Earth Sciences Commons^™

How I Use My Pastures, Doug Gehner, Russell C. Hackley, Gil Myers

Kentucky Grazing Conference

No abstract provided.

Developing Fencing For Grazing Systems, Ken Johnson

Kentucky Grazing Conference

Expectation is founded on faith, and in faith lays opportunities. I suppose as we look at most farming operations most changes occur from force not by choice. What I propose today and hope to convince most of you; is that here is an opportunity to make more profit, if you’re willing to change and have faith that it will work.

Tall Fescue From 1931-2006, Garry D. Lacefield

Kentucky Grazing Conference

Tall fescue is the most important coolseason grass grown in the “Heart of America”. It is a versatile plant used for animal feed, lawns and turf, and conservation purposes.

Mineral Supplements And Feed Additives--Can They Eliminate Fescue Toxicity?, John Thomas Johns

Kentucky Grazing Conference

Fescue is the predominate cool season grass in much of the United States due to its wide adaptation and hardiness. Many of these acres however, contain an endophytic fungus resulting in production of toxins with negative effects on grazing cattle. The two primary responses in beef cattle are an increase in core body temperature and a decrease in dry matter intake. As a result, decreases in reproductive rates, milk production, weaning weights and ADG are seen (Tables 1 and 2). Many approaches to pasture management have been advocated to overcome or minimize the problem such as incorporation of legumes, rotational …

Developing Watering Systems For Efficient Grazing, Kevin Laurent

Kentucky Grazing Conference

Whether you call it rotational grazing, intensive grazing or management intensive grazing, the economic benefits of controlling how and where your cattle graze are well documented. Increased forage utilization, greater stocking rates, greater legume persistence, reduced hay feeding and more uniform nutrient recycling are just some of the many benefits producers can take advantage of when practicing some form of controlled grazing. However, one of the greatest challenges to implementing a controlled grazing system is the delivery of stock water to the grazing animal.

Grazing Programs: Environmentally Friendly, Economically Sound And Agronomically Feasible, Sid Brantly

Kentucky Grazing Conference

The environmental soundness of our farms is the greatest, long term asset that farmers have. The topsoil, the trees, the cattle, the grass and crops on your farm are like unto a great financial account...and you are the banker. You make the decisions to: A) Use it all up now, B) Lock it away for someone in the future to make the decisions, or C) Utilize wisely in such a way that it is managed for financial success today, and still builds momentum for your future as well as your descendents.

Animal Behavior: Impacts On Grazing, Mark Kennedy

Kentucky Grazing Conference

I am not an expert on this subject and give all credit for my limited understanding of this subject to Dr. Fred Provenza, Utah State University; Katy Voth, Livestock for Landscapes, LLC; Jim Gerrish and others. I have tried to put into practice, both personally and with other producers, many of these principles to aid in improved grazing management. This presentation will address only 2 aspects of animal behavior; 1) How animal behavior impacts grazing distribution and forage utilization over the landscape, and 2) How animal behavior affects diet selection.

Growing Forage Crops For Wildlife, Don Ball

Kentucky Grazing Conference

Numerous forage crops adapted in the Southeast offer benefits in production of various domestic animals including beef and dairy cattle, horses, and sheep (Ball, et al., 2002). Many of the same attributes these plants offer when grown in connection with livestock enterprises are also valuable in wildlife settings. Furthermore, the attitudes of many wildlife managers are changing, and their desire for knowledge of forage crops is on the rise. Consequently, forage crops are becoming more important and more greatly appreciated by wildlife enthusiasts within our region.

Maximizing Production Of Beef Cattle On Pastures, Justin Sexten

Kentucky Grazing Conference

Standardized performance analysis (SPA) of beef cattle operations continues to demonstrate the importance of reducing feed related costs. As producers look for alternative methods to reduce feed costs the benefits of improved forage management become increasingly important due to the opportunity to reduce feed costs while improving animal performance. One note of caution related to maximizing beef production from pasture, maximizing anything must be done carefully, the difference between maximum success and a total disaster is a fine line.

