Agriculture Commons^™

From Free-Energy Profiles To Activation Free Energies, Johannes C. Dietschreit, Dennis J. Diestler, Andreas Hulm, Christian Ochsenfeld, Rafael Gómez-Bombarelli

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Given a chemical reaction going from reactant (R) to the product (P) on a potential energy surface (PES) and a collective variable (CV) discriminating between R and P, we define the free-energy profile (FEP) as the logarithm of the marginal Boltzmann distribution of the CV. This FEP is not a true free energy. Nevertheless, it is common to treat the FEP as the “free-energy” analog of the minimum potential energy path and to take the activation free energy, ΔF‡ _RP, as the difference between the maximum at the transition state and the minimum at R. We show that this …

A Yield Comparison Between Small-Plot And On-Farm Foliar Fungicide Trials In Soybean And Maize, Anabelle Laurent, Emily Heaton, Peter Kyveryga, David Makowski, Laila A. Puntel, Alison E. Robertson, Laura J. Thompson, Fernando Miguez

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Agronomic research provides management recommendations based on small-plot trials (SPTs) and on-farm trials (OFTs) with very different characteristics. SPTs are traditionally conducted at agricultural experiment stations by research institutes or universities, while OFTs are conducted under commercial-scale conditions and managed by farmers using their own equipment. Several researchers claimed that discrepancies could occur between these two types of trials, which can make the extrapolation of results from SPTs to the farm level difficult. In our study, we conducted an extensive comparison of small-plot and on-farm trials to analyze the effect of foliar fungicide application on maize and soybean yields. We …

Western Australia's Bulk And Containerised Grain Exports In A National Context, Ross Kingwell, Dipesh Maharjan

Research Reports

This report describes containerised and bulk grain exports from Western Australia and all other main grain-producing Australian states. The types of grain, their export volumes and destinations, since 2011-12 until 2021-22 are described.

Precision Irrigation Guide For Center Pivots, Elisa Flint, Matt Yost, Troy Peters, Clara Anderson, Burdette Barker, Neil Hansen

All Current Publications

This factsheet discusses the different variable rate irrigation (VRI) options for center pivots, when they might reduce water use and energy, produce higher crop yields, and when it might be unreasonable to expect these kinds of benefits.

Genome Architecture And Diverged Selection Shaping Pattern Of Genomic Differentiation In Wild Barley, Wenying Zhang, Cong Tan, Haifei Hu, Rui Pan, Yuhui Xiao, Kai Ouyang, Yong Jia, Xiao-Qi Zhang, Camilla Hill, Penghao Wang, Brett Chapman, Yong Han, Gaofeng Zhou, Le Xu, Yanhao Xu, Tefera Angessa, Hao Luo, Sharon Westcott, Darshan Sharma, Eviatar Nevo, Roberto Barrero, Matthew I. Bellgard, Tianhua He, Xiaohai Tian, Chengdao Li

Grain and Other Field Crops Research Articles

Divergent selection of populations in contrasting environments leads to functional genomic divergence. However, the genomic architecture underlying heterogeneous genomic differentiation remains poorly understood. Here, we de novo assembled two high-quality wild barley (Hordeum spontaneum K. Koch) genomes and examined genomic differentiation and gene expression patterns under abiotic stress in two populations. These two populations had a shared ancestry and originated in close geographic proximity but experienced different selective pressures due to their contrasting micro-environments. We identified structural variants that may have played significant roles in affecting genes potentially associated with well-differentiated phenotypes such as flowering time and drought response between …

Alfalfa Establishment And Management In South Carolina, Liliane Silva, Michael Mrshall, Jeremy Greene, Matias Aguerre

Livestock and Forages

Alfalfa is a perennial legume with high forage quality that can be used under grazing or hay management. This publication outlines establishment and management recommendations for alfalfa plantings in South Carolina.

