Plant Sciences Commons^™

Forage News [2007-12], Department Of Plant And Soil Sciences, University Of Kentucky

Forage News

• Heart of America Grazing Conference to Be Held in Missouri
• Forage Producers to Be Featured at KCA
• SRM/AFGC in Louisville
• Panoramic 2SL Registered for Weed Control in Pastures
• Hay – 2007
• Energy Savings with New Light Bulbs
• Corn Stalks and a Protein Block…That All You Got?
• Reflections at My 80^th Birthday - Carl S. Hoveland, October 25, 2007
• Upcoming Events

Forage News [2007-11], Department Of Plant And Soil Sciences, University Of Kentucky

Forage News

• Kentucky Grazing Conference
• Forage Spokesman Featured at Grazing Conference
• KFGC Presents Forage Awards
• Sources for Hay
• If You Procrastinate, It May Be Too Late
• Buffalo Trace Hay Auction
• Volunteer Corn
• Winter Feeding Will Be a Challenge
• State Summary Of 2007
• Environmental Effects of Increased Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide
• Upcoming Events

Forage Spokesman Information, Lowell J. Clifford, Barry Drury, John Mcglone, Mac Stone

Kentucky Grazing Conference

No abstract provided.

Techniques For Reducing Mud Problems And Improving Pasture Abused Areas, Ken Johnson

Kentucky Grazing Conference

I would like to approach this topic from two directions, mud control and then problem areas. Mud control in concentrated areas almost impossible with forages alone. Using a mud control product is usually advised. I will talk about several.

My Experiences With Summer Lovegrass, Tim Phillips

Kentucky Grazing Conference

I first heard about teff (Eragrostis tef) being used as a hay crop in early 2006 at a meeting near the Shenandoah Valley area of Virginia. The meeting was about orchardgrass production, so I was speaking about new varieties that are available for producers to grow. Several farmers had experienced massive stand losses of their established orchardgrass hay fields, so they had tried this ‘new’ summer annual grass. Some of the farmers were surprised that I knew about this grass, but I didn’t know about its use as a hay or pasture grass. Teff is the Ethiopian name for a …

Experiences With "Teff" (Summer Love Grass) In Kentucky, Bob Jaynes

Kentucky Grazing Conference

Following publicity about the Klamath Experiment Station evaluation of Teff as an annual forage in 2003 and 2004, requests for more information and seed sources kept KES staff busy for weeks last spring. We received over 300 contacts from 41 states. Local seed salesman Laverne Hankins processed over 150 orders for more than 5 tons of seed. Those who received seed were sent a questionnaire this fall in hopes that we would get feedback on growers experience with this new forage species. To date we have received responses from about 15 growers.

Options For Summer Grazing, David C. Ditsch

Kentucky Grazing Conference

Summer is the time during the growing season when shortages of forage most often occur in Kentucky. The summer of 2007 will long be remembered as one the warmest and driest in recent years and cause many livestock producers to evaluate their current forage systems. Most Kentucky pastures are predominately cool-season grasses such as tall fescue, orchardgrass and bluegrass. During the historically hot, dry periods in July and August, these species produce very little growth and can quickly become overgrazed. At this point, some producers have no alternative except to buy feed or begin feeding stored forage intended for winter …

Does Grazing Method Matter?, Garry D. Lacefield

Kentucky Grazing Conference

Interest in and opportunities for grazing continues to increase not only in Kentucky, but throughout the U.S. In Wisconsin, 12% or approximately 5000 dairymen are now using grazing. In Michigan, over 40% of the dairymen are using grazing for a significant part of their feed requirements. Over 15% of these dairymen are using intensive grazing. Similar numbers exist for Pennsylvania.

Surviving The 2007 Drought, Roy Burris

Kentucky Grazing Conference

Kentucky beef producers could feel the effects of the ’07 drought for a long time. Decisions made now will impact the ’08 and ’09 calf crops. The current hay/feed shortage has stimulated a lot of “panic buying”. Feedstuffs with very low nutritive values are being purchased at an alarming rate. These “feeds” are being purchased at much higher costs than we normally pay for good quality hay. If properly supplemented, they can be used successfully. However, their use to replace the normal hay supply could have disastrous results.