Grazing Program For Goats, Greg Brann

Kentucky Grazing Conference

Goats are often referred to as four legged bush hogs and actually they perform best when consuming browse. Goats eat from the top down so fields have a mown appearance even when forage is three feet tall. The typical browse height for goats is up to four foot however, they will rise up on their hind legs and sometimes prop on others backs to reach higher. Goats have an affinity for high quality forage. Much of the vegetation we have considered weeds as beef producers is excellent forage for goats. Goats select the high quality leaves and tender growing tips …

From Traditional Confinement Dairying To Grazing Replacement Heifers, Bill Payne

Kentucky Grazing Conference

I would like to share an account of a transition from a conventional dairy operation to our current Management Intensive Grazing (MIG) enterprise. In 1974, I joined my father who at that time had been dairying on a 265 acre farm in Lincoln County, Kentucky for twenty five years. We fed our registered Holsteins corn silage and alfalfa haylage and purchased a manufactured feed. Our herd of 70 Holsteins spent most of their time on concrete. We did make an effort to allow access to an exercise lot when weather permitted. However, during the greater part of the 1990’s we …

Pastures For Horses: Challenges And Opportunities, Robert Coleman

Kentucky Grazing Conference

Horses were born to eat grass and how they evolved has allowed them to be efficient users of a high forage diet. In fact, for many of today’s horses, they will survive and thrive on an all forage diet.

Can We Graze Year-Around In The Heart Of America, Edward N. Ballard

Kentucky Grazing Conference

Feed costs represent the major cost in most livestock production systems. A recently completed analysis of 225 Standardized Performance Analysis (SPA) Beef Cow Records on herds in Illinois and Iowa showed that feed cost was the overriding factor determining profitability, explaining over 57 percent of the herd-to-herd variation. Typically the cost of supplying nutrients to ruminant livestock is much greater using harvested feedstuffs as opposed to grazing pastures or crop residues. The primary function of a grassland farm is to convert solar energy to marketable livestock products in the most efficient manner. The fewer steps between the animal product and …

Foreword And Conference Information [2006], Garry D. Lacefield, Christi L. Forsythe

Kentucky Grazing Conference

No abstract provided.

Sorption-Desorption Of Imidacloprid And Its Metabolites In Soil And Vadose Zone Materials, Sharon V. Papiernik, William C. Koskinen, Lucia Cox, Pamela J. Rice, Sharon A. Clay, Nancy R. Werdin-Pfisterer, Kristen A. Norberg

Agronomy, Horticulture and Plant Science Faculty Publications

Sorption-desorption is one of the most important processes affecting the leaching of pesticides through soil because it controls the amount of pesticide available for transport. Subsurface soil properties can significantly affect pesticide transport and the potential for groundwater contamination. This research characterized the sorption-desorption of imidacloprid (1-[(6-chloro-3-pyridinyl)-methyl]-Nnitro-2-imidazolidinimine) and three of its metabolites, 1-[(6-chloro-3-pyridinyl)methyl]-2-imidazolidinone (imidacloprid-urea), 1-[(6-chloro-3-pyridinyl)methyl]-4,5-dihydro-1H-imidazol-2-amine (imidaclopridguanidine), and 1-[(6-chloro-3-pyridinyl)methyl]-1H-imidazol-2-amine (imidacloprid-guanidine-olefin), as a function of changing soil properties with depth in two profiles extending from the surface to a depth of 1.8 or 8 m. Sorption of each compound was highly variable and hysteretic in all cases. Normalizing the sorption coefficients (Kf) …

Theoretical Derivation Of Stable And Nonisotopic Approaches For Assessing Soil Organic Carbon Turnover, D. E. Clay, C. G. Carlson, S. A. Clay, C. Reese, Z. Liu, J. Chang, M. M. Ellsbury

Agronomy, Horticulture and Plant Science Faculty Publications

Techniques for measuring soil organic C (SOC) turnover in production fields are needed. The objectives of this study were to propose and test nonisotopic and 13 C stable isotopic techniques for assessing SOC turnover. Based on SOC equilibrium and mass balance relationships, an equation was derived: NHC/SOC initial=[1/(SOC× k NHC)](dSOC/dt)+ k SOC/k NHC, where dSOC/dt is the annual change in SOC, NHC is nonharvested C returned to soil, k SOC is the annual mineralization rate of SOC, and k NHC is the annual mineralization rate of NHC. This equation was used to calculate maintenance rates. An isotopic approach based on …

Evaluation Of Cauliflower And Broccoli Varieties: Summer Planting (November 2005 - February 2006), Department Of Food And Agriculture, Western Australia

Horticulture research reports

This document has been prepared from a cauliflower and broccoli variety evaluation trial conducted at the Manjimup Horticultural Research Institute, South Western Highway, Manjimup WA 6258. The results reflect the growth characteristics, yield, quality and density of the cauliflower and broccoli varieties as recorded at this site during the conditions of the growing period (November 2005 to February 2006).

