Dröge, Bernard Van Vliet, Jack Den Hartog, Michael C. Hutter, Jana Held, Audrey R. Odom John, Carsten Wrenger, Anna K.H. Hirsch

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

In this study, we identified three novel compound classes with potent activity against Plasmodium falciparum, the most dangerous human malarial parasite. Resistance of this pathogen to known drugs is increasing, and compounds with different modes of action are urgently needed. One promising drug target is the enzyme 1-deoxy-D-xylulose-5- phosphate synthase (DXPS) of the methylerythritol 4-phosphate (MEP) pathway for which we have previously identified three active compound classes against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The close structural similarities of the active sites of the DXPS enzymes of P. falciparum and M. tuberculosis prompted investigation of their antiparasitic action, all classes …

Soil Carbon And Nitrogen After Eight Years Of Rotational Grazing In The Nebraska Sandhills Meadows, Gandura O. Abagandura, Martha Mamo, W. H. Schacht, Aaron Shropshire, Jerry Volesky

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Grassland provides many ecosystem services; therefore, sustainable management practices of grassland are crucial for maintaining and enhancing its ecosystem health and resilience. Rotational grazing at a high stocking density (a.k.a., ultrahigh stocking density) is purported to sequester greater amounts of carbon (C) in grassland soils than rotational grazing at low stocking densities. This study was conducted in the Nebraska Sandhills meadows for eight years to evaluate how rotational grazing with different stocking densities can affect soil C and total nitrogen (TN) in bulk soils, soil organic matter fractions, and sequestration rate. The grazing management included a high stocking density with …

Genome-Wide Association And Genomic Prediction For Iron And Zinc Concentration And Iron Bioavailability In A Collection Of Yellow Dry Beans, Paulo Izquierdo, Rie Sadohara, Jason Wiesinger, Raymond Glahn, Carlos Urrea, Karen Cichy

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Dry bean is a nutrient-dense food targeted in biofortification programs to increase seed iron and zinc levels. The underlying assumption of breeding for higher mineral content is that enhanced iron and zinc levels will deliver health benefits to the consumers of these biofortified foods. This study characterized a diversity panel of 275 genotypes comprising the Yellow Bean Collection (YBC) for seed Fe and Zn concentration, Fe bioavailability (FeBio), and seed yield across 2 years in two field locations. The genetic architecture of each trait was elucidated via genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and the efficacy of genomic prediction (GP) was assessed. …

Environmental Biology Masters Capstone, Antonio Gonzalez-Pita

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

Human wildlife interactions (HWI) pose a complex challenge for wildlife managers. Human encroachment into wildlife habitat and the growing number of outdoor recreationists are increasing the frequency of contact and conflict, especially in regions such as the Front Range of Colorado. Geographic information systems (GIS), which use a combination of remote sensing and environmental survey data, allow for predictive spatial analyses of where human wildlife interactions are likely to occur. I used publicly reported observations of moose to create spatial predictive maps in a species distribution model framework. Slope and elevation were shown to be the strongest predictors of HWI, …

Letter From The Faculty Editor, Beth Kegley

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

Stream Restoration Effectiveness In Mullins Creek In Fayetteville, Arkansas, Amadeo Scott, Shannon Speir

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

Lotic waterways are vital for habitat, food, water, and flood protection, but urbanization poses a major threat to their integrity. Runoff from urban surfaces leads to pollution, flashiness, loss of biodiversity, and other symptoms, also known as Urban Stream Syndrome (USS). Streams can be restored in order to combat USS, but most restorations are not monitored, so their long-term effectiveness is unknown. This study quantitatively evaluated a decade-old stream restoration in Fayetteville, Arkansas, to assess its effectiveness in combating USS and achieving set restoration goals, and to gain insights for future restoration projects. Restoration goals included decreasing erosion and sedimentation, …

Evaluating Efficiency And Accuracy Of Three Texture Analysis Methods For Blackberry Fruit, Rhys M. Brock, Carmen Johns, Katelyn Lust-Moore, Margaret Worthington

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

A major objective of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture (UADA) Fruit Breeding program is to improve the texture of blackberry (Rubus subgenus Rubus Watson). Blackberry varieties with improved fruit firmness transport and store well and may maintain superior quality under challenging postharvest conditions than softer varieties. Increased firmness may also make cultivars less susceptible to red drupelet reversion (RDR), a postharvest disorder of blackberries in which fully black drupelets revert to red after harvest. This research project aims to assess the efficiency and accuracy of three methods applied in evaluating blackberry firmness. The study compares instrumental analysis …

Featured Faculty Mentor/Student Team, Austin Jones, Ashley Dowling, Baylie Day

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

Contents, Discovery Editors

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

Letter From The Dean, Jeff Edwards

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

Discovery: The Student Journal Of Dale Bumpers College Of Agricultural, Food And Life Sciences - Volume 25 2024, Several Authors

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

Instructions For Authors, Discovery Editors

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

Hop Cone Drying For The Small Grower: Temperature And Airflow Considerations, Stacy A. Adams, David M. Mabie, Michael F. Kocher, David Jones

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Small hop growers without nearby processors for cone stripping and drying must attempt to do so on their own farm. Challenges exist for self-built drying systems, including drying capacity, processing speed, airflow direction, and maintaining quality during drying. Research-based recommendations are given for optimal temperature, sizing of drying vessel, maximum cone depth, and influences associated with airflow on processing uniformity and cone quality are presented.

