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University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

2018

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Articles 1 - 30 of 30

Full-Text Articles in Agriculture

Imperfect Produce Pricing: Relationships Between Price Percent Discount And Demographic Traits Of Customers, April Foster Dec 2018

Imperfect Produce Pricing: Relationships Between Price Percent Discount And Demographic Traits Of Customers, April Foster

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research sought to understand the impact of price reductions on consumer spending behaviors related to the purchase of imperfect produce. Additionally, the correlation between consumers’ demographics and their willingness to purchase imperfect produce at various price points was evaluated. The data was viewed with mindfulness toward reducing food loss as a function of the world food crisis. More specifically, the purpose of this study was to describe the relationship between Washington County, Arkansas consumers’ demographic traits and the percent discount at which they are willing to alter their behavior to purchase specific imperfect produce items. Using the Theory of …


Classifying Interdependencies In The Food And Agriculture Critical Infrastructure Sector, John Doerpinghaus Dec 2018

Classifying Interdependencies In The Food And Agriculture Critical Infrastructure Sector, John Doerpinghaus

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This work classifies examples of infrastructure interdependencies found in the food and agriculture critical infrastructure sector. Interdependencies are identified through an examination of rice and poultry agriculture throughout the state of Arkansas. The subtleties of interdependence examples in the food and agriculture sector are inadequately captured by the well-studied interdependence classification taxonomies. Through 39 interviews, we develop an understanding of the subtle temporal, geographic, and productivity scales of interdependence in over 100 examples and present five new, distinct classifications of interdependence: (1) dynamic physical, (2) dynamic geographic, (3) deadline, (4) delay, and (5) human, economic, and natural resource interdependencies. An …


Assessing Rice Consumers’ Preferences And Willingness To Pay In Haiti, Cleeford Pavilus Dec 2018

Assessing Rice Consumers’ Preferences And Willingness To Pay In Haiti, Cleeford Pavilus

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the last 30 years, rice has become the number one food staple in Haiti, and rice imports have outpaced domestic production to supply the country’s increasing rice demand. Policy makers support the claim that increasing local rice supply will not only reduce the dependency on imported rice but also upheave the national economy. However, there is a lack of information on Haitian consumers’ preferences for rice to aid the development of the local rice supply chain. This research aims to bridge that gap by assessing Haitian consumer preferences and willingness to pay for selected rice quality characteristics. The results …


Risk And Return Comparisons Of Pre-Harvest Marketing Strategies, John Leander Turner V Dec 2018

Risk And Return Comparisons Of Pre-Harvest Marketing Strategies, John Leander Turner V

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This paper analyzes risk and returns associated with pre-harvest corn grain marketing strategies for the state of Arkansas. Farming is characterized by a volatile environment. Numerous risks are taken by producers in order to provide commodities that are bought and sold by various parties in the supply chain. Price, yield, and production costs vary daily and can have large variation between years. Risk and Return Comparisons of Pre-harvest Marketing Strategies examines the effectiveness of using pre-harvest marketing strategies to enhance returns and to mitigate inherent price risk in the Memphis cash corn market. Thirteen strategies are compared to the October …


Consumer Perceptions Of Labeling Claims On Poultry Products, Sarah Townley Dec 2018

Consumer Perceptions Of Labeling Claims On Poultry Products, Sarah Townley

Agricultural Education, Communications and Technology Undergraduate Honors Theses

An increasing number of consumers wants more knowledge of how the food they eat is produced, and specifically, how animals used in the production of their food are raised. One method consumers use to become more aware of production practices behind the food they purchase and consume is simply reading food labels. Labeling claims can be defined as textual, pictorial, graphic, or symbolic representation that either explicitly states or implies that a food product has a specific set of properties supported by a certification process. The purpose of this study is to gather data regarding consumer knowledge and understanding of …


Assessing A Peer Mentor Program In An Honors College Of Agriculture, Isabel Whitehead Aug 2018

Assessing A Peer Mentor Program In An Honors College Of Agriculture, Isabel Whitehead