This report is the first in a series of four produced from the evaluation of cauliflower and broccoli varieties conducted at the Manjimup Horticultural Research Institute.

The results are provided to allow seed suppliers, seedling nurseries, producers, packers and marketers to …

Facilitating The Development Of The Strawberry Industry In Western Australia, Dennis Phillips, Aileen Reid

Horticulture research reports

Horticulture Australia Project No. BS05001 Annual report 2005/06

This is the first of three annual reports for the Horticulture Australia project BS05001 — ‘Facilitating the development of the strawberry industry in Western Australia’. This project is managed by the Strawberry Growers Association of WA Inc. and the work is being done in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture and Food WA (DAFWA). The project has been funded by voluntary contributions from the W.A. Strawberry Producers Committee, Toolangi Strawberry Runner Growers Co-operative and DAFWA with matching funding from Horticulture Australia Ltd (HAL). The project has been funded for three years, 2005, …

Terpenes And Carbohydrate Source Influence Rumen Fermentation, Digestibility, Intake, And Preference In Sheep, J. J. Villalba, F. D. Provenza, K. C. Olson

Green Canyon Environmental Research Area, Logan Utah

We hypothesized that toxins and nutrients in foods interact to influence foraging behavior by herbivores. Based on this hypothesis we predicted that 1) terpenes in big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) influence intake and preference in sheep for diets varying in sources of nonstructural (barley grain) and structural (sugar beet pulp) carbohydrates, and 2) these effects are due to the differential effects of terpenes on fermentation products and apparent digestibility of each class of carbohydrates. Lambs were fed 2 isoenergetic and isonitrogenous diets with varying proportions of the same ingredients (beet pulp- and barley grain-based diet) or offered a choice between the …

Evaluation Of Cauliflower And Broccoli Varieties: Autumn Planting (January - May 2006), Kristen Stirling

Horticulture research reports

This document has been prepared from a cauliflower and broccoli variety evaluation trial conducted at the Manjimup Horticultural Research Institute, South Western Highway, Manjimup WA 6258. The results reflect the growth characteristics, yield, quality and density of the cauliflower and broccoli varieties as recorded at this site during the conditions of the growing period (January to May 2006).

This report is the second in a series of four produced from the evaluation of cauliflower and broccoli varieties conducted at the Manjimup Horticultural Research Institute. The results are provided to allow seed suppliers, seedling nurseries, producers, packers and marketers to identify …

Canopy-Tree Influences Along A Soil Parent Material Gradient In Pinus-Ponderosa-Quercus Gambelii Forests, Northern Arizona, Scott R. Abella, Judith D. Springer

Public Policy and Leadership Faculty Research

ABELLA, S. R. (Public Lands Institute and School of Life Sciences, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV 89154-2040) AND J. D. SPRINGER (Ecological Restoration Institute, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011-5017). Canopy-tree influences along a soil parent material gradient in Pinus ponderosa- Quercus gambelii forests, northern Arizona. J. Torrey Bot. Soc. 135: 26–36. 2008.—The distribution of canopy trees can impose within-site patterns of soil properties and understory plant composition. At ten sites spanning a soil parent material gradient in northern Arizona Pinus ponderosa-Quercus gambelii forests, we compared soils and plant composition among five canopy types: openings, Pinus ponderosa …

Evaluation Of Water-Retention Ability Of Eastern Arkansas Prairie And Agricultural Soil, Maria L. Barrenechea, Kristofor R. Brye