Recovering From The "Freeze" And "Drought" Of 2007, S. Ray Smith

Kentucky Grazing Conference

As all of you know, 2007 has been a devastating year for forage agriculture in Kentucky. The season started with an abnormally warm 7 weeks during late winter and early spring, which promoted lush vegetative growth. Normally this would have been a “good thing”, but it actually made forage plants more vulnerable to below freezing temperatures. Then the severe freeze occurred, with April 7, 8, and 9 the coldest 3 day period in April in KY history. Pastures were stunted for weeks and first cut hay yields were reduced by 35 to 100%. At this point we were still hopeful …

Foreword And Kfgc Award Winners [2007], Garry D. Lacefield, Christi L. Forsythe

Kentucky Grazing Conference

No abstract provided.

A Simple Array Platform For Microrna Analysis And Its Application In Mouse Tissues, Xiaoqing Tang, Jozsef Gal, Xun Zhuang, Wang-Xia Wang, Haining Zhu, Guiliang Tang

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Publications

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a novel class of small noncoding RNAs that regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level and play a critical role in many important biological processes. Most miRNAs are conserved between humans and mice, which makes it possible to analyze their expressions with a set of selected array probes. Here, we report a simple array platform that can detect 553 nonredundant miRNAs encompassing the entire set of miRNAs for humans and mice. The platform features carefully selected and designed probes with optimized hybridization parameters. Potential cross-reaction between mature miRNAs and their precursors was investigated. The array platform was …

Forage News [2007-10], Department Of Plant And Soil Sciences, University Of Kentucky

Forage News

• Kentucky Grazing Conference
• KY Grazing Conference Hosts Popular Forage Spokesperson Contest
• Grazing Corn Stalks
• Nutrient Losses from Harvested Hay or Crop Residue
• Forages - Louisville - January - Big Event
• Biotechnology in Forage Crops: Update for KY Farmers
• The Effects of Feeding Sericea Lespedeza Hay on Growth Rate of Goats Naturally Infected with Gastrointestinal Nematodes
• Southeastern Drought Drives Search for Hay
• Upcoming Events

Forage News [2007-09], Department Of Plant And Soil Sciences, University Of Kentucky

Forage News

• Forage Spokesman Nominations
• CRP – Forage Quality
• Wet Chemistry Results of Hay Baled from CRP Fields in Hopkins Co. - Aug. 2007
• KFGC Awards
• Stockpiling Tall Fescue
• Cost Per Day on Stockpiled Fescue/Fall Fertilization
• Cost Per Day on Soyhulls/Limit Hay
• Caution When Seeding into Drought Damaged Pastures
• NAFA Summit Promotes Alfalfa for Biofuel
• Consider Annual Ryegrass as a High Quality Forage Option
• Upcoming Events

Impacts Of T-Phylloplanin Gene Knockdown And Of Helianthus And Datura Phylloplanins On Peronospora Tabacina Spore Germination And Disease Potential, Antoaneta B. Kroumova, Ryan W. Shepherd, George J. Wagner

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Publications

T-phylloplanin proteins secreted to aerial surfaces of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) by short procumbent trichomes inhibit spore germination and blue mold disease caused by the oomycete pathogen Peronospora tabacina. Many other plants were found to contain water-washed leaf surface proteins (phylloplanins), but the functions and properties of these are not known. Here we extend earlier evidence for the antifungal activity of T-phylloplanins using a reverse genetics approach. RNA interference of the T-phylloplanin gene in tobacco ‘T.I. 1068’ resulted in loss of T-phylloplanin mRNA and protein, loss of in vitro spore germination inhibition activity, and leaf infection …

Forage News [2007-08], Department Of Plant And Soil Sciences, University Of Kentucky

Forage News

• UK All Commodity Field Day
• 8^th Kentucky Grazing Conference
• Hay Hotline Helps Farmers in Search of Forage
• Beware of Hay Payment Scam
• Judge Amends Roundup Ready Alfalfa Ruling
• Corn Acres Soar, Soy Acres Plunge
• Relative Feed Value (RFV) and Relative Forage Quality (RFQ)
• KFGC Awards
• Forage Spokesman Nominations
• Upcoming Events

Forage News [2007-07], Department Of Plant And Soil Sciences, University Of Kentucky

