Agriculture Commons^™

Mapping Potential Crp Land And Determining Crp Profitability In Lancaster County, Jamie Pesek

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Annually 17 tons of soil is lost due to the erosion of agriculture land. A majority of the soil lost is fertile topsoil, which can render the land unproductive. The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) was enacted to reduce the high erosion rates on agriculture land by giving landowners a monetary incentive to let their land lay idle and allow the soil to regenerate. Although there is awareness of the benefits of CRP, little effort has been put toward delineating CRP eligible land. In this project, Geographical Information Systems were used to map CRP eligible land in Lancaster County, Nebraska based …

Subcritical Water Hydrolysis Of Whey Proteins, Ashley Dawn Espinoza

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Hydrolyzing food by-products is a unique approach to potentially increase by-product value and reduce waste. An abundant by-product of cheese production, whey, contains all essential amino acids and some distinctive peptides with functional and nutraceutical properties. Typically, proteins from whey are tailored for specific uses by chemical or enzymatic hydrolysis; however, subcritical water hydrolysis is a novel alternative used successfully to hydrolyze various substrates. Nevertheless, minimal research exists on: (1) the hydrolysis of whey protein; (2) the incorporation of additives; (3) the hydrolysis of whole whey; and (4) the production of volatiles when using subcritical water hydrolysis.

Therefore, whey protein …

Surface Water Characteristics Of The Weaber Plain And Lower Keep River Catchments: Data Review And Preliminary Results, D L. Bennett, Richard J. George Dr

Resource management technical reports

In 2008, the Ord Irrigation Expansion Project was approved by the Western Australian Government to develop irrigated agriculture on the Weaber Plain.

An important concern is the effect the Weaber Plain agricultural development may have on the water quality of the downstream Border Creek and Keep River

This report assembles and reviews all available physico-chemical water quality data for the lower Keep River and Border Creek systems and presents data from the initial year of a targeted baseline monitoring program (June 2010 – June 2013).

Land Systems Of The Kimberley Region, Western Australia, A L. Payne, N Schoknecht

Technical Bulletins

The Land Systems of the Kimberley Region Report describes and maps the landscapes, soils and vegetation of the Kimberley region. This report is a consolidation of surveys carried out by different organisations, across different areas of the Kimberley, since the 1940s. The Kimberley region, as defined in this bulletin, covers 330 070km². The report categorises the Kimberley region into 111 land systems. Under each land system, the report identifies the vulnerabilities of those areas, and provides recommendations on how to achieve sustainable use. The report also publishes pasture types for the entire region and the grazing potential for each pasture, …

Groundwater Chemistry Of The Weaber Plain: Preliminary Results, Adam Lillicrap, Paul Raper, Richard J. George Dr, D L. Bennett

Resource management technical reports

In 2008, the Ord Irrigation Expansion Project was approved by the Western Australian Government to develop irrigated agriculture on the Weaber Plain. Construction of the M2 supply channel connecting the ORIA and the Weaber Plain, and the final period of irrigation design, environmental management and related approval processes, commenced later in 2009. This process followed a protracted period of public and private industry planning and environmental assessment (Kinhill 2000). This report summarises an analysis of groundwater salinity trends on the Ivanhoe and Weaber plains and the preliminary results of an intensive water-quality sampling program carried out in 2010 as part …

Review Of Grass: In Search Of Human Habitat. By Joe C. Truett. Foreword By Harry W. Greene., Mary Ann Vinton

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

Much of the book is devoted to discussing the heavy human dependence on grasslands and whether this relationship can be maintained in company with grassland conservation. Can humans continue to use grasslands for food, fiber, and newer uses like biofuels and carbon banking while still sustaining the ecosystem? Many of us in academic ecology struggle with resolving perceived conflicts between conservation and human grassland use. In many cases, a "win-win" scenario exists in which, for example, the proper use of livestock grazing is perfectly compatible with a healthy grassland ecosystem. In other cases, such as conserving prairie dog populations, tensions …

Soil Assessment Of The Weaber Plain (Goomig) Farmlands, Henry Smolinski, Justin Laycock, Jim Dixon

Resource management technical reports

In 2008, the Ord Irrigation Expansion Project was approved by the Western Australian Government to develop irrigated agriculture on the Weaber Plain (Goomig)

As part of the environmental planning and approvals process, the WA Government was required to prepare a groundwater management plan and a hydrodynamic plan.