Snp Discovery In Proso Millet (Panicum Miliaceum L.) Using Lowpass Genome Sequencing, Rituraj Khound, Guangchao Sun, Ravi V. Mural, James C. Schnable, Dipak K. Santra

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Domesticated ~10,000 years ago in northern China, Proso millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) is a climate-resilient and human health-promoting cereal crop. The genome size of this self-pollinated allotetraploid is 923 Mb. Proso millet seeds are an important part of the human diet in many countries. In the USA, its use is restricted to the birdseed and pet food market. Proso millet is witnessing gradual demand in the global human health and wellness food market owing to its health-promoting properties such as low glycemic index and gluten-free. The breeding efforts for developing improved proso millet cultivars are hindered by the …

Hybrid Incompatibility Between Ldrosophila Virilis And D. Lummei Is Stronger In The Presence Of Transposable Elements, Dean M. Castillo, Leonie C. Moyle

Nebraska Cooperative Extension: Faculty and Staff Publications

Mismatches between parental genomes in selfish elements are frequently hypothesized to underlie hybrid dysfunction and drive speciation. However, because the genetic basis of most hybrid incompatibilities is unknown, testing the contribution of selfish elements to reproductive isolation is difficult. Here, we evaluated the role of transposable elements (TEs) in hybrid incompatibilities between Drosophila virilis and D. lummei by experimentally comparing hybrid incompatibility in a cross where active TEs are present in D. virilis (TE+) and absent in D. lummei, to a cross where these TEs are absent from both D. virilis (TE−) and D. lummei genotypes. Using genomic data, …

Unl-Taps Crowdsourcing Team Offers Public An Inside View, Matthew Stockton, Krystle Rhoades, Tessa Burford

Cornhusker Economics

At the beginning of the 2022 production season, the University of Nebraska at Lincoln (UNL) Testing Ag Performance Solutions (TAPS) program kicked off the TAPS Crowdsourcing Team. Designed as an opportunity for the public to interact with the hands-on management of a TAPS sprinkler corn irrigated competition plot, the Crowdsourcing Team offers anyone a chance to be involved with the intricacies of crop production. Part of a multistate Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG) practicum, the Crowdsourcing Team is an online community that encourages learning through experience, as well as discussion with peers and professionals.

Three Options For Mixing And Loading Spray Tanks, Kalen Taylor, Cody Zesiger, Corey Ransom, Earl Creech, Matt Yost

All Current Publications

Correctly mixing a tank for chemical applications is something most farmers, ranchers, and home gardeners do regularly. However, understanding how to properly mix and calculate rates can be complicated. Follow one of the three options outlined in this fact sheet to accurately obtain application rates and mix chemical products safely and effectively.

Attributing Differences Of Solar-Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence (Sif)-Gross Primary Production (Gpp) Relationships Between Two C4 Crops: Corn And Miscanthus, Genghong Wu, Kaiyu Guan, Chongya Jiang, Hyungsuk Kimm, Guofang Miao, Carl J. Bernacchi, Caitlin E. Moore, Elizabeth A. Ainsworth, Xi Yang, Joseph A. Berry, Christian Frankenberg, Min Chen

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

There remains limited information to characterize the solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF)-gross primary production (GPP) relationship in C4 cropping systems. The annual C4 crop corn and perennial C4 crop miscanthus differ in phenology, canopy structure and leaf physiology. Investigating the SIF-GPP relationships in these species could deepen our understanding of SIF-GPP relationships within C4 crops. Using in situ canopy SIF and GPP measurements for both species along with leaf-level measurements, we found considerable differences in the SIF-GPP relationships between corn and miscanthus, with a stronger SIF-GPP relationship and higher slope of SIF-GPP observed in corn compared to miscanthus. These differences were …

Strategies Of Adaptation And Coping To Climate Change Impacts Among Women Farmers In Guinayangan, Quezon, Philippines: A Life History And Comparative Approach, Miranda Salters

Capstone Collection

The unique struggles and needs of marginalized communities must be considered in a local context prior to addressing climate change mitigation on a global scale. The study uses life history interviews and focus group discussions to capture the challenges, diverse adaptation strategies, and coping mechanisms of women farmers from upland and coastal areas of Guinayangan, Quezon, Philippines. These perspectives may initiate advocacy efforts for increased support so that these agricultural livelihoods can continue to feed populations in the future, as climate change persists. Results suggest that both women from upland and coastal areas experience similar climate vulnerabilities, but the way …

