Agriculture Commons^™

Performance Of Eight Lettuce Cultivars In A Water Culture System, Ricky C. Young, Hudson M. Cox, Jacob D. Frodge, Mollie K. Mayabb, Brycen C. Shephard, Alireza Rahemi

Posters-at-the-Capitol

Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) is one of the most well-known vegetables in the world. About 27 million tons of lettuce were produced in the world in 2022 and global demand for lettuce is increasing steadily, driven by the importance of fiber consumption. Lettuce can be grown in multiple media, including hydroponic systems in a controlled environment agriculture (CEA) system. Growing lettuce in hydroponic systems is an alternative to lettuce production optimization. Since little information is available about lettuce cultivar trials in hydroponic systems, a research project was developed and executed to study the ability of different types of lettuce …

Assessing Soil Properties In Cultivated Areas Of Silt Loam In Western Kentucky, Disha Ande

Scholars Week

No-till (NT) farming is widely implemented to enhance soil conservation by reducing disturbance and improving soil health, particularly regarding key indicators such as soil pH, soil organic matter (SOM), bulk density (BD), total porosity (TP), macroporosity (MPor), soil water holding capacity (SWHC), soil water at field capacity (SWFC), and soil organic carbon (SOC). This study aimed to evaluate the effects of different land management systems- NT Corn (NTC), NT Soybean (NTS), Campus Vegetable Garden (CVG), Community Garden (CG), Woodland Area (WA), and Rain Garden (RG), on these soil quality parameters. This study was conducted at Murray State University’s Pullen Farm …

Science Of Hemp: Production And Pest Management Meeting Proceedings (2023)

Science of Hemp Annual Meeting

The fourth meeting of the Science of Hemp: Production and Pest Management Conference was held on November 13-15, 2023 at Auburn University in Auburn, AL. Agricultural scientists from 13 different universities across the United States attended a series of scientific presentations. Topics included agronomy, entomology, plant pathology, weed science, and controlled environment production. The abstracts for presentations and posters are included within this publication.

Effectiveness Of Mycorrhizae And Vermicompost Seed Inoculation For Germination, Vegetative Growth, Cannabinoid Content, And Cured Flower Weight Of Cbd-Rich Hemp (Cannabis Sativa L.), Hannah Boyer, Nicole Wagner, Merritt Drewery

Journal of Agricultural Hemp Research

Effective germination and vigorous growth of hemp cultivars is paramount to cultivators’ ability to produce high-quality hemp products. Beneficial bacteria and fungi are known symbionts to plants and are used in regenerative agriculture to increase plant health and crop yield. This pilot study investigated the effect of microbial seed inoculation on germination rate, plant height, cured flower weight, and cannabinoid content of cannabidiol (CBD)-rich hemp (Cannabis sativa L). The experiment included a control and the following treatments: 1) seed inoculation of Great White ^â Premium Mycorrhizae (GW), 2) seed inoculation of vermicompost (V), and 3) seed inoculation of Great …

Perceptions Of Available Funding Opportunities For West Tennessee’S Young And Beginning Row Crop Farmers, Logan Meeks

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Research quickly identified many different avenues of funding available to new and beginning traditional row-crop farmers in Tennessee, but questions surrounding local farmers’ knowledge of these opportunities are in question. Many programs specific to the New and Beginning Farmer demographic boasted the potential benefits of using these programs as well as the good work these programs are accomplishing. The current increase in cost of traditional row-crop funding continues to drive the need for more funding resources with New and Beginning Farmers. Providing resources of where farmers can find the best available funds for their operation will expand the level of …

Burnout Of Women In Agriculture, Ashley Rivers

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Agriculture is considered one of the foundations of the United States. Women have played an important but often overlooked role in the history of agriculture. Despite many significant contributions, women have been left out of the history and advancements of agriculture. This research examined the lived experiences of 56 women who are involved in production agriculture and the factors that can contribute to stress and burnout in this area. By identifying how females view their roles and various aspects of their work, valuable insights can be gained into the experiences women face. Financial challenges and gender bias were identified as …

Science Of Hemp: Production And Pest Management Meeting Proceedings (2022)

Science of Hemp Annual Meeting

The third meeting of the Science of Hemp: Production and Pest Management held on November 3-4, 2022 at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, KY. Ninety-two agricultural scientists attended a series of scientific presentations. Topics included discipline-specific presentations in agronomy, entomology, horticulture, economics, and plant pathology, as well as general sessions. The abstracts for presentations and posters are included within this publication.

