Agriculture Commons^™

Cal Poly Dairy: Safety And Procedures, Christine Woodman

Agricultural Education and Communication

The purpose of this project was to create a safety program that was designed specifically for the milkers at the Cal Poly Dairy. It was designed as an orientation program for all new employees at the Dairy. By creating an orientation program that delivers a consistent message time after time, it is hoped that all student employees will be able to maintain a high level of safety while employed at the Dairy. It includes an instructional video as well as a written safety test.

The Influence Of Chilling And Heat Accumulation On Bloom Timing, Bloom Length And Crop Yield In Almonds (Prunus Dulcis (Mill.)), Melanie M. Covert

Master's Theses

Almonds are one of the first commercial nut trees to bloom in early spring and thus are susceptible to temperature patterns prior to and during bloom which affect bloom timing, bloom length, pollination and nut set. Data used in this project include yearly dates of 90% bloom from 1996-2006, bloom length in days and final crop yields in pounds per tree for Nonpareil and Mission varieties. Data were collected from the University of California Cooperative Extension reports on the 1993-2006 Regional Almond Variety Trials in Butte, San Joaquin and Kern Counties. Temperature pattern models in the form of Chill Hours …

Digital Mapping As A Student And Staff Communication Tool, Ryan Gyurkovitz

Horticulture and Crop Science

A study in the use of Geographic Information Systems in the development of digital maps for use by students and staff in Plant Identification Courses.

Influence Of Vineyard Floor Management Practices On Soil Aggregate Stability, Total Soil Carbon And Grapevine Yield, Kimberly Ellen Adams

Master's Theses

Soil aggregates provide pore spaces of various sizes supplying water, gases and nutrients to plant roots and microorganisms, and facilitate moisture retention and availability. Soil aggregate stability is indicative of soil biological and structural health, and is increased by soil carbon derived from plant roots and the soil microbial biomass. Aggregate stability and soil carbon can be enhanced by increasing organic matter through compost additions or by planting cover crops. Additionally, aggregate stability is enhanced by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) that form a symbiotic association with plant roots, and consolidate soil particles into aggregates through hyphal networks and through the …

Evaluation Of Vacuum Packaging On The Physical Properties, Solubility, And Storage Space Of Dairy Powders, Hadi Eshpari

Master's Theses

As many of the dairy powders manufactured have to travel long distances to reach their customers, both domestically and internationally, there is considerable interest among dairy powder manufacturers to maintain the quality of their products for relatively long storage periods. Dairy powders can have a long shelf life if packaged and stored properly. Vacuum packaging can be an attractive packaging strategy to maintain the quality of dairy powders and provide added value by improving the efficiency of using the storage space; because of the inherent compactness of these products. Vacuum packaged dry dairy ingredients may also have added ease of …

Consolidation And Label Acquisition In The California Wine Industry, Hilary Lipoff, Gina Scurich

Horticulture and Crop Science

This paper seeks to determine whether there has been a change in consolidation and label acquisitions in the California wine industry in recent years. Reasons for consolidation and acquisition are explored, with an emphasis on the recent economic downturn and how it has effected the wine industry. Implications of these changes are further explored.

Changes In Teacher Self-Efficacy From The Student Teaching Experience Through The Third Year Of Teaching, Benjamin G. Swan, Kattlyn J. Wolf, Jamie Cano

Agricultural Education and Communication

The purpose of this study was to examine changes in teacher self–efficacy from the student teaching experience to the third year of teaching. The population was the entire cohort of student teachers from The Ohio State University. Of the 34 individuals who student taught, 17 entered the teaching profession. The researchers utilized the Teachers Sense of Efficacy Scale (Tschannen–Moran and Woolfolk Hoy, 2001) to assess the individuals in the study four different times; at the conclusion of student teaching, and the conclusion of their first, second and third years of teaching. No previous research exists in agricultural education that tracks …

Savvy About Succulents, Mardel Runnels, Jessica Paulisich

Agricultural Education and Communication

The purpose of this project was to create an educational booklet explaining that succulents make fantastic SAE projects. The booklet was designed to be helpful to both high school students and high school instructors. All students enrolled in agriculture programs have projects known as SAE’s. This booklet includes a variety of topics that are relevant to having an SAE project. All information was based on industry statistics and information gained from courses. The booklet can be distributed both electronically and in a print version. The major consideration in the design of this project was to develop a booklet that would …

Predicting Soil Erosion In The Santa Rosa Creek Watershed Using Rusle2 And Geographic Information Systems, Stacey Carol Smith

Master's Theses

The Santa Rosa Creek watershed is one of the most pristine watersheds on California’s Central Coast. Preserving this watershed is of great interest because it provides rich soils for agriculture, vast rangelands for cattle, and flowing streams for federally threatened species such as steelhead trout. Soil erosion could impact these resources. Using prediction tools, it is possible to study the erosion that could be occurring in a watershed and identify locations which could contribute the highest amounts of sediment. The objectives of this study were to use RUSLE2 and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to predict soil erosion rates for each …

