Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Forage Systems Effect On Forage-Fed Beef Production, Guillermo Scaglia, Basu Bhandari, Jeffrey M. Gillespie, Jim J. Wang

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Locally produced forage-finished beef offers high value while enhancing economic, environmental, and social sustainability. It enhances environmental quality and the natural resource base, and makes good use of resources both on and off-farm. On the farm, it makes the most of the ability of cattle to convert grass to meat in a low-input system, making efficient use of solar energy, improving soil nutrient cycling, conserving soil and water, and limiting reliance on non-renewable resources (DeRamus 2004). Although the major causes of increased greenhouse gas emissions are due to population growth and industrialization, agriculture contributes to carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions through …

The Evolving Beef Industry And Its Sustainability In Western China, J. P. Wu, Z. M. Lei, L. P. Zhang, X. R. Wang, S. G. Zhao, C. Q. Zhang, G. H. Sun, S. G. Li

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

The beef industry in China has started to develop since the 1980s. Since then, its production system has been evolving significantly from subsistence production towards business operation in farmer households. As demands continue to grow, China will become the largest beef consumption country in the world by the year of 2025. The beef production in China’s western agriculture regions is gaining significant role in the beef industry of China. Utilization of corn stover and other agriculture aftermath is seen as the competitive advantage of development of the beef industry. Over the last 30 years the beef production efficiency has been …

Survey Of Pasture Species And Management, Manure Management, Milk Production And Reproduction On Pasture-Based Dairy Farms In Florida And Georgia, Usa, F. Du, K. D. Gay, M. E. Sowerby, Y. C. Newman, C. R. Staples, R. C. Lacy, A. De Vries

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Traditionally, most dairy farms in the south-eastern United States confine cows to barns or on pasture lots year-round and feed stored forages and concentrated feeds (Fontaneli et al. 2005). Often, much of the feed is purchased, however, the cost of purchased feed and fuel has risen rapidly in the last 5 years (NASS 2009). In addition, a significant amount of capital is tied up in buildings, machinery and manure management systems on the farms. For these reasons, many dairy farmers have shown an interest in or started transitioning to pasture-based dairy systems (Ricks and Hardee 2012). The management practices …

How To Promote Education For Sustainable Development? Vision Of The Educational Situation And Its Contribution To Sustainable Development., Khalid Aada

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

During the last decade, the importance of leaving a rational paradigm, debtor of functionalist and utilitarian models, towards another more congruent with the preservation of natural resources, and therefore of life, has been widely discussed. In the same way, different voices have been raised, pointing out the urgency of inserting these precepts into the educational field, hoping to achieve the true cultural transformation that is needed to consolidate the change. Multiple International Entities promote sustainability in Education as an initiative that should be ambitious, complex and reforming character, given the global scope of the social, economic and environmental situation affecting …

Northern Conifer Forest Management: Silvicultural, Economic, And Ecological Outcomes From 65 Years Of Study, Maren Granstrom

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

While forest managers once sought primarily to produce sustainable revenue from harvests, there is now growing value placed on non-timber outcomes like wildlife habitat, climate adaptability, and carbon storage. When deciding how to manage land for the future, foresters and landowners must assess the many outcomes of forestry activities and be aware of the tradeoffs inherent to achieving different goals. Given the slow growth of trees relative to other commercial crops, it is rare to have the continuity of land ownership, researchers, and funding needed to follow a stand for a full rotation or to observe a tree from recruitment …

The Economics Of Residential Solar Panels: Comparing Tiered And Time Of Use Plans, Prashanth Nyer, Candace Ybarra, Jack B. Broughton

Business Faculty Articles and Research

This case study uses data from a Southern California Edison residential customer on a grandfathered tiered rate plan to investigate 1) whether it is economically beneficial for the customer to switch from a tiered-rate plan to a Time-of-Use (TOU) plan, 2) whether going solar now makes financial sense for new solar customers, 3) what level of usage offset (the percentage of the customer’s annual electricity consumption that is provided by the solar panels) would result in the maximum financial benefit for the customer under each of the many TOU plans, and 4) whether solar customers on TOU plans can save …

Strategies To Improve Forage Utilization By Sheep Offered Forage Mixtures, Valens Niyigena