Science Of Hemp: Production And Pest Management Meeting Proceedings (2021)

Science of Hemp Annual Meeting

The second meeting of the Science of Hemp: Production and Pest Management was held in 2021 as a virtual meeting. The 2021 virtual meeting was hosted by Auburn University and took place on November 19th, 2021. One hundred twenty-nine participants joined online for scientific presentations, breakout sessions, workshops, and poster and oral student competitions. Attendees presented 41 oral talks, 13 posters, 8 workshops, and 3 Lunch and Learns. The abstracts for presentations and posters are included within this publication.

Science Of Hemp: Production And Pest Management Meeting Proceedings (2019)

Science of Hemp Annual Meeting

The first annual meeting of the Science of Hemp: Production and Pest Management was held on October 10-11, 2019 at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, KY. Ninety-two agricultural scientists attended a series of scientific presentations, breakout sessions, and discussion panels. Attendees presented 33 oral talks, 19 posters, one grower panel, and one outreach/education panel. Topics included discipline-specific presentations in agronomy, entomology, horticulture, and plant pathology, while general session topics included regulatory, pesticides, and economics. The abstracts for presentations and posters are included within this publication.

Leaf Area Index And Light Interception In African Violets (Streptocarpus Sect. Saintpaulia), Chintakunta Keerthi Reddy, Venkat Sai Chatla

Scholars Week

LEAF AREA INDEX AND LIGHT INTERCEPTION IN AFRICAN VIOLETS

(Streptocarpus sect. Saintpaulia)

ABSTRACT Chintakunta Keerthi Reddy, Venkat Sai Chatla Hutson School of Agriculture Mentor: Dr. Megan Taylor

African violets are a genus of six flowering plants from tropical eastern Africa, commonly known as Saintpaulias. They can thrive indoors in low light conditions and bloom all year round. They require less light than other blooming plants and can bloom during regular daylight hours in the US and Canada if given proper exposure. Several light intensities were used for the African violet (Streptocarpus sect. Saintpaulia) experiment, which showed a significant variation in …

Effects Of Salinity, Alkalinity, And Acidity On Crop Growth And Development On Pea (Pisum Sativum), Laxmi Prasanna Shakamudi, Rasagna Chamakura, Vineela Bathula

Scholars Week

Effects of salinity, alkalinity, and acidity on crop growth and development

on pea (Pisum sativum)

Authors: Laxmi Prasanna Shakamudi, Rasagna Chamakura, Vineela Bathula

Mentor: Dr. Megan Taylor

Hutson school of agriculture, Murray state university

Pea (Pisum sativum) is one of the vegetables that belong to the Fabaceae family, is a pulse crop that has been widely used and cultivated in all parts of the world. As with many crops pea plants also experience abiotic stresses that affect the plant’s growth, development, and productivity. Abiotic stresses that affect crop growth and development include soil salinity, alkalinity, and …

Effects Of Planting Depth Of Soybean (Glycine Max) On Growth And Development, Hannah Dejournett, Mallory White, Mason Welden

Scholars Week

Effects of Planting Depth of Soybean (Glycine max) on Growth and Development

Hutson School of Agriculture, Murray, KY

Mentor: Dr. Megan Taylor

Hannah DeJournett, Mallory White, Mason Welden

The objective of this study was to examine the effects of soybean (Glycine max) seed placement on growth and development. Several abiotic and biotic factors influence germination and emergence, planting depth is no exception. Planting depth is a management practice that can be controlled at the time of planting, making it an ideal candidate for experimentation. To determine the effect of planting depth on soybeans, soybeans were established at different depths. Previous …