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to assess mentees’ experiences in a peer mentor program in an honors college of agriculture and to determine which factors impact mentees’ ability to relate to their peer mentor based on the theory of homophily and interpersonal attraction. Colleges of agriculture are encouraged to examine which determinants impact students’ decisions to enter agri-science programs, what draws students to postsecondary agricultural programs, and to try recruiting underserved individuals into higher education to fulfill open employment opportunities for diverse, skilled, and globally competent individuals (Goeker, et al., 2015; Stripling & Ricketts, 2017). Peer mentoring is often …


Socioeconomic Impacts Of Infrastructure Investment In Eswatini: The Case Of Lusip, Noussayma Njeim Aug 2018

Socioeconomic Impacts Of Infrastructure Investment In Eswatini: The Case Of Lusip, Noussayma Njeim

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The 2016 Eswatini Vulnerability Assessment Report indicated that over half of the Eswatini population required livelihood support due to the severe El Niño drought. Since agriculture is the backbone of Eswatini’s economy, investments in climate change mitigation are needed in order to help protect the agriculture sector and associated livelihoods from increased yield and profit variability associated with future droughts. The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) estimates climate change in Eswatini could reduce rain-fed agricultural yields by up to 50%, threating the ability of Eswatini to be food secure. As such, investing in water capture systems could help mitigate …


Aiding Growers’ Decisions: Describing Arkansas Blackberry Growers’ Resources And Needs Regarding Blackberry Production, Lesley Marie Smith Aug 2018

Aiding Growers’ Decisions: Describing Arkansas Blackberry Growers’ Resources And Needs Regarding Blackberry Production, Lesley Marie Smith

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study was a census of blackberry growers who attended the Blackberry Growers Association informal interest meetings held throughout the state during the month of April. The purpose of this study was to describe blackberry operations in Arkansas, describe the ideal blackberry cultivar growers want to produce, describe resources they use to research production information, and describe what changes to current resources growers would like to have. Questionnaire responses regarding blackberry production of 18 blackberry growers in the state of Arkansas were analyzed. Three growers elected to not participate resulting in an 86% response rate. The researcher hopes that this …


Can Social Capital Boost Irrigation Capital: Empirical Evidence From North China, Yefan Nian Aug 2018

Can Social Capital Boost Irrigation Capital: Empirical Evidence From North China, Yefan Nian

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Using data from China Water Institution and Management (CWIM) survey, the study first constructs measures of all three most studied dimensions of social capital: trust, networks, and norms. The study then examines if social capital has any predictive powers of individual farmers’ contribution decisions as well as farmers’ contributions aggregated at the village level. Farmers’ choices between different forms of contributions (labor versus cash) are also analyzed. Our results suggest that all three dimensions of social capital explain farmers’ contribution decisions. Governance quality of local irrigation systems and the norm of cooperation have strong predictive powers of farmers’ decisions to …


Introducing The Academic Discipline Of Agricultural Communications To The United Kingdom: A Needs Analysis, Sara Kathryn Maples Aug 2018

Introducing The Academic Discipline Of Agricultural Communications To The United Kingdom: A Needs Analysis, Sara Kathryn Maples

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There is a current need to identify and describe opinions of prospective employers and current agricultural students about the prospects of developing an agricultural communications academic discipline in the U.K. An understanding of the competencies employers would expect of agricultural communications graduates, as well as an understanding of what students would expect to learn, would form the conceptualization and development of the discipline in the U.K. A total of 22 agricultural communications professionals and 67 agricultural students from across the United Kingdom completed the survey. Collected data showed agricultural students and agricultural communications professionals answers overall were not statistically different. …


Social Interactions Occurring During An Introductory College Of Agriculture Course, Brittany Renea Leek Aug 2018

Social Interactions Occurring During An Introductory College Of Agriculture Course, Brittany Renea Leek

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With the development of the internet, today’s students no longer are confined to the resources only found in their classrooms or public libraries and have been given the ability to gain access to virtually unlimited quantities of information on the topics or events they are discussing in their class rooms and with their peers. The use of technology for communication and education is rapidly changing, but the challenges of technology-driven learning opportunities rest on questions of access and use. There is a need to determine whether students use these methods (i.e., technology based) to more prevalently communicate today. The primary …