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 …

Crop Dna Extraction With Lab-Made Magnetic Nanoparticles, Haichuan Wang, Xueqi Zhao, Li Tan, Junwei Zhu, David Hyten

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Molecular breeding methods, such as marker-assisted selection and genomic selection, require high-throughput and cost-effective methods for isolating genomic DNA from plants, specifically from crop tissue or seed with high polysaccharides, lipids, and proteins. A quick and inexpensive high-throughput method for isolating genomic DNA from seed and leaf tissue from multiple crops was tested with a DNA isolation method that combines CTAB extraction buffer and lab-made SA-coated magnetic nanoparticles. This method is capable of isolating quality genomic DNA from leaf tissue and seeds in less than 2 hours with fewer steps than a standard CTAB extraction method. The yield of the …

Emerging Trends In Wheat (Triticum Spp.) Breeding: Implications For The Future, Mujahid Alam, P. Stephen Baenziger, Katherine Anna Frels

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Wheat (Triticum spp and, particularly, T. aestivum L.) is an essential cereal with increased human and animal nutritional demand. Therefore, there is a need to enhance wheat yield and genetic gain using modern breeding technologies alongside proven methods to achieve the necessary increases in productivity. These modern technologies will allow breeders to develop improved wheat cultivars more quickly and efficiently. This review aims to highlight the emerging technological trends used worldwide in wheat breeding, with a focus on enhancing wheat yield. The key technologies for introducing variation (hybridization among the species, synthetic wheat, and hybridization; genetically modified wheat; transgenic …

Microbiome-Enabled Genomic Selection Improves Prediction Accuracy For Nitrogen-Related Traits In Maize, Zhikai Yang, Tianjing Zhao, Hao Cheng, Jinliang Yang

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Root-associated microbiomes in the rhizosphere (rhizobiomes) are increasingly known to play an important role in nutrient acquisition, stress tolerance, and disease resistance of plants. However, it remains largely unclear to what extent these rhizobiomes contribute to trait variation for different genotypes and if their inclusion in the genomic selection protocol can enhance prediction accuracy. To address these questions, we developed a microbiome-enabled genomic selection method that incorporated host SNPs and amplicon sequence variants from plant rhizobiomes in a maize diversity panel under high and low nitrogen (N) field conditions. Our cross-validation results showed that the microbiome-enabled genomic selection model significantly …

2020-2021 Field Seasons Of Maize Gxe Project Within The Genomes To Fields Initiative, Dayane Cristina Lima, Alejandro Castro Aviles, Ryan Timothy Alpers, Alden Perkins, Dylan L. Schoemaker, Martin Costa, Kathryn J. Michel, Shawn Kaeppler, David Ertl, Maria Cinta Romay, Joseph L. Gage, James Holland, Timothy Beissinger, Martin Bohn, Edward Buckler, Jode Edwards, Sherry Flint-Garcia, Michael A. Gore, Candice N. Hirsch, Joseph E. Knoll, John Mckay, Richard Minyo, Seth C. Murray, James Schnable, Rajandeep S. Sekhon, Maninder P. Singh, Erin E. Sparks, Peter Thomison, Addie Thompson, Mitchell Tuinstra, Jason Wallace, Jacob D. Washburn, Teclemariam Weldekidan, Wenwei Xu, Natalia De Leon

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Objectives: This release note describes the Maize GxE project datasets within the Genomes to Fields (G2F) Initiative. The Maize GxE project aims to understand genotype by environment (GxE) interactions and use the information collected to improve resource allocation efficiency and increase genotype predictability and stability, particularly in scenarios of variable environmental patterns. Hybrids and inbreds are evaluated across multiple environments and phenotypic, genotypic, environmental, and metadata information are made publicly available. Data description: The datasets include phenotypic data of the hybrids and inbreds evaluated in 30 locations across the US and one location in Germany in 2020 and 2021, soil …

Vulnerabilities Of Greater Prairie Chicken And Tier 1 At-Risk Species In Nebraska Caused By Grassland Transition To Woody Dominance, Robert Peterson

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Woody plant encroachment is a global threat and has been transitioning grasslands to woody dominance at a biome scale. This threat is present in the Great Plains grassland biome which is currently experiencing grassland biome collapse as the alternative woody biome advances northwest. Nebraska, which contains the most intact temperate grassland in the world, is currently at the front lines of this large-scale transition making this state’s management decisions vital for the remaining grasslands and the species which rely on these ecosystems. In this study, we assess the vulnerability of Greater Prairie Chicken and Tier 1 at-risk species in Nebraska …

A Global Faostat Reference Database Of Cropland Nutrient Budgets And Nutrient Use Efficiency (1961–2020): Nitrogen, Phosphorus And Potassium, Cameron I. Ludemann, Nathan Wanner, Pauline Chivenge, Achim Dobermann, Rasmus Einarsson, Patricio Grassini, Armelle Gruere, Kevin Jackson, Luis Lassaletta, Federico Maggi, Griffiths Obli-Laryea, Martin K. Van Ittersum, Srishti Vishwakarma, Xin Zhang, Francesco N. Tubiello

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Nutrient budgets help to identify the excess or insufficient use of fertilizers and other nutrient sources in agriculture. They allow for the calculation of indicators, such as the nutrient balance (surplus if positive or deficit if negative) and nutrient use efficiency, that help to monitor agricultural productivity and sustainability across the world. We present a global database of country-level budget estimates for nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) on cropland. The database, disseminated in FAOSTAT, is meant to provide a global reference, synthesizing and continuously updating the state of the art on this topic. The database covers 205 countries …