Earth Sciences Commons^™

Red Clover Improves The Energy To Protein Balance Of Lucerne-Grass Herbage, X. Godin, Gaëtan F. Tremblay, P. Seguin, S. Bittman, D. Hunt, J. Hakl, G. Bélanger, M.-N. Thivierge, A. Bertrand, M. Thériault, A. Claessens

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Low ratio of readily fermentable carbohydrate to soluble protein concentrations in lucerne (Medicago sativa L.) leads to inefficient use of herbage N by ruminants. To improve the energy to protein balance in lucerne-grass herbage, four proportions of lucerne:red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) were compared in mixtures with and without grasses: timothy (Phleum pratense L.) and tall fescue (Schedonorus arundinaceus Schreb. Dumort.) in Quebec (QC, Canada). In the first post-seeding year, red clover proportion averaged (across grasses and four harvests) 0, 37, 59, and 74% in herbage mixtures. Increasing the proportion of red clover caused a slight …

Structural Features Of Condensed Tannins Influence Their Antimethanogenic Potential In Forage Plants, S. Verma, J.-P. Salminen, S. Wolffram, F. Taube, R. Blank, A. Susenbeth, C. Malisch

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Despite years of research on the antimethanogenic potential of condensed tannins (CT), their large-scale application is inhibited by a substantial variability in previous studies with regards to their impact on ruminant nutrition. This variability mainly results from the complexity of CT structures, and their impact on methane emissions is often unaccounted for. Hence, this study (a) evaluated the variability in antimethanogenic potential across six forage species, (b) linked methane emissions to tannin activity, and (c) determined the impact of CT structural features on methane abatement. Six forage species were grown in a greenhouse under controlled environmental conditions, namely, sainfoin ( …

Round Bale Silage – Farmer Results In Kentucky, Jimmy C. Henning, Jeff Lehmkuhler, Brandon Sears, Corinne Belton, Levi Berg, Don Sorrell, April Wilhoit

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

The ability to make silage in round bale packages allows producers to avoid rain damage and produce high quality stored forage. The proliferation of bale wrappers (both individual and inline types) has made this technology more available to producers. Although the process for making baleage is well documented, producers have experienced poor fermentation and in some cases botulism toxicity from baleage. The parameters of good silage are well known and include pH below 5.0 and lactic acid concentrations above 3% on a DM basis. However, tests of farmer produced baleage reveals that often these target values are not achieved. To …

Optimizing Quality With Bale Density And Time Of Wrapping, Jessica Williamson

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

No abstract provided.

Alfalfa Insect Update: 2021 Growing Season, Lee H. Townsend

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

Alfalfa weevils (AW) and fall armyworms (FAW) were newsmakers for very different reasons during the 2021 alfalfa growing season. An AW control failure with a pyrethroid in Kentucky drew attention to practices to manage insecticide resistance. A regional outbreak of FAWs resulted in significant damage to alfalfa and grasses along with a reminder of the unpredictable nature and difficult detection of this pest. While there are several effective FAW control options, it is challenging is to detect infestations in time to act.

Mowing And Conditioning For Round Bale Silage: Equipment Adjustment And Harvest Management, Jessica Williamson

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

No abstract provided.

Harvest Timing And Moisture Determination: Forage Drying Rates And Moisture Probe Accuracy, Benjamin M. Conner, Jimmy C. Henning

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

Scott County Kentucky currently has a beef cattle herd of 28,509 head (USDA, 2017). These cattle utilize forage as a large part of their diets. Baleage is bales of wilted, high moisture forage which have been wrapped in several layers of UV‐resistant plastic and allowed to ensile like traditional chopped silage (Henning et al., 2021). Baleage has become another way for farmers to harvest and store forage to be used in cattle diets. It has some advantages over the traditional hay production in Kentucky. One advantage is it can be harvested, baled, and stored in a shorter period of time, …

Species And Variety Options For Baleage, S. Ray Smith

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

Any forage species can be made into baleage or silage. While baleage is a form of silage, I’m defining it here as baled forage (typically round bales) that is wrapped in plastic (individually or in a line) for the ensiling process to take place. And silage is typically chopped forage that is ensiled in an upright or bunker silo or blown into a silage tube. The chopping mixes all the material together and allows tight packing to remove oxygen therefore encouraging faster fermentation. With baleage there is no chopping to mix the forage, so it’s essential that the forage is …

Forward Of Kentucky Alfalfa And Stored Forages Conference [2022], Jimmy C. Henning, S. Ray Smith, Christopher D. Teutsch

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

No abstract provided.