Factors Driving Sugar Cane Production In The Kingdom Of Eswatini, Brooke Danielle Anderson Aug 2018

Factors Driving Sugar Cane Production In The Kingdom Of Eswatini, Brooke Danielle Anderson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Sugar cane is the largest industry in Eswatini with 16 percent of the total workforce working directly or indirectly in the sugar industry. Like all agricultural industries the sugar industry in Eswatini is heavily dependent on an abundant labor supply and climatic conditions. Labor efficiency and abundance is a defining factor of food security and profitability in Eswatini, having one of the highest national HIV/AIDS rates in the world. Small-scale sugar cane producers are often the hardest hit by HIV/AIDS as they traditionally rely on family labor more than hired labor. The 2016 Eswatini Vulnerability Assessment Report indicated that over …


Factors Influencing Adoption Of Conservation Agriculture In The Democratic Republic Of The Congo, Willy Mulimbi Byamungu Aug 2018

Factors Influencing Adoption Of Conservation Agriculture In The Democratic Republic Of The Congo, Willy Mulimbi Byamungu

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The agricultural sector in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is still struggling to cope with its post-independence political and structural instability. From 1961 to 2000, the DRC experienced a decrease of 34% and 37% in daily caloric intake and protein intake, respectively. The DRC’s agriculture sector, led by women (who are the core of subsistence farming), is now being targeted as a potential pathway out of poverty through sustainable development programs. Empowering farmers to increase productivity by educating them to use conservation agriculture (CA), a more sustainable alternative to the traditional slash-and-burn agricultural practice, could contribute to reducing …


Relationships Among Beef Cow Productivity Traits And Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms In The Bovine Heat Shock Protein 70 Gene, Ashley Finney May 2018

Relationships Among Beef Cow Productivity Traits And Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms In The Bovine Heat Shock Protein 70 Gene, Ashley Finney

Animal Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

When eukaryotes are exposed to stressors such as heat, toxins, and low oxygen levels, heat shock proteins (HSPs) are synthesized to maintain normal cellular function within the body. Single nucleotide polymorphisms in the heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) gene have been associated with calving percentage, and Julian calving date in spring-calving crossbred Brahman cows (Rosenkrans, et al., 2010). Our objective was to determine associations between previously identified polymorphisms in the promoter region and coding sequence of the bovine Hsp70 gene and beef cow efficiency. We evaluated productivity traits, including Julian calving date and calving rates, of fall-calving cows at each …


Polymorphisms Of Bovine Hsp90 And Their Implications In Beef Cattle Productivity, Glynn G. Smith May 2018

Polymorphisms Of Bovine Hsp90 And Their Implications In Beef Cattle Productivity, Glynn G. Smith

Animal Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Production of beef cattle represents a $60 billion industry in the United States (USDA, 2015). The American beef cattle industry loses an estimated $370 million annually due to heat stress (St-Pierre, 2003). As of 2003, this was equal to nearly 99 million pounds of beef lost (USDA, 2015). The average American consumed roughly 65 pounds of beef in 2003; this means that the 99 million pounds of beef lost to heat stress would have been enough to feed approximately 1.5 million Americans for an entire year (Barclay, 2012).


An Impact Evaluation Of The Government Grant Programs And Input Efficiency Use In The Production Of Greenhouse Tomatoes And Peppers In Kosovo, Blend Frangu May 2018

An Impact Evaluation Of The Government Grant Programs And Input Efficiency Use In The Production Of Greenhouse Tomatoes And Peppers In Kosovo, Blend Frangu

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Determinants of greenhouse tomato and pepper production input efficiency affect a farmer’s decision to contribute to the vegetable sector in Kosovo. This research investigates the non-optimal use of inputs in the production of greenhouse tomatoes and peppers. Two studies were conducted to first measure input efficiency use and then to quantify the impact of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development (MAFRD) grant programs in the production of both crops. The first study applied data envelopment analysis (DEA), and linear and logistic regression to assess factors that influence efficiency in production. The second study used propensity score matching with …


