Agriculture Commons^™

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 …

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 …

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 …

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.

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 …

Methane Digesters, Thomas Van Steyn

Dairy Science

Anaerobic digestion has many different avenues for opportunity in use on farms. The objective of my senior project is to determine the economic viability of alternative methane digesters on a dairy. Currently the conversion of animal manure to biogas through the process of anaerobic digestion is widely used in Europe. In the U.S. anaerobic digesters have become increasingly in demand by environmental groups and dairymen. Digesters environmental impact involves the benefit by capturing the biogas that comes off animal manure. Methane, a green house gas, is the one with the most concern that is captured by methane digesters. The biogas …

Grapevine And Soil Water Relations With Nodding Needlegrass (Nassella Cernua), A California Native Grass, As A Cover Crop, Michael J. Costello

Wine and Viticulture

Nodding needlegrass [Nassella cernua (Stebbins & R.M. Love) Barkworth], a California native perennial grass, was tested for its effects on grapevine and soil–water relations in a drip-irrigated vineyard in Parlier, CA. Vine water status and in-row and between-row soil moisture (at 0.3 m, 0.6 m, 0.9 m, 1.2 m, and 1.5 m) were monitored semiweekly from June to September. There was no overall significant difference in leaf water potential between treatments. In-row soil moisture was lowest at depths of 0.6 m to 0.9 m within the nodding needlegrass treatment but was lowest from 0.3 m to 0.9 m within the …

Growth And Yield Of Cultivated Grape With Native Perennial Grasses Nodding Needlegrass Or California Barley As Cover Crops, Michael J. Costello

Wine and Viticulture

Two California native perennial grasses, nodding needlegrass [Nassella cernua (Stebbins & R.M. Love) Barkworth] and California barley [Hordeum brachyantherum Nevski ssp. californicum (Covas & Stebbins) Bothmer, N. Jacobsen & Seberg], were compared with a conventional grass cover crop, ‘Blando’ brome (Bromus hordeaceus L.), as well as resident (weedy) vegetation and a clean cultivated control for effects on growth and yield of cultivated grape (Vitis vinifera L. cv. Barbera). Statistical analyses did not reveal yield differences between treatments with floor vegetation (the native grasses, ‘Blando’ brome, and resident vegetation) and clean cultivation, the cover crop treatments (the native grasses and ‘Blando …

The Relationship Between Student Teacher Heart And Career Intent, Benjamin G. Swan, Jamie Cano

Agricultural Education and Communication

Students enter an agricultural teacher preparation program planning to teach agriculture. However, career intent appears to change during the preservice program for many students. The teacher’s “heart” is the combination of a teacher’s: mission, faith in teaching, caring for their students, and enthusiasm displayed in the classroom. There is no published research that examines the development of the teacher’s “heart” and how it relates to career intent. Further, Palmer (1998) stated that teacher “heart” cannot be developed; only diminished. However, Peterson and Seligman (2004) stated that the virtues of care, enthusiasm, hope, faith, and mission can be developed. No published …

The Relationship Of Agricultural Mechanics Teachers’ Confidence In Their Mathematic Skills And Confidence In Their Ability To Teach Mathematic Skills, Benjamin G, Swan, Lori L. Moore, Cody J. Echevarria

Agricultural Education and Communication

This study assessed Idaho agricultural science and technology teachers that taught at least one agricultural mechanics course during the 2006-2007 school year in terms of their confidence level in their own mathematics skills and their ability to teach mathematics skills. Data were collected using Dillman’s Tailored Design Method (2000) resulting in a response rate of 56.84% (N=95, n=54). Data were used to identify relationships between the level of confidence in mathematic abilities and confidence in ability to teach mathematics. A strong relationship was found between the confidence agricultural mechanics teachers had in their ability to perform mathematic tasks and their …

Developing Best Practices Of Teacher Induction, Lori L. Moore, Benjamin G. Swan

Agricultural Education and Communication

Problems and challenges faced by beginning teachers have been well documented in the literature and have created the need for teacher induction programs in all disciplines, including agricultural education. This paper used literature from inside and outside the agricultural education discipline to identify and describe best practices in teacher induction yielding a framework called the Best Practices of Teacher Induction for Agricultural Education. This framework is based on the work of Camp and Heath (1988), who identified four contributor groups responsible for teacher induction, and the work of Stansbury and Zimmerman (2000), who identified high and low intensity teacher induction …