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the first experiment, alfalfa and novel endophyte-infected tall fescue (NE+) forages were harvested after a killing frost, then mixed to formulate 4 different treatments; alfalfa alone, 67% alfalfa +33% fescue, 33% alfalfa + 67% fescue, or 100% fescue. After 3 months of storage as silage, Dorper ewe lambs (n = 20; mean BW = 34.7 ± 6.65 kg) were fed silage for ad libitum consumption, using 5 animals per treatment. Increasing the proportion of NE+ tall fescue improved (P < 0.05) silage total acids and lactic acid concentrations and decreased silage ammonia concentration. Digestible dry matter and organic matter intake and nitrogen utilization parameters decreased with increasing inclusion of NE+ in diet. In the second experiment, 16 Dorper ewe lambs (41.8 ± 4.61 kg BW) were assigned to 4 different treatments; alfalfa silage alone (0 g/kg; CONT) or alfalfa silage mixed with chopped sericea lespedeza (SL) hay to provide 90 (LOW), 180 (MED), or 270 g/kg SL (HIGH) on a dry matter basis in a randomized complete block design experiment with 2 period to provide 4 observations per treatment for each experimental period. Increasing the proportion of sericea lespedeza in the diet decreased dry matter and organic matter digestibility but did not affect feed intake. Fecal nitrogen (g/kg N intake) increased linearly (P < 0.01) while urinary N (g/ day and g/ kg of N intake) tended to decreased linearly and quadratically (P ≤ 0.1) with increasing the proportion of SL in diet. In the third experiments, 16 gestating Dorper ewe lambs (49.1 ± 4.61 kg BW) were allocated to 4 treatments; alfalfa silage alone (0% g/kg; CONT) or alfalfa silage mixed with lablab purpureus(LP) hay to provide 90 (LOW), 180 (MED), or 270 g/kg LP (HIGH) on a dry matter (DM) basis, in a randomized complete block design experiment with a total 8 replication per treatment. Supplementation of LP in diet increased quadratically (P ≤ 0.04) forage dry matter, organic matter intake, digestible dry matter and digestible organic matter intake (P < 0.05). Nitrogen apparently absorbed and urinary N both decreased linearly (P < 0.01) with adding more LP hay in diet. Harvesting and mixing alfalfa and fescue after a killing frost improved silage fermentation characteristics and supplementation of tannins from SL and polyphenol from LP altered N excretion.

Key words: lablab, sericea lespedeza, alfalfa silage, nitrogen, sheep.

Gnome Waste Warriors: Waste Reduction Through Sustainability, Hayley E.R. Frost Rubino

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The focus of this Capstone Project was on how waste and waste reduction could positively impact a community. Waste reduction is an important issue because the negative impacts of waste affect the whole planet. By educating Monterey Gnome School (MGS) about waste, changes in daily habits are intended to result in lasting change. An evidence-based argument is offered that waste is a global issue that negatively impacts the earth's landmasses, oceans, and human health. Both MGS staff and students were interviewed and surveyed, as their perspectives provide unique aspects of thinking about waste issues. The themes that emerged from an …

Legumes, Livestock And Livelihoods In The Australian Mixed Farming System, E. C. Wolfe

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

This Howard Oration describes the pathway that I have taken towards my specialisation in ‘big picture’ agriculture. A simple protocol is presented for the analysis of agricultural systems by using descriptive or quantitative indicators of five system properties: productivity, sustainability, profitability, social wellbeing and political acceptability. These properties are further illustrated by considering four important issues in the Australian sheep-wheat belt, a distinctive world food production system. The issues are the supply of and demand for legume nitrogen for crops, reconciling agricultural and natural resource objectives, the low profitability of farms in relation to production and marketing risks, and the …

Sustainable Solutions, Fall/Winter 2020, Issue 41

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Growing Local: The Role Of Urban Gardening In Fostering Food Security, Sustainability, And Community, Franklin Wagner, Lindsey Payne

Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement

The downtown center of Lafayette, Indiana is situated in a food desert where access to healthy, nutritious food can be limited. Urban gardens are an effective way to increase access to healthy alternatives while also providing a number of benefits to the surrounding area, including opportunities for community growth, education, and physical activity. In summer 2016, researchers from Purdue University collaborated with Lafayette’s GrowLocal Urban Gardens Network (GrowLocal) to perform a baseline analysis of the current community gardening initiatives, and explore the possibilities for expansion, development, and future community involvement through urban gardening.