Phenotypical Characters Associated With The Loss Of The Seed And The Production Of Biomass In Panicum Coloratum Var. Makarikariense, Maria F. Moresco Lirusso, Mónica B. Sacido, Guillermo R. Pratta, Silvina A. Felitti

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Since the beginning of humanity, plants have been manipulated by humans by artificial selection to obtain changes in their characteristics. This progress has been achieved through the domestication of the species. Panicum coloratum is a species of summer perennial grass, megathermic, tolerates waterlogging, cold and slightly saline soils. It is of African origin and used as fodder in various parts of the world. In Argentina around 130.500 hectares are sown, the most widespread varieties are: var. coloratum, and var. makarikariense Goossens. Its characteristics of determined flowering and ununiform ripening within the panicle, added to a very low retention of …

The Role Of Bacteria And Fungi On Forage Degradation In Vitro, Gilberto V. Kozloski, D. C. Rösler, C. A. Pozo, L. E. Leonardi, Mariana P. Mezzomo

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The study was conducted to evaluate the interactive role of bacteria and fungi on forage degradation in vitro. Samples of Cynodon spp. were incubated in a 48-h in vitro gas assay with incubation medium containing or not antimicrobial substances. Treatments were: antibiotic (Ab), antifungal (Af), negative control (i.e. without antimicrobials) or positive control (i.e. with both Ab and Af). Three replicate assays were conducted and, in each assay the gas volume was measured at 3, 6, 9, 12, 24, 36 and 48 h of incubation. Data of cumulative gas production in each flask in each assay was fitted to …

Performance Of Rotational Grazing Of Urochloa Hybrid Cv. Cayman In The Caribbean Region Of Costa Rica, M. Hernández-Chaves, R. Van Der Hoek, S. Abarca-Monge, R. Soto-Blanco, J. Arango

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

In Costa Rica pasture-based grass is the basis for both dairy and beef production. The Caribbean region with a rainfall exceeding 3000 mm has four seasons: dry (Feb-May), rainy (May-Aug), less rainy (Sep-Oct) and intermediate (Oct-Feb). Many pastures are dominated by Ischaemum ciliare (“Retana”), of poor nutritional quality and permanently grazed with low stocking rates (one animal per ha). To assess the potential of combining improved grasses with rotational grazing, a trial with Urochloa hybrid cv. Cayman was implemented at the INTA research station in Guápiles, Limón province, during four years (2014 to 2018). An intensive pasture management system based …

Making The Case For Rangelands To Become The Poster Child Of The Sdgs: How Rangelands Provide Fertile Ground For An Interconnected Approach To The Three Pillars Of Sustainable Development, B. Jones

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a collection of 17 ambitious goals set by global leaders to transform the world by 2030 and create a sustainable future for all. They are founded on the three pillars of sustainable development – environmental, economic and social sustainability, or as they are more colloquially known, “people, planet and profit”. Creating a better world requires an integrated approach that simultaneously improves livelihoods and reduces inequalities whilst dramatically reducing environmental damage.

This paper argues that rangelands are an ideal arena for showcasing the SDGs because they are, by their very nature, interconnected landscapes in which …

Intellectual Property Protection – Stimulating Or Constraining Innovation And Technology Transfer?, John R. Caradus, C. A. Tumilson, J. Y. Lin

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Grassland farming is becoming more technically advanced leading to improvements in productivity, environmental outcomes and animal welfare. As a result, farmers have an increasing range of new innovations being made available to them. The question examined here is whether widespread uptake of new innovations by farmers is more effective when driven by marketing through dedicated paths to market where the intellectual property (IP) is controlled or through multiple paths to market where there is no IP control?

The role of IP in stimulating the development, manufacture and sale of new technologies is hotly debated. For plant breeders and patent owners, …

High Altitude Rangelands And Pastoralism In Bhutan: Using Sustainable Development Goals To Address Land Degradation And Poverty, J. E. Millar, K. Tenzing

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Semi-nomadic pastoralists in Bhutan live in high altitude rangelands where they seasonally migrate with yak and cattle herds from 3,000m to 5,000m. Population increase, overgrazing and climate change in eastern Bhutan have led to severe land degradation, winter fodder shortage and reduced milk production per head for herding families. This paper describes how Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were used to design a rangeland rehabilitation and livelihoods improvement program with herders in Merak district from 2016 to 2019. The aim was to restore degraded rangelands, improve pastures, develop savings schemes, resolve conflicts and increase conservation knowledge. The approach involved gender sensitive …