As a result, the Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia (DAFWA) was requested to lead an investigative program to support a second phase of modelling. The project was divided into five components: two addressing deficiencies related to groundwater, two relating to soils and subsoils, and one addressing surface and groundwater quality aspects. …

Assessment Of Organic And Inorganic Phosphorus In Soils Derived From Cretaceous Sediments And Basement Complex Soils Of Guinea Savannah Of Kogi State, North Central Nigeria, Sunday I. Amhakhian, H H. Isitekhale, Charles I. Oyewole

Confluence Journal Environmental Studies (CJES), Kogi State University, Nigeria

A pot experiment was carried out using 20 surface soils (0-15cm depth) in 2008 to assess soil organic phosphorus and some fraction of inorganic phosphorus in other to know their availability in the soils of the studied area and also work have not been done in this areas in respect to organic and in-organic phosphorus. The experiment was conducted using 20 soils 10 from each geological formation (Cretaceous sediments and Basement complex soils), respectively. The mean organic phosphorus of 63.51 mgkg 1 soil was obtained for Cretaceous sediment soils and 158.54 mgkg 1 soil for the basement complex soils respectively. …

Development Of Functional Indices Of Facility Occurrence Towards The Distribution Of Social Services In Lagos Island Nigeria., Augustus O. Atubi

Confluence Journal Environmental Studies (CJES), Kogi State University, Nigeria

Proper coordination of transport and public facilities provision is vital to any balanced regional development strategy. The central aim of this study, therefore, is to find out what the relationship is between access to the transport network and the provision of functional indices of facility occurrence towards the distribution of social services in Lagos Island, Nigeria. In particular it seeks to find out areas that have below or above average level of facility occurrences relative to the level of accessibility. However, a pair wise correlation matrix of the eleven (11) variables employed in the index construction was carried out. The …

Interview With Weston Miller, Osu Extension Service, 2011 (Audio), Weston Miller

All Sustainability History Project Oral Histories

Interview of Weston Miller by Jan Steinbock in Portland, Oregon on August 3rd, 2011.

The interview index is available for download.

Interview With Trudy Toliver, Portland Farmers Market, 2011 (Audio), Trudy Toliver

All Sustainability History Project Oral Histories

Interview of Trudy Toliver by Sara Davenport at Portland, Oregon on August 1st, 2011.

The interview index is available for download.

Overview Of Corn-Based Fuel Ethanol Coproducts: Production And Use, Kurt A. Rosentrater

Kurt A. Rosentrater

Modern societies face many challenges, including growing populations, increased demands for food, clothing, housing, consumer goods, and the raw materials required to produce all of these. Additionally, there is a growing need for energy, which is most easily met by use of fossil fuels (e.g., coal, natural gas, petroleum). For example, in 2008, the overall U.S. demand for energy was 99.3 x 1015 Btu (1.05 x 1014 MJ); 84% of this was supplied by fossil sources. Transportation fuels accounted for 28% of all energy consumed during this time, and nearly 97% of this came from fossil sources. Domestic production of …

Estimating Cost Efficiencies Of Propane Use In Broiler Production: Case Study From Savoy, Arkansas And Trnaca Pri Laborci, Slovak Republic, Zuzana Petrikova

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study focuses on analyzing the common practice of U.S. broiler farmers to operate on cash basis instead open credit lines for operating cost of propane gas for heating. Data for analysis were taken over from U.S. ABRF at Savoy and Slovak Farm Univerza at Trnava pri Laborci. Predicting the propane gas usage and propane gas cost was analyzed using the OLS model. It describes impact of selected factors on gas usage and cost. The overall purpose of the thesis is to find out which approach from designed scenarios is more economically efficient for farmer: (a) to pre-purchase propane gas …

Designing A Soil Ph Monitoring Network For The Western Australian Wheatbelt, Karen Holmes, Pat Bellamy, Jim Dixon

Resource management technical reports

Natural resource managers in Western Australia require a purposely designed soil pH monitoring network to identify areas at higher risk of soil acidification and to observe changes in soil pH through time. This monitoring network, in conjunction with field experimental work and acidification modelling, will identify state and regional trends and help shape state natural resource management policy and regional extension programmes, as well as directly inform industry and land managers.

Do Wind Turbines Affect Weather Conditions?: A Case Study In Indiana, Meghan F. Henschen, Brittany Herrholtz, Lacey Rhudy, Kathryn Demchak, Brian Doogs, Joshua Holland, Erik Larson, Johnny Martin, Matthew Rudkin

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

Wind turbines are becoming increasingly widespread in the United States as the world looks for cleaner sources of energy. Scientists, policymakers, and citizens have strong opinions regarding the positive and negative effects of wind energy projects, and there is a great deal of misinformation about wind energy circulating on the Web and other media sources. The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of how the rotation of hundreds of turbines can influence local weather conditions within a wind farm and in the surrounding areas. This experiment measures temperature, atmospheric pressure, wind speed, wind direction, relative humidity, …

Child Care Center Garden, Patricia Sowell, Linda Jenkins

Education for Sustainability Summer Institute

No abstract provided.