Both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods …

Effects Of Stormwater Green Infrastructure On Watershed Outflow: Does Spatial Distribution Matter?, Benjamin Fahy, Heejun Chang

International Journal of Geospatial and Environmental Research

Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) has become a popular method in urban stormwater management. We examined how spatial distribution of GSI affected rainfall-runoff relationships in a recently developed neighborhood in Gresham, Oregon, USA for the 2017-2018 water year. Runoff ratio, peak discharge, and flashiness were compared under four precipitation scenarios (of differing intensity and duration) and different spatial arrangements of GSI. Distributed GSI reduced runoff ratio (10 - 20%), peak discharge (26 - 68%), and flashiness index (56 - 70%). Distributed GSI outperformed centralized structures for all metrics, reducing runoff ratio (22 - 32%), peak discharge 67 to 69%, and flashiness …

Human Rights, Environmental Justice, Social Justice, Faith Values And Ethics: Building Stronger Partnerships For The Common Good By Understanding The Differences, Theresa Harris, Leanne M. Jablonski, Sarah Fortner, Malcolm Daniels

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Partnerships between human rights practitioners, local communities, scientists, engineers, and health professionals have shown potential to address deeply rooted, systemic human rights concerns. These collaborations are essential for achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and for engaging the perspectives and expertise of all constituents. However, even when the individuals in these partnerships or the organizations they represent have common goals, their motivations, analyses, and solutions often come from different perspectives. Members of good will can inadvertently alienate one another when attempting to work together. The fields of human rights, social justice, environmental justice, and ethics have each developed their …

Art And The Environment, Ellen Dexter, Lydia Dexter

Honors Expanded Learning Clubs

After school club that teaches the importance of sustainable practices and conversation activities through art projects and imagination.

Campus-Based Agriculture: The Future Of Food At Gettysburg College, Bryn K. Werley

Student Publications

This research investigates various methods for producing food on the campus of Gettysburg College in order to improve food sustainability. The transportation of food contributes to the increased use of fossil fuels, which in turn leads to global warming and climate change. By producing a larger portion of its food on-campus, Gettysburg College could reduce the amount of food transported to the school, thereby lessening the College’s environmental impact. Urban farming techniques, hydroponics, aquaponics, and greenhouse-based agriculture are explored as viable methods for achieving this goal. Examples of the use of these techniques on college campuses are drawn from Allegheny …

Building A Green Dorm: How Colleges And Universities Across America Have Embraced Sustainable Communal Living, Theresa M. Blickenstaff

Student Publications

Building a dorm is hard work. Building a green, sustainable dorm is doubly so. With their extensive lighting, appliances, heating and cooling needs, fans, and laundry machines, traditional college residence halls are notorious for their large energy footprints. Particularly for colleges such as Gettysburg where dorm living is mandatory for some or all four years, the environmental impact of residence halls is particularly large. As leaders with long histories of inspiring change, colleges and universities in the United States have an obligation to promote sustainable practices. Gettysburg College has announced that in the next few years, it is planning to …

Environmentally Responsible Land Use, Spring/Summer 2010, Issue 22

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Sustainable Communities, Fall/Winter 2010, Issue 21

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Sustainable Building, Spring/Summer 2009, Issue 20

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Environmental History, Fall/Winter 2009, Issue 19

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Student Research, Spring/Summer 2008, Issue 18

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Evolving Pollution Prevention, Fall/Winter 2008, Issue 17

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Climate Change, Spring/Summer 2007, Issue 16

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Land Conservation, Spring/Summer 2006, Issue 14

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Green Cities, Spring/Summer 2005, Issue 12

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Global Sustainability, Fall/Winter 2005, Issue 11

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Environmental Justice, Spring/Summer 2004, Issue 10

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Kentucky's Environmental Future, Fall/Winter 2004, Issue 9

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Urban Ecology, Spring/Summer 2003, Issue 8

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Urban Regeneration, Fall/Winter 2003, Issue 7

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.