Conversion Of Forest To Agro-Silvo-Pastoral System – Montado – In Mediterranean Environments, J. Potes, F. Jorge, T. Montes, D. Palha

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The Mediterranean environment regions are characterized by climate and soil specificities that justify low productive capacity for primary production when compared to other environments on earth. The Mediterranean forests are essentially formed by trees and shrubs. The shrubs are the perfect fuel to feed the forest fires that occur in a natural and cyclical manner in these environmental conditions. Therefore, the Mediterranean Systems of Agriculture have evolved to control the shrubs and the extensification of the systems because of low productivity. Sustainability is achieved by increase of productivity through improvement of the soil and irrigation. The application of these principles …

Carbon-Sensitive Pedotransfer Functions For Plant Available Water, Dianna K. Bagnall, Cristine L. S. Morgan, Michael Cope, Gregory M. Bean, Shannon Cappellazzi, Kelsey Greub, Daniel Liptzin, Charlotte L. Norris, Elizabeth Rieke, Paul Tracy, Ezra Aberle, Amanda Ashworth, Oscar Bañuelos Tavarez, Andy Bary, Roland Louis Baumhardt, Alberto Borbón Gracia, Daniel Brainard, Jameson Brennan, Dolores Briones Reyes, Darren Bruhjell, Cameron Carlyle, James Crawford, Cody Creech, Steven Culman, William Deen, Curtis Dell, Justin Derner, Thomas Ducey, Sjoerd Willem Duiker, Miles Dyck, Benjamin Ellert, Martin Entz, Avelino Espinosa Solorio, Steven J. Fonte, Simon Fonteyne, Ann-Marie Fortuna, Jamie Foster, Lisa Fultz, Audrey V. Gamble, Charles Geddes, Deirdre Griffin-Lahue, John Grove, Stephen K. Hamilton, Xiying Hao, ‪Zachary D. Hayden, Julie Howe, James Ippolito, Gregg Johnson, Mark Kautz, Newell Kitchen, Sandeep Kumar, Kirsten Kurtz, Francis Larney, Katie Lewis, Matt Liebman, Antonio Lopez Ramirez, Stephen Machado, Bijesh Maharjan, Miguel Angel Martinez Gamiño, William May, Mitchel Mcclaran, Marshall Mcdaniel, Neville Millar, Jeffrey P. Mitchell, Philip A. Moore, Amber Moore, Manuel Mora Gutiérrez, Kelly A. Nelson, Emmanuel Omondi, Shannon Osborne, Leodegario Osorio Alcalá, Philip Owens, Eugenia M. Pena-Yewtukhiw, Hanna Poffenbarger, Brenda Ponce Lira, Jennifer Reeve, Timothy Reinbott, Mark Reiter, Edwin Ritchey, Kraig L. Roozeboom, Ichao Rui, Amir Sadeghpour, Upendra M. Sainju, Gregg Sanford, William Schillinger, Robert R. Schindelbeck, Meagan Schipanski, Alan Schlegel, Kate Scow, Lucretia Sherrod, Sudeep Sidhu, Ernesto Solís Moya, Mervin St. Luce, Jeffrey Strock, Andrew Suyker, Virginia Sykes, Haiying Tao, Alberto Trujillo, Laura L. Van Eerd, Nele Verhulst, Tony John Vyn, Yutao Wang, Dexter Watts, David Wright, Tiequan Zhang, Charles Wayne Honeycutt

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

Currently accepted pedotransfer functions show negligible effect of management-induced changes to soil organic carbon (SOC) on plant available water holding capacity (θAWHC), while some studies show the ability to substantially increase θAWHC through management. The Soil Health Institute's North America Project to Evaluate Soil Health Measurements measured water content at field capacity using intact soil cores across 124 long-term research sites that contained increases in SOC as a result of management treatments such as reduced tillage and cover cropping. Pedotransfer functions were created for volumetric water content at field capacity (θFC) and permanent wilting point (θPWP). New pedotransfer functions had …

Long-Term Sustainability Implications Of Diverse Commercial Pollinator Mixtures For The Conservation Reserve Program, Amanda J. Ashworth, Taylor Adams, Alayna Jacobs

Plant and Soil Sciences Graduate Research

The persistence of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) seed mixtures following planting is crucial for the long-term support of pollinator habitat; however, the role of disturbance regimes and their interactions in supporting this ecosystem service are largely unknown. This study set out to evaluate how ecological disturbances (prescribed burn, light disking, or fallow control) and commercially available diverse species mixtures (‘Hamilton’, ‘Bamert’, and ‘Holland’) affect pollinator habitat and the flowering period of commonly used CRP species mixtures. Specifically, three pollinator species mixtures were assessed for plant stand dynamics (plant density, yield, and dual-use pollinator-lignocellulosic feedstock potential); the resulting soil properties; and …

