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Full-Text Articles in Agriculture
Assessing The Influence Of Interseeded Cover Crops On Beneficial Arthropod Abundance In A Northeastern Agroecosystem, Charles Cooper
Assessing The Influence Of Interseeded Cover Crops On Beneficial Arthropod Abundance In A Northeastern Agroecosystem, Charles Cooper
Honors College
Conservation agriculture approaches are gaining traction as the planet’s food system grapples with climate change, oil depletion, and rampant environmental degradation (Palm et al., 2014). Cover cropping is an integral practice of conservation agriculture. Ground dwelling arthropods play an important role in agroecosystems, providing ecosystem services including seed predation and nutrient cycling. Because the relationship between cover crops and arthropod abundance are likely influenced by management conditions, I investigated arthropod abundance in a field interseeded with cover crops on a research farm in Maine, United States. Interseeding is an emerging practice in the northeastern United States, with potential to address …
An Investigation Of The Relationship Between Black Soldier Fly Larvae Pathogen Suppression And Growth Substrate In Relation To Maine Agricultural Industries, Haley Morrill
Honors College
Insects are promoted as cost-effective and sustainable protein sources for animal feed. Their utilization may help to avoid a predicted global protein shortage. Black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) larvae (BSFL) grow on organic wastes, converting these wastes into larval biomass which can fulfill this purpose. Potential benefits of using BSFL to remediate organic wastes include reduction of waste mass and bacterial load, along with the sale of larvae as a protein supplement. BSFL suppress the growth of some Gram-positive and Gram-negative human pathogens in these substrates; though suppression of Bacillus cereus, a spore-forming bacterium that causes food-poisoning, …
What’S Going To Happen To My Pancakes? The Impacts Of Climate Change Upon Blueberries And Sugar Maple, Ashley Kayser
What’S Going To Happen To My Pancakes? The Impacts Of Climate Change Upon Blueberries And Sugar Maple, Ashley Kayser
Honors College
The United Nations believes that the foremost challenge of the future will be climate change. Because of human use of fossil fuels, greenhouse gases have been released into the atmosphere at unsustainable rates, which have resulted in an altered climate that will impact weather patterns around the globe. There have already been measurable shifts in precipitation and temperature in many regions; in the state of Maine the general trend has been toward higher temperatures and increased precipitation. This is resulting in impacts to agriculture throughout the state. Blueberries and sugar maple are two culturally and economically valuable crops which will …
Forward Not Back: Young People's Search For Community And Farming In Maine, Danielle Walczak
Forward Not Back: Young People's Search For Community And Farming In Maine, Danielle Walczak
Honors College
In Maine there is a growing body of statistics pointing to the growth of agriculture in the state. Yet with one of the oldest populations in the country, Maine is always asking: how do we bring young people to the state? Farming may be a start. The number of farmers age 34 and under increased 40 percent between 2007 and 2012. Maine is bucking the trend. While most of the country’s farms are decreasing in number and getting bigger in size, Maine farms are increasing in number while staying small. Behind each of these statistics there is a person, a …
Bridging Gaps And Building Solidarity, Shannon Brenner
Bridging Gaps And Building Solidarity, Shannon Brenner
Honors College
Real innovation for a more sustainable and inclusive food system requires collaboration based on resilient relationships between a diverse range of community partners and across socio-economic boundaries. SNAP incentive programs at farmer’s markets are bridging gaps in food access and sovereignty for thousands of individuals across the country, but what are the far reaching implications of these programs in terms of a sustainable food system, especially in an uncertain economic landscape? Using the findings of a quantitative, interdisciplinary and community inclusive research project of the Community Supported Farmers’ Markets (CSFM), a SNAP incentive program organized by Food and Medicine in …