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

Agricultural land use affects soil physical properties, such as bulk density, water content, organic matter content, and soil structure; all of which in turn affect ecosystem productivity. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of: 1) time since aboveground biomass has been removed by haying (i.e., 0 vs. 23 years), and 2) land use (i.e., undisturbed tallgrass prairie vs. cultivated agriculture) on water-retention characteristics in a silt-loam soil of the Grand Prairie region of eastern Arkansas. Soil samples were collected from the 0- to 10-cm depth and were wetted with varying amounts of distillated water to create …

Phytophthora Diseases Of Cutflower Crops, Department Of Agriculture And Food, Western Australia

Bulletins 4000 -

Phytophthora root rot is the most common soil borne disease causing plant death in native cut flower production. It is also a pathogen of exotic cutflower crops such as rose, lily, carnation, proteas and gerbera. The fungus, Phytophthora cinnamomi, the cause of jarrah dieback is the pathogen that first comes to mind when Phytophthora is mentioned. This has one of the widest host ranges of all Phytophthora species, particularly amongst native Australia species. P.nicotianae also has a wide host range, infecting a wide range of exotic, as well as Australian native flower crops. There are also a number of …

Influence Of Simultaneous Infestations Of Prostephanus Truncatus And Sitophilus Zeamaison The Reproductive Performance And Maize Damage, C P Rugumamu

Tanzania Journal of Science

This study examined the combined effect of Prostephanus truncatus and  Sitophilus zeamais infestations on their reproductive performance and on the damage they cause to maize variety ZM 621 with 12.5% moisture content. The specific objective was to determine the number of the insect pests at F1 and F2 and the grain weight losses caused by the simultaneous pests\' infestations of shelled maize in the search for a control strategy. The results showed a change in adult insect numbers from F1 to F2. During single infestation the change in P. truncatus was 47.54% while in simultaneous infestations it was 41.66%. The …

Crop Yield Response To Precision Deep Tillage, Larry G. Wells, Timothy S. Stombaugh, Scott A. Shearer

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

Experimental precision deep tillage was applied at three sites in central Kentucky with relatively well-drained silt loam soils in no-till crop production. Fields were divided into 0.4 ha (1 ac) grid cells using DGPS mapping. Assessment of soil compaction by machinery traffic was made using multiple soil cone penetrometer measurements and expressed as cone index (CI). Corn, wheat, and soybean yields were depressed in grid cells with CI_avg ≥ 1.5 MPa (218 psi) prior to application of tillage treatments at sites 1 and 3, whereas at site 2, where most of the highest average CI values ranged from 1.44 …

Producing Pulses In The Northern Agricultural Region, Peter White, Martin Harries, Mark Seymour, Pam Burgess

Bulletins 4000 -

Pulses, like most other temperate crops, are ideally suited to environments with mild temperatures, adequate rainfall and free draining soils that have a deep uniform profile, a medium to fine texture and slightly acid to neutral pH (6.5-7.5). Pulses when grown on these soils and in these environments produce reliable yields, are relatively easy to manage and achieve good returns on investment.

Pulses can be grown very successfully in less ideal situations, but must then be managed carefully to ensure reliable yields. The different pulse species, and even different varieties of the same species, vary in how tolerant they are …

Producing Pulses In The Southern Agricultural Region, Peter White, Mark Seymour, Pam Burgess, Martin Harries

Bulletins 4000 -

The development of pulses in Western Australia has undergone tremendous advances over the past 12 years. From a tiny industry in the early 1990’s where the knowledge of both scientists and farmers was very limited, we now have a robust industry with production packages and improved varieties for all the grain legumes species that are well suited to our environment.

This book, which is both comprehensive and practical, collates much of the information gathered through pulse research and commercial experience over the past 10 years and will be valuable to all pulse growers, agronomists, students and industry advisors alike. The …

Site Assessments, Martyn Keen

Natural resources published reports

The processes of collecting and recording site data as part of the preliminary tasks leading to a landscape or project design.

This standard applies to landscape and project designs for catchments of any size. Designs include: the installation of conservation earthworks; revegetation; land use planning; or implementation of erosion and sediment control practices. The design may also include any combination of the above

Photo Highlights Of The 25th Kentucky Alfalfa Conference, Kentucky Alfalfa Conference

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

No abstract provided.

Photos Of The 25th Kentucky Alfalfa Conference Award Winners, Kentucky Alfalfa Conference

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

No abstract provided.