Evaluating Split Timing Fertilizer Applications For Improving Bread Baking Quality Of Soft Red Winter Wheat In Kentucky, Ammar Al Zubade, Krista Jacobsen, Tim Phillips, Mark Williams, David Van Sanford

Plant and Soil Sciences Graduate Research

There is growing interest among farmers to locally produce high protein and strong gluten wheat that is suitable for bread making and meet the demand of local artisanal bakers in Kentucky. The warm and humid weather in southeast region is ideal for soft red winter wheat (SRW) production which characterized by low protein content. The technique of splitting nitrogen (N) fertilization according to the growth stages has been suggested to improve protein content and its composition. This study evaluated the effect of split N application on yield and baking quality traits of two SRW wheat cultivars grown in the eastern …

Landslide Detection In The Himalayas Using Machine Learning Algorithms And U-Net, Sansar Raj Meena, Lucas Pedrosa Soares, Carlos H. Grohmann, Cees Van Westen, Kushanav Bhuyan, Ramesh P. Singh, Mario Floris, Filippo Catani

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Event-based landslide inventories are essential sources to broaden our understanding of the causal relationship between triggering events and the occurring landslides. Moreover, detailed inventories are crucial for the succeeding phases of landslide risk studies like susceptibility and hazard assessment. The openly available inventories differ in the quality and completeness levels. Event-based landslide inventories are created based on manual interpretation, and there can be significant differences in the mapping preferences among interpreters. To address this issue, we used two different datasets to analyze the potential of U-Net and machine learning approaches for automated landslide detection in the Himalayas. Dataset-1 is composed …

Paradigm Versus Paradox On The Prairie: Testing Competing Stream Fish Movement Frameworks Using An Imperiled Great Plains Minnow, Zachary D. Steffensmeier, Maeghen Wedgeworth, Lauren Yancy, Noah Santee, Shannon K. Brewer, Joshuah S. Perkin

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Background: Movement information can improve conservation of imperiled species, yet movement is not quantified for many organisms in need of conservation. Prairie chub (Macrhybopsis australis) is a regionally endemic freshwater fish with unquantified movement ecology and currently considered for listing under the Endangered Species Act. The purpose of this study was to test competing ecological theories for prairie chub movement, including the colonization cycle hypothesis (CCH) that posits adults must make upstream movements to compensate for downstream drift at early life stages, and the restricted movement paradigm (RMP) that describes populations as heterogeneous mixes of mostly stationary …

Stratigraphic And Geochemical Evaluation Of Distal Flows Of The Columbia River Flood Basalts In The Greater Vale Area, Southeastern Oregon, Lena Marie Fox

Dissertations and Theses

Exposures of Columbia River Basalt Group (CRBG) in southeastern Oregon are dominated by the four main phase CRBG units: Steens Basalt, Imnaha Basalt, Grande Ronde Basalt (GRB), and Picture Gorge Basalt (PGB). These units are best seen in stratigraphic sequence along the Malheur Gorge corridor of southeastern Oregon, between the towns of Vale and Juntura, with flows of Steens Basalt from the south overlain by flows of Imnaha and GRB from the north. Recently, PGB flows were found to be part of the eastern Malheur Gorge stratigraphy as well.

In Malheur Gorge, local units of Birch and Hunter Creek Basalt …

Teaching The “Wicked” In Geography: Educational Structure, Standards, And Teacher Training As Obstacles To Teaching About Climate Change, Jerry T. Mitchell

Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Livestock Farmers And Researchers Perceptions About Ecosystem Services Provided By Rio De La Plata Grasslands, Daniela Schossler, Carlos Nabinger, Pablo Boggiano, Diana L. Restrepo-Osorio, Claudio Ribeiro

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The perception and valuation that livestock farmers have about ecosystem services provided by natural pastures is of fundamental importance to their management decisions and the conservation of this resource. This work aims to reveal results of a project carried out in Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay using the TESSA (Toolkit for Ecosystem Service Site-based Assessment) methodology to compare the perceptions of different ecosystem services among livestock farmers and researchers. The methodology was participatory workshops, two by country, one with livestock farmers participating in the Grassland Alliance (at least 50% of natural grassland in the livestock production system) and another with …