Isolation Of Antifungal Lactic Acid Bacteria From Food Sources And Their Use To Inhibit Mold Growth In Cheese, Dan Zhao

Master's Theses

A large amount of cheese is lost every year due to mold contamination. Biopreservation, which is the use of biological entities (microbes) and their metabolites to suppress microbial spoilage instead of chemical preservatives has lately gained increasing interest. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have the potential for use in biopreservation, because they are safe to consume and naturally exist in many foods. In this study, fifteen strains of lactobacilli isolated from dairy products, vegetables, and fermented pickles were tested by agar overlay assay for their anti-mold activity. Six strains grown on MRS agar showed strong inhibitory activity against a target mold …

Evaluation Of Drip Applications And Foliar Sprays Of The Biocontrol Product Actinovate On Powdery Mildew And Other Fungal Diseases Of Tomato, Therese Angelica Quintana-Jones

Master's Theses

The effectiveness of the biocontrol product Actinovate^® at enhancing tomato plant growth and yield, and reducing the presence of fungal pathogens was studied in greenhouse and field conditions. In the greenhouse, no differences were found among seed germination or plant survival rates, seedling heights, dry root weights, and dry shoot weights of tomato seedlings grown from seeds drenched with Actinovate^® or Rootshield^®. The effects of one initial Actinovate^® seed drench at sowing, repeated applications through the drip irrigation throughout the season, or repeated applications through the drip irrigation plus foliar applications throughout the season at …

The Effect Of Processing Parameters And Methylcellulose On Texture And Consumer Acceptability Of A Non-Melting Dairy Protein Gel, Joshua Goldman

Master's Theses

The overall goal was to understand the capabilities of a dairy based meat alternative. This was done in three phases: 1) the production of a dairy protein gel as a base for a dairy based meat alternative, 2) texturization of the dairy protein gel base to produce a nugget like texture, and 3) a consumer test to determine the acceptability of the dairy based nugget compared to meat and meat alternatives on the market.

For phase I, a dairy protein gel base was tested to understand the textural attributes. Milk to whey percentages and level of acidification were examined to …

Developing A Marketing Plan For An Official Social Media Outlet For Cal Poly Wine, Kazia Sticklinski

Agribusiness

Survey of individuals to determine if a Facebook page focused on Cal Poly wine would attract consumers and be used for information. Determining if there is any interest in such a page, and if so, is there enough interest that it would be beneficial for Cal Poly to move forward with a full social media marketing plan.

Combining Conventional Tests And Terminal Restriction Fragment Analysis To Evaluate Microbial Quality Of Raw Milk, Haibin Guo

Master's Theses

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Abstract

Combining Conventional Tests and Terminal Restriction Fragment Analysis to Evaluate Microbial Quality of Raw Milk

Haibin Guo

The dairy industry is an important part in the domestic economy in the U.S. and the quality of dairy products hinges on raw milk quality. Microorganisms play a critical role in raw milk quality and they are currently tested and monitored by conventional microbiological tests. …

Effects Of Pruning Level And Canopy Management Practices On Berry Maturation Rate And Harvest Parameters Of Syrah Wine Grapes, Jeffery S. Landolt

Master's Theses

Syrah is an important wine grape in California but is potentially difficult to manage in the vineyard due to its excessive vigor. Vigorous grapevines require more labor for canopy management and tend to create excess shade, decreasing fruit quality. Winter pruning level, shoot thinning and leaf removal influence the overall density of the canopy and the subsequent degree of shade in the fruit zone. An experiment was conducted to assess the effects of two pruning levels with three degrees of labor-intensive canopy management techniques on berry maturation rate and harvest berry parameters for two growing seasons. In 2008, repeated measures …

The Illustrated Guide Of Southern California Hardy Succulents, Darren Chard, Zhanna Safiulina

Horticulture and Crop Science

The Southern California area is experiencing increasing water shortages resulting in the need for plant material that has a high ornamental value as well as a low water requirement. The objectives of our project were to find, plant, and observe succulent plant material in the Southern California area to determine which succulents have a low water requirement, are low maintenance, disease and pest resistant, while adding beauty to the landscape. Succulent plant material was planted and observed in La Habra Heights, Newport Beach, and Laguna Beach to provide a range of climate zones. After two years of observing the plant …

Developing A Biophysical Model To Determine The Minimum Water Requirement For Irrigating Known Crops, Robyn M. Williams, Lahaouri Bounoua

STAR Program Research Presentations

This research is to determine the minimum amount of irrigation needed to grow 75 crops in semi-arid regions. The number of days each crop spends in their developmental stages and the amount of water needed to grow these crops will be gathered and then used to create a mathematical model that will calculate how much water certain crops need at their various developmental stages. From this model, we will be able to quantify the minimum water requirement in order to limit the amount of water that is possibly being wasted due to over irrigating agricultural areas.