Effect Of Seed Storage On Germination Of Wheat (Triticum Aestivum L.), Corn (Zea Mays), And Soybean (Glycine Max), Sangam Dangal, Disha Ande, Harshaditya Bijapuri

Scholars Week

Effect of Seed Storage on Germination of Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), Corn (Zea mays), and Soybean (Glycine max)

Disha Ande, Harshaditya Bijapuri, Sangam Dangal, Dr. Megan Taylor

Hutson School of Agriculture, Murray State University, Murray, Kentucky

[email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

Seed germination is an essential stage in the plant cycle for growth and development, resulting in the yield's quantity and quality. It is a complex process that is influenced by various biotic and abiotic factors. The storage of seeds leading up to planting is an essential management practice of crop production, as it directly …

Effects Of Soil Salinity, Alkaline Conditions And Acidity On Crop Growth And Development On Radish (Raphanus Sativus), Anvesh Kumar Dasarla, Chandan Prasanna Lakshmi Kumar Sunkavalli, Turki Alanazi

Scholars Week

Effects of soil salinity, alkaline conditions and acidity on crop growth and development on Radish (Raphanus sativus)

Authors:Anveesh Kumar Dasarla,ChandanPrasanna Lakshmi Kumar Sunkavalli,TurkiAlanazi.

Hutson School of Agriculture

Murray State University

Radish (Raphanus sativus) a member of the mustard family, it is a root veggie. This plant, which can be perennial root. The radish is a vegetable that was probably domesticated in Asia or the Mediterranean region. The veggie, which has few calories, is typically consumed raw, though the young leaves can be prepared similarly to spinach. There are numerous radish varieties, one of which is …

Soil Properties And Potassium Availability In Pullen Farm Murray, Kentucky, Ava Isaacs, Gracey Moffitt, Whitney Sides

Posters-at-the-Capitol

One of the most important factors regarding soil and plant health is nutrient availability and fertility. Of these two factors that were mentioned available potassium is a key component. With that being said we decided that it would be beneficial to see how potassium can be traced within the soil in various locations after fertilizer is applied. There were two parts to this experiment. Part one was taking soil core samples in order to obtain various soil properties such as soil organic matter, soil water holding capacity and bulk density and observe if these properties have any effect on the …

Seroprevalence And Titer Concentration Testing For Leptospirosis In Equine, Ashley Himmelsbaugh

Posters-at-the-Capitol

The most common best management practice used to combat diseases in horses is vaccination, which can decrease the incidence or severity of illness. However, the duration of immunity will vary for each vaccination and must be considered for revaccination purposes. Titer concentration, which evaluates antibodies in the blood, may be a helpful way of determining how long an animal has immunity to a disease. Leptospirosis, a zoonotic, bacterial disease, can result in uveitis, potentially leading to blindness, and abortion in mares. One serovar, Leptospirosis pomona (L. pomona), is associated with most cases of clinical disease in horses in North America. …

Linking Soil Properties To Originally Wooded And Afforested Areas, Ashton A. Crowe, Matthew Laun

Posters-at-the-Capitol

Linking Soil Properties to Originally Wooded and Afforested Areas

Matthew Laun, Ashton Crowe

Mentor: I. P. Handayani

Hutson School of Agriculture Murray State University, KY, USA

Abstract

Afforestation, adding an artificial forest to a piece of land that has been barren of trees for a significant amount of time, has some seriously huge impacts on the environment. These effects can be seen as an increase in the soil organic matter, a decrease in compaction, and enhancement of porosity. Therefore, the soil can support more diverse microbes and fungal communities leading to better micro and macro nutrient transfers between plants. This …

Foliar Application Of Acetic Acid And Effectiveness Against Drought At Different Time Points In Soybean (Glycine Max) Development, Miranda Rudolph, Megan Taylor Phd.

