Soil Science Commons^™

Photo Highlights Of The 30th Kentucky Alfalfa Conference, Kentucky Alfalfa Conference

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

No abstract provided.

How We Produce & Market Alfalfa Hay, Clayton Geralds

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

No abstract provided.

Growing Alfalfa For Wildlife, Don Ball

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

Alfalfa has long been recognized as a superb forage crop, which is why it is widely grown for dairy cattle, horses, sheep, and many other types of domesticated forage-consuming animals. Reasons for its popularity include wide adaptation, excellent nutritive value, good yield potential, perennial growth habit, a long growing season, and the fact that (in association with Rhizobium bacteria) it is a nitrogen-fixing legume that does not require periodic applications of nitrogen fertilizer.

Alfalfa Varieties For The Future, Joe Bouton

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

When breeding tomorrow’s alfalfa varieties, most groups employ a model of combining traditional plant breeding with biotechnology tools in order to incorporate useful traits. In this model, the conventional variety development process will be the method of choice for most traits where breeders have traditionally made progress such as adaptation, heading date, disease and insect resistance, general persistence conditions such as grazing and traffic tolerance, and even yield. It has been very successful in adding economic value to the forage and livestock operations of many producers (Bouton 2007). These traditionally developed varieties will also be used as the germplasm platform …

Do's And Don'ts In Grazing Alfalfa, Ken Johnson

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

I want to discuss some of the issues in a talk I presented nearly twenty years ago. At that point we had been grazing Alfalfa about eight years and made some general remarks about the concerns I had at the time. I will look at these as presented then and how the thoughts may have changed.

Is There A Benefit To Alfalfa Balage?, Gary Bates

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

Making hay in the mid-South has always been a difficult process. High humidity and rainfall often make drying a long, tedious, if not impossible proposition. Over the last few years there has been an increased interest in making round bale silage, or balage, from forage crops. Fermenting alfalfa for storage has several advantages and disadvantages over regular haymaking systems.

Alfalfa Hay For Horses, Robert Coleman

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

When horse owners consider hay for their animals, a number of criteria are generally considered. Of major importance is the hay must be free of mold and dust. It needs to contain nutrients needed by the horse and it must be palatable. If these criteria are met, the type of hay should not matter. However, that is not the case with many horse owners. When discussing the selection of hay, many owners first consider the type of hay. Can it be alfalfa or should it be a grass or how about a mix of grass and a legume. If a …

Value Of Alfalfa In Rotation, S. Ray Smith

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

There are about 23 million acres of alfalfa in the US. Alfalfa plus other hay is the most valuable crop in the US, behind only corn and soybeans. In Kentucky alfalfa is planted on over 300,000 acres and is an economically important crop for beef and dairy farmers, cash hay producers, and provides tremendous benefits for subsequent crops. There are also many non-agricultural benefits to alfalfa.

Advances In Alfalfa Seed Coatings, Bill Talley

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

The volume of alfalfa being sold as coated seed has been in the growth mode for several years. This growth is being fueled by greater acceptance from the producer, as well as the many value added components that are now labeled and being offered as seed treatments. Originally seed coatings were looked at as a better way to deliver rhizobia to insure plant nodulation. This is still one goal, but many more value added components are now labeled that offer better plant protection, increased water absorption, enhanced germination, and micro-nutrient availability, as well as insect and parasite control. Another area …

Kentucky Alfalfa Conference Reflections After 30 Years, Garry D. Lacefield

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

This event today marks the 30th consecutive year we have come together for a full day’s conference featuring "Alfalfa - Queen of the Forages" as the theme and focal point. Only one other state (California) in the U.S. has such an annual event.

Foreword And Recipients Of Kentucky Alfalfa Awards [2010], Garry D. Lacefield, Christi L. Forsythe

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

No abstract provided.

Assessment Of Row Crop, Alfalfa, And Pasture Field Practices On Groundwater Quality In An Upland Bedrock Setting, Henderson County, Kentucky: Report Of Soil- And Water-Quality Data, E. Glynn Beck, James S. Dinger, John H. Grove, Eugenia Pena-Yewtukhiw

Information Circular--KGS

An assessment of how present agricultural practices have influenced shallow groundwater and soil quality was conducted on a 540-acre farm in north-central Henderson County. Groundwater- and soil-quality data were collected from row crop (corn and soybean), alfalfa, and pasture fields. In addition to the field settings, groundwater and soil data were collected from the existing farmyard and an abandoned feedlot. Groundwater samples were analyzed for pH, specific conductance, temperature, oxidation-reduction potential, metals, anions, nutrients, herbicides, and various isotopes. Soil samples were analyzed for pH, bioavailable phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, zinc, organic matter, total nitrogen, and inorganic nitrogen (nitrate-N). Soil- and …

Soil Water And Crop Growth Processes In A Farmer's Field, Susmitha Surendran Nambuthiri

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

The study was aimed to provide information on local biomass development during crop growth using ground based optical sensors and to incorporate the local crop status to a crop growth simulation model to improve understanding on inherent variability of crop field. The experiment was conducted in a farmer’s field located near Princeton in Caldwell County, Western Kentucky. Data collection on soil, crop and weather variables was carried out in the farm from 2006 December to 2008 October. During this period corn (Zea mays L.) and winter wheat (Triticum sp) were grown in the field. A 450 m …