An Analysis Of Decolonization Efforts In Urban Agriculture: A Pathway To Indigenous Food Sovereignty And Cultural Revitalization, Sarah Fisher

Environment and Sustainability Summer Fellows

My research focuses on applications of urban agriculture, relationships between Indigenous peoples and community-based agriculture projects, and decolonizing food systems. I provide insight on colonialist tendencies, or ways in which the marginalization of Indigenous peoples is deeply entrenched within government, educational, and other leadership settings, as a way to evaluate and restructure urban agriculture projects to serve, represent and heal Native communities. Conventional urban agriculture has many known benefits, including its capacity for food production; however, the extent to which Indigenous communities participate in and benefit from urban agriculture has not been widely studied. Ongoing exclusion of Indigenous peoples from …

Scotus Invalidates Obama Clean Power Plan, J. David Aiken

Cornhusker Economics

On June 30, 2022, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) ruled in the case of West Virginia v. EPA that the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) could not implement the 2016 Obama administration Clean Power Plan (CPP). This article briefly discusses the CPP, the CPP litigation, the Court's opinion in West Virginia v. EPA, and what the decision means for Biden administration climate policy.

The Relationship Between Leadership Preference Of County Level Personnel Within University Of Missouri Extension And Their Level Of Employee Engagement, Jason C. Morris

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to describe the perceived leadership style of the University of Missouri Extension Service county staff and their level of engagement and study the relationship between variables. Administrators with University of Missouri Extension Service can utilize this information to better serve Extension Staff and ultimately people throughout the state of Missouri.

The Vannsimpco Leadership Survey was used to measure the perceived leadership style of county level staff. The Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) was used to measure work engagement on three constructs: vigor, absorption, and dedication engagement. Demographic characterizes of county level staff was also …

The Employability Of State Ffa Degree Recipients In Alabama, Kailee D. Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

Many high schools have shifted from comprehensive graduation exams to a focus on College and Career Readiness. A common method used to determine when a student is college and career ready is a Career Readiness Indicator (CRI). Many CRIs demonstrate a benchmark learning goal for students. Among academic-based CRIs are Career and Technical Education (CTE) industry credentials. Credentials are just one way that agriculture classrooms contribute to student success. This study compiled existing research on CRIs and employability skills in CTE students to determine how the State FFA Degree could potentially fit into this category as well as highlight specific …

Sustainable Sidedress Nitrogen Applications For Early Corn And Cotton Crops Using Small Unmanned Aerial Systems, James Nolan Parker

Theses and Dissertations

Nitrogen run-off from agriculture have been linked to human health problems on a global level. Large-scale conventional producers struggle to redefine themselves as sustainable because reducing nitrogen (N) inputs without justification or validation may lead to severe profit losses. Small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) sensing may allow for decreased N runoff. Failure to address this problem will exacerbate already excessive N runoff into the Mississippi River and beyond. The purpose of this study was to reduce fertilizer N input using sUAS technology to assess crop canopy needs. In 2020 and 2021, variable rate nitrogen (VRN) side-dress N application maps were …

Effects Of The In Ovo Administration Of The Poulvac E. Coli Vaccine In Layer Hatching Eggs On Hatchability, Hatchling Characteristics, And Early Posthatch Chick Performance, Lauren L. Lindsey

Theses and Dissertations

Avian Pathogenic E. coli can lead to infections in laying hens and wide-spread economic problems in the table egg industry. A vaccine widely used to combat APEC is the Poulvac E. coli vaccine, which is normally applied via spray vaccination. Application of this vaccine via in ovo injection has not been examined. The purpose of this series of studies was to determine the effects of injecting 50 μL of different dosages of the PECV into Hy-Line W-36 layer hatching eggs on the hatchability and characteristics of the hatchlings, and on the livability and characteristics of the chicks through 21 d …

The Impacts Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On The Food Security Of Mississippians, Hannah Noel Irwin