Posters-at-the-Capitol

Drought is arguably the most serious environmental factor affecting crop production today. A plant's response to drought stress is extremely complex, affecting numerous metabolic pathways that are all interconnected in their responses. Due to this complex nature, scientists do not fully understand the implications of different treatments and how they affect these processes. Acetic acid has been shown to improve plant growth and resistance to drought stress, but exactly how it accomplishes this is also unknown. Soybeans (Glycine max) are one of the most important crops worldwide and can suffer significant yield loss due to drought stress. As climate change …

Economic Feasibility And Consumer Acceptance Of Strawberry Plants As An Additional Offering In Fall Mum Sales, Alyx Shultz, Eva Bogue, Anna Griggs, Allison Croslin

Posters-at-the-Capitol

As consumers become more health conscious and concerned with food production practices, increased market demand had developed for edible plants with ornamental properties. This action research examined the economic feasibility, production realities, and consumer acceptance of offering garden and alpine strawberries at fall mum sales. Each year $173 million in mums are sold in the United States. By offering potted strawberries for sale alongside mums, Kentucky producers may be able to mitigate their risk as well as generate additional on-farm revenue from a proven consumer base and market. Researchers grew 100 garden strawberries and 100 alpine strawberries and offered the …

Comparison Of Corticosterone Concentrations Between Serum And Fecal Samples As A Measure Of Stress In Male Broilers., Kayla Weinacht

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Stress has long been a topic of interest in the poultry industry due to its potential negative effects on chicken health and production of both eggs and meat. With increased global growth in egg and broiler production, more attention has been paid to the stressors that affect chickens in modern poultry operations, particularly environmental temperature and stocking density. Improving quantitative measurement of stress is always needed in poultry welfare research. In most studies, blood serum is measured for corticosterone, one of the biomarker hormones associated with stress in chickens. Methods of collecting blood serum are by their nature disruptive to …

Adapting Network Theory For Spatial Network Externalities In Agriculture: A Case Study On Hemp Cross-Pollination, Jeffrey S. Young, Tanner J. Mccarty

Faculty & Staff Research and Creative Activity

Growers have increasingly expressed frustration over the negative externalities created by their neighbor's production practices. These spatial agricultural network problems include issues such as cross-pollination and herbicide drift. We develop novel methods for estimating parameters that allow us to adapt and apply general network diffusion models to these spatial agricultural network problems. Doing so allows us to calculate externality damage within a region and calculate cost-effective policies for alleviating that externality. We empirically illustrate, motivate, and test this approach by applying it to hemp. We find that network structure is an important factor in externality size and cost-effective policy response …

Biological Remediation Of Fragipan, Corey Hale

Honors College Theses

The fragipan layer in the soil is a naturally occurring subsurface layer that restricts water percolation as well as inhibits root growth. A fragipan layer can be found almost ubiquitously across Southwestern Kentucky. This limits how agriculturalists manage soils in this area. It has been recently discovered by the University of Kentucky that Annual Ryegrass roots produce 3,4 dihydroxyphenylpropionic acid (DHPPA) that reacts with this hardpan to weaken the layer. Certain bacteria, such as Escherichia coli, Lactobacilli, and Bifidobacteria can also synthesize DHPPA through a breakdown process of chlorogenic acid. This reaction typically happens in the human digestive tract. …

Seroprevalence And Titer Concentration Testing For Leptospirosis In Equine, Ashley Himmelsbaugh

Honors College Theses

The most common best management practice used to combat diseases in horses is vaccination, which can decrease the incidence or severity of illness. However, the duration of immunity will vary for each vaccination and must be considered for revaccination purposes. Titer concentration, which evaluates antibodies in the blood, may be a helpful way of determining how long an animal has immunity to a disease. Leptospirosis, a zoonotic, bacterial disease, can result in uveitis, potentially leading to blindness, and abortion in mares. One serovar, Leptospirosis pomona (L. pomona), is associated with most cases of clinical disease in horses in North America. …

Foliar Application Of Acetic Acid And Effectiveness Against Drought At Different Time Points In Soybean Development, Miranda Rudolph