Preservice Agricultural Education Teachers And Secondary Education Teachers’ Self-Efficacy And Professional Identity, Hailey Gates May 2018

Preservice Agricultural Education Teachers And Secondary Education Teachers’ Self-Efficacy And Professional Identity, Hailey Gates

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

During the nineteenth century, a decision was made to separate the preparation of agricultural education teachers from their elementary and secondary counterparts (Hearings, 1908; Heren & Hillison, 1996; Hillison, 1986). The majority of land-grant universities and colleges have continued to prepare agricultural education preservice teachers within the college of agriculture, separate from other secondary education preservice teachers in the college of education (Myers & Dyer, 2004). Despite the differences among content disciplines, teachers who possess a strong sense of self-efficacy and professional identity have higher success rates in the classroom when it comes to collaboration, involvement, and student achievement (Ashton …


Sustainable Intensification Of Agriculture: Opportunities And Challenges For Food Security And Agrarian Adaptation To Environmental Change In Bangladesh, Aaron Michael Shew May 2018

Sustainable Intensification Of Agriculture: Opportunities And Challenges For Food Security And Agrarian Adaptation To Environmental Change In Bangladesh, Aaron Michael Shew

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation investigates three unique aspects of sustainable agricultural intensification (SAI) in the context of Bangladeshi rice production. The first article presents a qualitative analysis of SAI and farmer surveys in the embanked polder region of coastal Bangladesh. The second article investigates the global food security and environmental impacts of already adopted High Yielding Variety (HYV) rice and double-cropped rice systems in Bangladesh using a spatial partial equilibrium trade model and a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The final article demonstrates a remote sensing methodology for monitoring dry season rice production at 30 m resolution in Bangladesh using a harmonic time …


Consumers’ Willingness To Pay For Hydroponic Lettuce, Daniel Gilmour May 2018

Consumers’ Willingness To Pay For Hydroponic Lettuce, Daniel Gilmour

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With continued advances in hydroponic plant production technology, an increasing number of farms have begun using hydroponic techniques to grow leaf lettuce and other food crops in a controlled environment. Recent controversy about the ongoing inclusion of hydroponics in the USDA organic program has highlighted uncertainty about marketing for hydroponic crops. In November 2017, the National Organic Standards Board voted not to recommend that hydroponic farms be banned from applying for organic certification. Since then, continued controversy has led a group of organic producers to start an additional independent certification program that would exclude hydroponic crops. While hydroponic production may …


Irrigation Practice Adoption: Causes And Consequences In The Arkansas Delta, Kerr James Adams May 2018

Irrigation Practice Adoption: Causes And Consequences In The Arkansas Delta, Kerr James Adams

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Concerns about groundwater depletion from conventional irrigation agriculture in the Arkansas Delta region have led to the promotion of more efficient irrigation practices. With Arkansas being the largest producer of rice, the 10th largest producer of soybeans and the 16th largest producer of corn in the United States, the irrigation demand of these crops has put pressure on producers to find ways to irrigate more efficiently. Not only are the alternative technologies supposed to reduce water use, it is also believed that their adoption can also yield economic benefits for the producer. Despite these assumed benefits, adoption of alternative technologies …


Barriers To Local Food Producers In Arkansas, Courtney Cooper, Zola Moon May 2018

Barriers To Local Food Producers In Arkansas, Courtney Cooper, Zola Moon

Horticulture Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this study is to identify and describe the barriers that prevent local food producers from selling their food in a mainstream market. This study utilized both qualitative and quantitative analysis through a mixed-methods survey. Information collected through the study had a two-fold focus: barriers that producers face (or that they are providing assistance for) and what are consumers looking for in products that these producers are supplying. The major barriers found for local food producers in Arkansas were lack of capital and obtaining infrastructure for packaging, processing, and storing products. Qualitative analysis of textual interviews was done …


Enhancing Quality Of Life Through Foreign Direct Investment In Northern Mozambique, Sarah-Beth Delay May 2018

Enhancing Quality Of Life Through Foreign Direct Investment In Northern Mozambique, Sarah-Beth Delay

Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness Undergraduate Honors Theses

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has the potential to increase economic activity and improve GDP growth in low-income countries, but can hinder economic development (quality of life improvements) if not sustainable and holistic in manner. Africa serves as a host to many cases of FDI focused on economic growth, but not necessarily improving the quality of life for its citizens. FDI has spread throughout the African continent, where many countries are well endowed with natural resources, like minerals and coal. These economies have experienced rapid GDP growth with few benefits reaching citizens of the host country. Mozambique is a low-income country …


Agricultural Information Needs And Food Access In The Stann Creek District Of Belize, Sam Harris May 2018

Agricultural Information Needs And Food Access In The Stann Creek District Of Belize, Sam Harris

Agricultural Education, Communications and Technology Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this study was to describe agricultural information sources available to farmers and to describe food access and availability for the people of Dangriga, Stann Creek, Belize. This study used descriptive survey research methods with convenience sampling of the general public (n=22) and of farmers (n = 38) in the summer of 2017. Farmers use a variety of agricultural information sources with the extension service cited most often, followed by friends and fellow farmers. Weather, lack of information, pests, and inadequate access to capital were of primary concern for farmers. Face to face meetings were …


Contents, Discovery Editors Jan 2018

Contents, Discovery Editors

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.


Letter From The Dean, Deacue Fields Jan 2018

Letter From The Dean, Deacue Fields

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.


Discovery: The Student Journal Of Dale Bumpers College Of Agricultural, Food And Life Sciences - Volume 19 2018, Several Authors Jan 2018

Discovery: The Student Journal Of Dale Bumpers College Of Agricultural, Food And Life Sciences - Volume 19 2018, Several Authors

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.


New For Discovery: Scholarworks@Uark, Discovery Editors Jan 2018

New For Discovery: Scholarworks@Uark, Discovery Editors

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.


Evaluating Consumer Sensory And Composition Attributes Of Arkansas-Grown Fresh-Market Blackberries, Aubrey N. Dunteman, Renee T. Threlfall, John R. Clark, Margaret L. Worthington Jan 2018

Evaluating Consumer Sensory And Composition Attributes Of Arkansas-Grown Fresh-Market Blackberries, Aubrey N. Dunteman, Renee T. Threlfall, John R. Clark, Margaret L. Worthington

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

Blackberries are grown worldwide for commercial fresh markets. Three Arkansas-grown fresh-market blackberry genotypes (‘Natchez’, ‘Ouachita’, and A-2418) were evaluated for consumer sensory and compositional attributes at the University of Arkansas Food Science Department, Fayetteville. The compositional attributes of the blackberries were within an acceptable range for commercial markets (soluble solids=8.20-11.90%, pH=2.79-3.18, titratable acidity=1.09-1.32%). In terms of soluble solids to titratable acidity ratio, ‘Ouachita’ (10.92) had the highest ratio, followed by ‘Natchez’ (8.93) and A-2418 (6.25). A consumer sensory panel (n=80) evaluated fresh-market blackberry attributes using a 9-point hedonic scale for overall impression, overall flavor, sweetness, and sourness and a 5-point …


Agricultural Information Needs And Food Access In The Stann Creek District Of Belize, Sam E. Harris, Donna L. Graham Jan 2018

Agricultural Information Needs And Food Access In The Stann Creek District Of Belize, Sam E. Harris, Donna L. Graham

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

The purpose of this study was to describe agricultural information sources available to farmers and to describe food access and availability for the people of Dangriga, Stann Creek, Belize. This study used descriptive survey research methods with convenience sampling of the general public (n=22) and of farmers (n = 38) in the summer of 2017. Farmers use a variety of agricultural information sources with the extension service cited most often, followed by friends and fellow farmers. Weather, lack of information, pests, and inadequate access to capital were of primary concern for farmers. Face-to-face meetings were used most often by extension …


A Message From The Department Head Of Horticulture And Food Science, Wayne Mackey Jan 2018

A Message From The Department Head Of Horticulture And Food Science, Wayne Mackey

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.