Forage News

• Forages Losses Exceed $40 Million
• Forage & Beef Tours at UKREC Field Day
• Grazing Conference Date Change
• Forage Spokesman Nominations
• KFGC Awards
• AFGC Report from Pennsylvania
• Top 14 Invasive Species in Kentucky
• Switchgrass Incentives May Be in Farm Bill
• Double Whammy…
• Eastern Gamagrass Meeting & Tour
• KFGC Field Day
• Upcoming Events

Forage News [2007-06], Department Of Plant And Soil Sciences, University Of Kentucky

Forage News

• KFGC Summer Grazing Tour
• UK Field Day Offers Something for Everyone
• KADB Approves $650,000 For Biomass Project
• USDA-ARS and Cooperative Extension Sponsors Eastern Gamagrass Field Day
• Roundup Ready Alfalfa Injunction is Permanent
• No Roundup Ready Harvest Restrictions Yet
• Effects of Forage on Steer Performance
• Effects of Forage on Stocker Profits
• Grazing Days – Fescue vs. Small Grains
• Forage Has Cellulosic Ethanol Potential
• Maintaining Forage Harvester for Fuel Efficiency
• Upcoming Events

Corn Stover Availability And Collection Efficiency Using Typical Hay Equipment, Robert M. Prewitt, Michael D. Montross, Scott A. Shearer, Timothy S. Stombaugh, Stephen F. Higgins, Samuel G. Mcneill, Shahab Sokhansanj

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

Corn stover has been identified as a potential feedstock for the production of fermentable sugars and thermochemical processes. The availability and efficiency of typical hay equipment for collecting corn stover has not been well quantified. Corn stover was collected for two years on a central Kentucky farm near Louisville. Six different harvesting treatments, using traditional hay equipment, were used to harvest corn stover. A rotary mower, rotary scythe (flail-type mower with windrow-forming shields), parallel bar rake, and a round baler were utilized. The average stover moisture content prior to grain harvest was above 40%, and field drying was required before …

Forage News [2007-05], Department Of Plant And Soil Sciences, University Of Kentucky

Forage News

• Freeze and Forages
• Forage Field Day in Monroe County
• Grazing and Alfalfa Conferences
• Forage Tour Set for U.K. All Commodity Field Day
• Remember AFGC Annual Meeting - June 24-26, 2007
• Final Alfalfa Weevil Thoughts - Don’t Forget Regrowth Feeding
• Milk Production
• Barren County Continued as Cattle Capital of Kentucky
• Armyworm Counts on the Increase Again!
• Losses of Alfalfa During Harvest
• Upcoming Events

Soil Microbial Community Response To Hexavalent Chromium In Planted And Unplanted Soil, Ioannis Ipsilantis, Mark S. Coyne

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Publications

Theories suggest that rapid microbial growth rates lead to quicker development of metal resistance. We tested these theories by adding hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] to soil, sowing Indian mustard (Brassica juncea), and comparing rhizosphere and bulk soil microbial community responses. Four weeks after the initial Cr(VI) application we measured Cr concentration, microbial biomass by fumigation extraction and soil extract ATP, tolerance to Cr and growth rates with tritiated thymidine incorporation, and performed community substrate use analysis with BIOLOG GN plates. Exchangeable Cr(VI) levels were very low, and therefore we assumed the Cr(VI) impact was transient. Microbial biomass was reduced …

Forage News [2007-04], Department Of Plant And Soil Sciences, University Of Kentucky

Forage News

• Conference Proceedings on Web
• Growers Can Continue to Grow and Use Roundup Ready Alfalfa, but Monsanto Company Is Disappointed with Preliminary Injunction Affecting Purchase and Planting; Will Continue to Support Growers’ Right to Choose Roundup Ready Alfalfa for Their Forage Operations
• New Posters Featuring Forages Now Available/Southern Forages Book Now in Fourth Edition
• Teff
• Removal of Tall Fescue from Kentucky Bluegrass Pastures
• Phoenix Alfalfa has Substantial Resistance to Sclerotinia Crown and Stem Rot
• KFGC Summer Field Day
• Upcoming Events

Plant Cells And Plants Expressing Chemeric Isoprenoid Synthases, Joseph Chappell, Kyoungwhan Back

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Patents

The invention features plant cells and plants that include a nucleic acid molecule encoding a chimeric isoprenoid synthase polypeptide including an asymmetrically positioned homologous domain. The chimeric isoprenoid synthases of the invention catalyze the production of isoprenoid reaction products that are not produced when the asymmetrically positioned homologous domain is positioned at its naturally-occurring site in an isoprenoid synthase polypeptide.