Scholars Week

Abstract

Drought is arguably the most serious environmental factor affecting crop production today. A plants response to drought stress is extremely complex, affecting numerous metabolic pathways that are all interconnected in their responses. Due to this complex nature, scientists do not fully understand the implications of different treatments and how they affect these processes. Acetic acid has been shown to improve plant growth and resistance to drought stress, but exactly how it accomplishes this is also unknown. Soybeans (Glycine max) are one of the most important crops worldwide and can suffer significant yield loss due to drought stress. As climate …

Blue Zones: Unlocking Key Themes In The Centenarian's Life, Grace Beer, Grace O. Beer

Honors College Theses

Longevity has been sought after in certain areas of the world, and there are specific regions where this has been achieved. There is an American average life expectancy of 72 years old, but individuals in “Blue Zones” here in America and other areas of the world are expected to and have proven to live well beyond 100. The areas of Okinawa, Sardinia, Nicoya, Ikaria, and Loma Linda are classified as Blue Zones, and there could be more of an understanding of how these people live the way they do to have such healthy physical outcomes. To deeply understand the strategy …

The Impacts Of Land Management Practices On Soil Organic Carbon And Soil Physical Properties, Kinsey Hamby, Raelee Story, Dallas Patey

Scholars Week

The Impacts of Land Management Practices on Soil Organic Carbon and Soil Physical Properties

K. Hamby, R. Story, D. Patey, C. Hale, I. P. Handayani, B. Parr, and M. Snider

Hutson School of Agriculture, Murray State University

ABSTRACT

To understand how to care for our soils, an understanding of soil physical properties must first be established. Soil organic carbon (SOC) refers to the carbon component of the organic compounds found in soil organic matter (SOM). SOC can be an indicator of soil structure, tilth, aeration, drainage, and stability. Soil pH is the measure of hydrogen ions suspended in a soil …

Measuring Palatability As A Linear Combination Of Nutrient Levels In Food Items, Jeffrey S. Young

Faculty & Staff Research and Creative Activity

It well known that palatability and nutritional quality of foods and/or diets are viewed as being in tension with one another. While there exist multiple measures of healthiness, there are no such measures for tastiness. This gap limits the degree to which researchers can investigate this tension and its implications for dietary behavior and hence public health and nutrition policy. The scope of future work concerning the dietary behavior of Americans would expand greatly if researchers better understood consumers’ willingness to eat certain foods, which matters as much as recommending those foods for them to eat in the first place. …

We Speak English Here: An Exploratory Study Of Language Barrier Effects In Agriculture, Camryn Clift

Honors College Theses

This thesis investigates the effects of the language barrier between English-speaking H-2A managers and their Spanish-speaking H-2A employees on Kentucky farms with special attention to the insights that can be gleaned from farm managers concerning the intersection of communication, language barriers, and the unique social and cultural environment created by the microcosm of the H-2A program. The project includes a literature review evaluating the currently documented effects of language barriers in various industries as they relate to the language barriers found within agriculture. IRB-approved interviews with farm managers provide original data to evaluate these potential effects, whether positive or negative. …

Soil Quality As Affected By Hemp And Grain Production Systems In Western Kentucky, Jack Eaker

Scholars Week

Since 2018, hemp cropping systems have become increasingly popular in Kentucky. However, there is limited data on soil’s behavior/changes under these management practices as compared to corn and soybean cultivation systems. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine soil characteristics including soil organic matter, bulk density, water holding capacity, macroporosity, and water at field capacity in hemp and grain cropping systems. The thirty undisturbed soil samples were collected from three different hemp fields and a corn, soybean, and a bare field adjacent to these hemp fields. Each field was located at Murray State University West Farm, Calloway County, …

Science Of Climate Change In Agricultural Courses, Iin P. Handayani

Faculty & Staff Research and Creative Activity

Climate change adaptation is required knowledge for students and graduates from colleges of agriculture since recent crop production and food security are influenced by climate change. Thus, understanding the dynamics of climate change is important to support farmers to adapt to future conditions. However, not all students and graduates understand the concept and application of climate change with regard to the dynamics of food production and future food security. While agriculture faces the challenge of climate change adaptation, agricultural courses have not kept pace by incorporating climate change science into the curricula. To address this issue, eleven syllabi in selected …