University-Community Partnerships For Environmental Safety And Sustainability, John W. Vick, Carol Norton

Education for Sustainability Summer Institute

No abstract provided.

Urban Climate And Challenges Of Tropical Cities, B E. Omogbai

Confluence Journal Environmental Studies (CJES), Kogi State University, Nigeria

This study examines the nature of urban climate, features and the challenges on the developing tropical cities in the 21st century. It argues that the use of principles of urban climate would help in providing comfortable living conditions and problem immune working environments for the inhabitants of tropical cities. The findings reveal that owing to poor environmental planning, inadequate geotechnical landscape surveys prior to the development of urban infrastructures, and non-adherence to the principles of urban climate, challenges of landscape degradation, excessive flooding of the built infrastructures, heat-island effects, and collapse of buildings have emerged. Suggested measures to avert these …

Biofilter Media Characterization Using Water Sorption Isotherms, Guilherme Del Nero Maia, George B. Day, Richard S. Gates, Joseph L. Taraba

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

Compost material has been used extensively as a gas‐phase biofilter media for contaminant gas treatment in recent years. One of the biggest challenges in the use of this type of material is adequate control of compost moisture content and understanding its effect on the biofiltration process. The present work provides a methodology for characterization of biofilter media under low moisture conditions. Results indicated that low levels of equilibrium moisture content (EMC) were obtained for high levels of equilibrium relative humidity (ERH), i.e., 99% ERH produced EMC of approximately 20% (dry basis) at 25° C. Most bacteria struggle to survive in …

Detecting Changes In Landuse/Cover Of Umuahia, South-Eastern Nigeria Using Remote Sensing And Gis Techniques, Fanan Ujoh, Olarewaju Oluseyi Ifatimehin, Adams Ndalai Baba

Confluence Journal Environmental Studies (CJES), Kogi State University, Nigeria

Since 1991 when it became the capital city of Abia State, Umuahia has undergone tremendous transformation in its land use and land cover due to rapid urbanization. The main materials employed for this study are a land use map (1991) and Landsat ETM+satellite image (2007) of the study area. These, combined with field survey/checks, were brought into a GIS environment using ILWIS 3.2 Academic image classification software to map the land use/land cover and to estimate the rate of urban expansion and loss of rural land at the peri-urban fringes of Umuahia between 1991 and 2007. The study revealed significant …

Identifying Changes In Climatic Trends And The Fingerprints Of Landuse And Landcover Changes In The High Plains Of The Usa, Denis Mutiibwa

Department of Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations and Theses

Human activities such as conversion of natural ecosystem to croplands and urban-centers, deforestation and afforestation impact biophysical properties of land surface such as albedo, energy balance, and surface roughness. Alterations in these properties affect the heat and moisture exchanges between the land surface and atmospheric boundary layer. The objectives of this research were; (i) to quantitatively identify the High plains’ regional climate change in temperatures over the period 1895 to 2006, (ii) detect the signatures of anthropogenic forcing of LULC changes on the regional climate change of the High Plains, and (iii) examine the trends in evolving regional latent heat …

Gender Participation In The Management Of Tricycle Transport For Youth Empowerment And Sustainable Development In Kano State, Nigeria, Nuratu Muhammed

Confluence Journal Environmental Studies (CJES), Kogi State University, Nigeria

The research examined gender participation in the management of tricycle for youth empowerment and sustainable development in Kano state, Nigeria. Stratified random sampling technique was used to select samples of drivers(150), passengers (150) and owners/managers the female tricycle owners fell under this category and they numbered(65).All together a total of 365 samples were selected for the study. Data obtained from the primary data was analyzed using simple statistical techniques and chi square test to ascertain whether there was any significant differences in some of the variables tested. The results of the analysis revealed that the main difference was found in …

Weaber Plain Hydrogeology: Preliminary Results, Richard J. George Dr, John Andrew Simons, Paul Raper, Robert J. Paul, D L. Bennett, Rosemary H. Smith

Resource management technical reports

In 2008, the Ord Irrigation Expansion Project was approved by the Western Australian Government to develop irrigated agriculture on the Weaber Plain. Construction of the M2 supply channel connecting the ORIA and Weaber Plain, and the final period of irrigation design, environmental management and related approval processes commenced later in 2009. This process followed a protracted period of public and private industry planning and environmental assessment (Kinhill 2000). As a part of the environmental planning and approvals process, the WA Government was required to prepare a groundwater management plan and a hydrodynamic plan. These plans were to address potential issues …