Forage News [2007-03], Department Of Plant And Soil Sciences, University Of Kentucky

Forage News

• Kentucky Alfalfa Awards
• 27^th Kentucky Alfalfa Conference
• Forages at KCA
• 2006 Hay Contest Winners
• Biotech Traits Can Improve Alfalfa
• Newly Updated: Grain and Forage Crop Guide For KY
• New Publication: Long Term Variety Test Summary
• AFGC Will Hold Its Annual Meeting This June in Pennsylvania
• Increase in Alfalfa Acreage & Yield
• Conversion from Corn to Grassland Provides Economic and Environmental Benefits to a Maryland Beef Farm
• Disc, Sickle Mowers Both Have Pluses
• Kentucky Farm Numbers
• Upcoming Events

Loline Alkaloid Gene Clusters Of The Fungal Endophyte Neotyphodium Uncinatum, Christopher L. Schardl, Heather H. Wilkinson, Martin J. Spiering

Plant Pathology Faculty Patents

Loline alkaloids (LA), which are 1-aminopyrrolizidines with an oxygen bridge, are produced by Epichloë (anamorph=Neotyphodium) species, endophytes of grasses. LA are insecticidal, thus helping protect host plants from insect herbivory. Suppression subtractive hybridization PCR was used to isolate transcripts up-regulated during loline alkaloid production in cultures of Neotyphodium uncinatum. Subtracted cDNAs were cloned, and a λ-phage cDNA library from an LA-expressing N. uncinatum culture was screened with subtracted cDNA. In BLAST searches, several cDNAs identified had sequence similarities to aspartate kinases, and another with O-acetylhomoserine-(thiol)lyase. Differential expression of these two genes in LA-producing cultures of N. uncinatum …

How I Produced Nationally Award Winning Alfalfa Hay, Rick Alexander

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

No abstract provided.

Roundup Ready Alfalfa: Results After One Year On The Market, S. Ray Smith

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

Roundup Ready alfalfa has now been on the market for over a year with close to 30 varieties available or soon to be available across the U.S. This technology provides many new options for alfalfa producers in Kentucky. Several people have asked us which variety is highest yielding and unfortunately we have not been able to provide a good answer. The technology is so new (just approved fall 2005) that few of these varieties have been entered into University yield trials. Companies do have some private data, but they often don’t compare to the varieties you are familiar with. So …

Cowpea Aphids: Where Did They Come From, Will They Be Back?, Lee H. Townsend

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

Clearly, something was unusual back in March when large numbers of very dark aphids were found covering stems and tips in Logan, Marion, and Barren counties. They were the cowpea aphid or black legume aphid (Aphis craccivora), a sap-feeding insect known to occur in at least 28 states scattered over the US and into Canada. The cowpea aphid is the only black aphid found infesting alfalfa. Winged or wingless adults are usually shiny black, while the smaller nymphs are dull gray to black. Usually. they are lined along stems or clustered in the expanding leaf tips.

Hay Heating, Hay Sweat And Spontaneous Combustion, Tom Keene, Doug Overhults

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

Making hay in central Kentucky can be one of the most trying on farm endeavors a producer can undertake. Our plentiful moisture, rolling topography, and climate make Kentucky ideal for producing high quality forage for either grazing or hay making. However, that same moisture either in the form of rain or high humidity can sometimes make it devilishly hard to make quality hay here in Kentucky.

Alfalfa For Summer Grazing, John Johns

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

Alfalfa can make an excellent grazing forage for cattle in the summer as well as at other times of year provided that good grazing management is utilized. Alfalfa can be grazed very close to the ground but should not be grazed continuously. Initial regrowth after grazing comes from nutrient reserves in the root; therefore, a sufficient rest period or regrowth period without grazing must be allowed for these nutrients to be replenished. In summer, this rest period is 30 to 35 days. In adequate rest for root nutrient replenishment is not allowed, the plant will be weakened and stand life …