Factors Influencing Adoption Of Rangeland Rehabilitation Technologies By Agro-Pastoralists In The Arabian Peninsula: Evidence From Analysis In Saudi Arabia And Qatar, Boubaker Dhehibi, Arash Nejatian, Abdul Aziz Niane, Azaiez Ouled Belgacem

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Rangelands are the main land use in the Arabian Peninsula and cover about 50% of total area. They are under continuous heavy grazing pressure due to underlying social and economic causes as well as institutional effects. ICARDA in collaboration with the National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) has developed and introduced different rehabilitation techniques including resting, planting native range species and water harvesting in different countries of the AP such as Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia (KSA) and Yemen. However, the adoption of these techniques by end users was not evaluated. In this context, a research has been conducted in Saudi Arabia …

Effectively Reaching The Equine Community In Kentucky, S. L. Musen, Krista L. Lea, S. Ray Smith, R. J. Coleman

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Since 2009, Extension Specialists and County Extension Agents from the University of Kentucky in the Southeast United States have conducted an annual educational event; the Kentucky Equine Farm and Facilities Expo field-day. These annual field-days have provided practical, hands-on demonstrations and seminars for 135-250 members of the equine community per event. Participants have been a mix of horse owners in relation to farm size, number of horses and business vs. recreation. Many participants have not been previous consumers of Extension educational programming. One of the major draws of the Farm and Facility Expo field days has been the host sites, …

Application Of The Tessa Methodology In A Pilot Protocol For Participatory Evaluation Of Ecosystem Services And Agents Of Change In The Pampa Grasslands. Method Description And Lessons Learned, Daniela Schossler, Carlos Nabinger, Pablo Boggiano, Diana L. Restrepo-Osorio, Claudio Ribeiro

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The Toolkit for Site-Based Assessment (Landscape) of Ecosystem Services (TESSA) is intended to be an accessible guide for low-cost methods to assess the benefits that people receive from nature at particular sites in order to generate information that can be used to influence decision-making (Pehl et al 2015). However, TESSA does not have defined protocols for grasslands ecosystems. This article focuses on the description and discussion of the lessons learned in the participatory workshops that include engaging with policy and decision-making actors. The work consisted of identifying 1) the area occupied by each coverage or use, 2) the threats and …

Analysis Of The Attitude Of Farmers Towards Innovations In The Management Of Grasslands In Poland, P. Goliński, A. Van Den Pol-Van Dasselaar, A. Paszkowski, B. Golińska

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Innovations in the management of grasslands in Poland are important to preserve them as a source of different ecosystem services. In the farmers point of view the most promising is forage production for herbivores, particularly dairy cows. Individual farmers have different opinions about innovations. To stimulate innovations in grassland-based farming systems in Poland, it is important to determine the drivers for their promotion and to define the barriers to overcome problems by their implementation. Analysis of the attitude of Polish farmers towards innovations on grasslands were conducted within the H2020 Inno4Grass project. The majority of respondents were young and had …

Adaptive Rotational Grazing And The Story Of The Regrazed Grass Plant, L. M. Porensky, H. Wilmer, D. J. Augustine, J. D. Derner, M. Fernández-Giménez, David D. Briske, Carm Stakeholder Group

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Livestock stocking rates and decisions about how to move animals in time and space impact plant responses to livestock grazing. We report on a ranch-scale collaborative experiment comparing adaptive rotational grazing management to season-long continuous grazing during a 4.5-month grazing period during the growing season. As part of this project, stakeholders and scientists worked together to articulate their hypotheses about the mechanisms linking rotational grazing with expected vegetation outcomes. Several stakeholders expected rotational grazing to enhance the production and diversity of grazing-sensitive perennial grass species. The main hypothesized mechanism underlying this expectation was that rotation grazing should reduce regrazing of …

A Scalable And Participatory Sustainable Rangeland Management Toolkit With A Holistic And Multidisciplinary Approach To Rehabilitate Degraded Rangelands, Mounir Louhaichi, Mouldi Gamoun, Sawsan Hassan

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Rangelands contribute significantly toward improving livelihoods, offering food security, trade and tourism for pastoral communities. Numerous challenges include poor government policies, loss of indigenous knowledge and top-down approaches toward sustainable rangeland rehabilitation that often fail to consider local development adoption and sustainability. In such situations, effective management is needed for sustainable rangeland ecosystem goods and services in a context characterized by rainfall unreliability, poor soil nutrient status and high uncontrolled grazing. This paper presents a new comprehensive toolkit for identifying and combining suitable and site-specific interventions aimed at reversing the trend of degraded arid rangelands. This toolbox is founded on …