Farmers Motivations To Practice Sustainable Agriculture, Kimberly A. Floeser

Honors Theses

An increasing awareness of human and environmental health issues and the destruction of family farms and rural communities have caused a significant change in the way many farmers, consumers, and policy‐makers are thinking about and relating to food, the results of which can be seen largely in the growth of the organic and sustainable food industry. This paper attempts to examine and explain farmers’ attitudes towards sustainable agriculture, and their motivations to use sustainable methods of production. A survey was distributed to 533 farms that are members of the Northeast Organic Food Association of New York (NOFA‐NY). The data obtained …

Weaber Plain Aquifer Test Results, Robert Paul, Paul Raper, John Andrew Simons, Grant Stainer, Richard J. George

Resource management technical reports

As a part of the environmental planning and approvals process, the state government was required to prepare Groundwater Management and Hydrodynamic Plans. These plans are to address potential issues of salinity and water quality that could result from the development of irrigated agriculture on the Weaber Plain. The Weaber Plain groundwater modelling report (KBR 2010a) identified several options to manage watertables and salinity

Production bores 10WP35PB and 10WP36PB were drilled in the palaeochannel on sites selected from the interpretation of airborne geophysics.

Interview With Michelle Markesteyn-Ratcliffe, Oda, 2011, Michelle Markesteyn-Ratcliffe

All Sustainability History Project Oral Histories

Interview of Michelle Markesteyn-Ratcliffe by Megan Rice in Portland, Oregon on May 10th, 2011.

The interview index is available for download.

Planning For Building-Integrated Agriculture In Las Vegas, Robert Vralsted

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

High food prices, concern about food nutrition and safety, and an awareness of commercial farming's environmental impact have generated a renewed interest in sustainable urban agriculture. Advances in controlled environment agriculture (CEA) have made it possible to grow food virtually anywhere in a much more sustainable manner than traditional field-based agriculture. Locating and planning urban farms using retrofitted existing building stock to maximize food production and ease of distribution in Las Vegas requires consideration of multiple barriers related to geography, economics, and the built environment. Consideration of these factors in the planning process informs the design of a successful BIA …

Sustainable Alternative To Non-Biological Nitrogen Fixation To Nitrate For Fertilizers, Patrick Freeze, Glenn Miller

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

Currently, the industrial method of nitrogen fixation for use in fertilizers (Haber- Bosch process [N2 (g) + 3 H2 (g) <--> 2 NH3 (g)]) is our main source of non-biological conversion of atmospheric nitrogen to ammonia. The proposed research experiment utilizes the catalytic mechanism of titanium dioxide which, in the presence of heat or sunlight, undergoes fixation of atmospheric nitrogen. This method of nitrate production could serve as a sustainable source of nitrogen for fertilizers. Variables in the experiment included the manipulation of thermal pressure, heat, and base addition to counteract hydrochloric acid production, a selflimiting byproduct.

Historical Carbon Emissions And Uptake From The Agricultural Frontier Of The Brazilian Amazon, Gillian L. Galford, Jerry M. Melillo, David W. Kicklighter, John F. Mustard, Timothy W. Cronin, Carlos E.P. Cerri, Carlos C. Cerri

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Tropical ecosystems play a large and complex role in the global carbon cycle. Clearing of natural ecosystems for agriculture leads to large pulses of CO2 to the atmosphere from terrestrial biomass. Concurrently, the remaining intact ecosystems, especially tropical forests, may be sequestering a large amount of carbon from the atmosphere in response to global environmental changes including climate changes and an increase in atmospheric CO2 Here we use an approach that integrates census-based historical land use reconstructions, remote-sensing-based contemporary land use change analyses, and simulation modeling of terrestrial biogeochemistry to estimate the net carbon balance over the period 1901-2006 for …

Growing Farmers’ Markets: Measuring The Competitiveness Of The Byron Farmers’ Market With Other Local Food Sources, Audrey Gross

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Farmers’ markets are growing across the world at an exponential rate. However, there is little research that challenges the competitiveness of these farmers’ markets in competing with other food distribution locations, including supermarkets and local food stores. The following report focuses on using the principles of perfect competition to evaluate the competitiveness of the Byron Farmers’ Market with other local food sources in Byron Bay, NSW.

Data was collected through 120 consumer surveys (60 from the Farmers’ Market, 30 from Woolworths, and 30 from local food stores: Santos, Fundamentals, and Green Garage), 31 stallholder surveys from the Farmers’ Market, price …