Theses and Dissertations

Mississippi leads the United States in food insecurity, with 15.3% of Mississippians experiencing food insecurity in a given year. To determine the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the food insecurity of Mississippians, a survey containing the USDA Household Food Security Questionnaire was distributed to adult Mississippi residents. By employing the USDA Household Food Security Scale and the Foster-Greer-Thorbecke Methodology, this study finds that the food insecurity rate, food insecurity gap, and squared food insecurity gap have worsened in Mississippi since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, this study finds that households which were food insecure prior to March …

Assessing Virtual Free-Choice Agricultural Learning: A Mixed Methods Approach, Richard John Kennedy

Theses and Dissertations

Since the mid-19th century, agricultural museums and living history sites, first in Scandinavia and then in the United States and Canada, have provided historical, cultural, and, sometimes, scientific information about farming to visitors. Many of these visitors have been school children on field trips. Assessment of this learning, however, has been scant, particularly within the free-choice style inherent in these types of educational venues. At the same time, assessment of free-choice learning, often analyzed through the Contextual Model of Learning (Falk & Dierking 2000), has taken place at educational sites like zoos, natural history museums, and science centers. This study, …

The Local Food Supply, Willingness To Pay And The Sustainability Of An Island Destination, Cathrine Linnes, Jeffrey Thomas Weinland, Giulio Ronzoni, Joseph Lema, Jerome Agrusa

Hospitality Faculty Research

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the trend toward purchasing locally grown food and evaluate if tourists visiting hawai’i are willing to pay more for locally produced foods that are more ecologically sustainable.

Design/methodology/approach: A research questionnaire was developed in order to investigate the attitudes and behaviors of tourists from the continental united states visiting hawai’i in purchasing locally grown food in hawai’i. the final sample includes 454 valid survey responses collected via momentive, a market research services company.

Findings: According to the findings of this study, there are economic prospects to expand the use of locally …

Active Consideration Of Health And Nutritional Quality Of Food Choices, Christopher R. Gustafson

Cornhusker Economics

Everyone can be positively influenced by effective interventions promoting healthier food choices. A handful of recent papers have documented positive impacts on dietary quality resulting from interventions that remind people to consider health through prompt messages or subtle priming in supermarkets and in controlled, online experiments. These studies have focused on the impact of reminders on nutritional quality rather than explaining how reminders work. An exception, Arslain, Gustafson, and Rose (2021), collected data on multiple elements of individuals' choice processes to trace the impact of reminders on decisions, showing that reminder messages led people to consider a healthier set of …

Investigations Of The Potential For Irrigated Agriculture On The Bonaparte Plains: Hydrogeology, Aquifer Properties And Groundwater Chemistry, Don Bennett, Paul Raper, Robert Paul, Tim Pope, Richard J. George Dr

Resource management technical reports

‘Cockatoo Sands’ is a common name for the Cockatoo Sands family of soils (comprising red to yellowish-red sands, sandy earths, and loamy earths) that have formed from quartz sandstone colluviums in relatively isolated patches throughout the East Kimberley region of Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Cockatoo Sands are recognised as potentially suitable for irrigated agriculture because they are generally well drained and not subject to waterlogging or inundation. These characteristics allow them to be cultivated and prepared for planting various crops during the wet and dry seasons of northern Australia.

Expanding agricultural production onto the Cockatoo Sands around Kununurra …

Nebline, August/September 2022

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

Nutrition Security: A New National Focus by Emily Gratopp

Recipe of the Month: Starwberry Smoothie and Freezer Pop by Emily Gratopp

Harvesting & Drying Herbs by Sarah Browning

Garden Guide: Things to Do This Month

Water Play Fun by Hayley Jackson

Controlling Poison Hemlock by Melissa Bartels

Summer Brings Singing Cicadas by Kait Chapman

4-H Announcements for Enrolled 4-H'ers or 4-H Volunteers

Lancaster County Super Fair, July 28-Aug. 6, 2022

4-H Will Livestream from the Fair! YouTube

Join 4-H!

Heart of 4-H Volunteer Award: Sonja Moore and Lancaster County Engineering Department

4-H Teen Council Invites New Members

4-H Council Golf …

Assessing Consumer Demand, Producer Profitability, And The Environmental Impacts Of Conservation Agriculture Adoption In Sub-Saharan Africa, Willy Byamungu Mulimbi

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores three aspects of conservation agriculture (CA) in the Sub-Saharan African region (SSA). The first article examines the demand side of CA and explores whether urban maize (Zea mays L.) consumers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) would be willing to pay a premium for CA-produced maize flour. The second article estimates the effects CA provides to adopters and their farms in smallholder farming systems in the DRC, focusing on changes in soil properties and cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) yields. The final article uses a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach to monetize the environmental impacts of adopting …

Effects Of Shade Nets On Microclimatic Conditions, Growth, Fruit Yield, And Quality Of Eggplant (Solanum Melongena L.): A Case Study In Carnarvon, Western Australia, Giao N. Nguyen, Neil Lantzke, Andrew Van Burgel

Horticulture Research Articles

Carnarvon has a hot, semi-arid climate with high temperatures and solar radiation during spring–summer, which damages crops and limits the production season for the local vegetable industry. Protective cultivation is one of the promising approaches to mitigate these adverse weather conditions and avoid the resulting damage to vegetable crops. This study, which is part of the protected cropping research program for vegetable crops in Western Australia, was conducted to understand how the shade nets of a protective net house modify the microenvironment affecting the growth, physiology, and fruit yield of eggplants, a model vegetable crop. The eggplant crop was grown …

The Casnr L.I.N.K.S. Newsletter: Learning Innovation Network For K-12 Schools, Edition 7, August 2022, Bailey Feit, Tammy Mittelstet

CASNR L.I.N.K.S. Newsletter

The purpose of this L.I.N.K.S. newsletter is to provide a monthly update of opportunities and resources for K-12 schools to connect with the University of Nebraska's CASNR Food, Energy, Water, and Societal Systems (FEWS²) programs and partners.

Included in this issue:

How can we support you and your students in the 2022-2023 school year?

UNL CASNR Teaching and Learning K-12 Partners website is live

Eye on curriculum and resources

Curriculum and classroom resources for all levels

Biological Systems Engineering announcement

Teacher opportunities

Link to list of new partnerships

Ask an expert

Eye on CASNR research: Erin Blankenship

Student experiences

Send …

Land Use/ Land Cover Change Patterns And Trends In Two Dryland Regions, Omar Sulaiman Belhaj

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Development and climate change affect the environment in numerous ways and to varyingdegrees. This effect appears prominent and more influential in arid regions. Therefore, land use/ land cover in these regions experience profound changes such as plant cover decrease and extinction of some plant species. Also, land use/ land cover in these regions has critical impacts on the environment and its components, such as shrublands shrinking and losing the habitat of animal species. The degree of changes and effects reaches severe levels that become urgent to figure out the impacts and find solutions to stop or mitigate the negative consequences. …

The Genetic Basis For Panicle Trait Variation In Switchgrass (Panicum Virgatum), Li Zhang, Alice Macqueen, Xiaoyu Weng, Kathrine D. Behrman, Jason Bonnette, John L. Reilley, Francis M. Rouquette, Philip A. Fay, Yanqi Wu, Felix B. Fritschi, Robert B. Mitchell, David B. Lowry, Arvid R. Boe, Thomas E. Juenger

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Key message: We investigate the genetic basis of panicle architecture in switchgrass in two mapping populations across a latitudinal gradient, and find many stable, repeatable genetic effects and limited genetic interactions with the environment. Abstract: Grass species exhibit large diversity in panicle architecture influenced by genes, the environment, and their interaction. The genetic study of panicle architecture in perennial grasses is limited. In this study, we evaluate the genetic basis of panicle architecture including panicle length, primary branching number, and secondary branching number in an outcrossed switchgrass QTL population grown across ten field sites in the central USA through multi-environment …

How The “Blueprint” For Agriculture In Adventist Education Can Be Relevant In The 21st Century, Katherine Koudele

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.