Effect Of Low And High- Kinetic Energy Wetting On Quality Of Sediment Produced By Interrill Erosion, Eduardo Abel Rienzi

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Raindrop kinetic energy and sheet flow can disintegrate aggregates during interrill erosion, a process responsible for non point source pollution. Also, the dissolution process during aggregate wetting can affect interrill erosion. These factors can be responsible for changes in particle size distribution in the sediment, especially when different tillage systems are compared. The effect of soil tillage and management on soil properties is not uniform, which determine a wide range of runoff and sediment delivery rate. Variety in these rates can be associated with pore functions and their interactions with aggregate stability. One of the objectives of this study was …

Characterization Of Soil Carbon Stabilization In Long-Term Row-Cropped Agro-Ecosystems, Soraya Patricia Alvarado-Ochoa

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Soil organic matter (SOM) is a dynamic soil property, sensitive and responsive to many factors. The possibility of increasing soil carbon (C) sequestration by changing land use and management practices has been of great interest recently due to concerns with global changes in the atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) balance. Nonetheless, as a result of the complex dynamics of SOM, there is still the need for SOM characterization procedures capable of monitoring SOM stabilization, taking into account all the factors involved.

This study characterized SOM stabilization as affected by management practices in three long-term field experiments, considering physical, chemical …

Soil- And Groundwater-Quality Data For An Abandoned Cattle And Hog Feedlot In Henderson County, Kentucky, E. Glynn Beck, James S. Dinger, Eugenia Pena-Yewtukhiw, John H. Grove

Information Circular--KGS

Groundwater samples collected from a livestock well in southwestern Henderson County, Ky., contained nitrate-N concentrations greater than 20 mg/L, two times the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s maximum contaminant level. The well is located in an abandoned cattle and hog feedlot. The feedlot is located in an upland bedrock setting with Pleistocene loess overlying Pennsylvanian bedrock. One hundred twenty-one soil cores were collected to better define the areal extent of organic-rich soil believed to be the source of the elevated nitrate-N in the groundwater. Cores were collected on 25-ft centers to a depth of 4 ft below the land surface. Soil …

Chromium, Copper, And Arsenic Concentration And Speciation In Soil Adjacent To Chromated Copper Arsenate (Cca) Treated Lumber Along A Topohydrosequence, Donald Roy Schwer Iii

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Arsenic (As), Chromium (Cr), and Copper (Cu) are ubiquitous in soils as a result of anthropogenic and geogenic processes. The fate of As, Cr, and Cu in the environment is largely governed by their speciation, which is influenced by soil physiochemical properties. This study investigated the influence of soil physiochemical properties and landscape position on As, Cr, and Cu concentration and speciation in soils adjacent to Chromated Copper Arsenate (CCA) treated lumber fence posts. Concentration gradients showed elevated total As and Cu adjacent to the three fence posts, which decreased with increasing distance from the posts. In addition, As and …

Effects Of Livestock Antibiotics On Nitrification, Denitrification, And Microbial Community Compositon In Soils Along A Topographic Gradient, Sagarika Banerjee

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Several types of antibiotics (roxarsone, virginiamycin, and bacitracin) are widely included in poultry feed to improve animal growth yields. Most of the antibiotics are excreted in manure which is subsequently applied to soils. One concern with this practice is that antibiotics may affect several microbially-mediated nutrient cycling reactions in soils that influence crop productivity and water quality. The main objectives of this study were to determine the effects of livestock antibiotics on nitrification, denitrification, and microbial community composition in soils along a topographic gradient. These objectives were addressed in a series of lab experiments by monitoring changes in inorganic N …

Photo Highlights Of The 10th Kentucky Grazing Conference, Kentucky Grazing Conference

Kentucky Grazing Conference

No abstract provided.

Forage Spokesman Information, Tom Flowers, Vince Rawe, Caldwell Willig

Kentucky Grazing Conference

No abstract provided.

Animal Welfare--Animal Rights: Role Of Grazing, Roy Burris

Kentucky Grazing Conference

The care and handling of farm animals has drawn a lot of media attention lately. Some well-publicized events have given our industry the proverbial black-eye and led to a chain of events that has left livestock producers feeling very vulnerable to negative attacks. Although these events have been very isolated, they have had some very farreaching effects. Could they have been prevented? How? What do we do now?

Extended Grazing And Reduced Stored Feed, 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 …

Stored Feed Needs: How Much? What Quality?, Jeff Lehmkuhler

Kentucky Grazing Conference

Feed resources are the largest variable expense in beef production systems outside the initial investment in the livestock. When we look at Standardized Performance Analysis (SPA) information from Texas and Minnesota, states that are at the extreme from an environment stance, the projected costs for maintaining a beef cow are strikingly similar. It is important to note that these costs include all expenses and opportunity costs. Getting back to the SPA information, in 2007 the annual cost to maintain a cow in Texas was determined to be roughly $590 while the Minnesota value was near $610 or only about $20/cow …

Tall Fescue Grazing Research, Glen Aiken

Kentucky Grazing Conference

‘Kentucky-31’ tall fescue, like it or hate it, covers 5 million acres of Kentucky and if you do not have it on your farm, it is likely that one of your bordering neighbors does! Tall fescue owes its persistence and productivity in large part to a fungal endophyte that infects most plants. This endophyte produces an array of alkaloids that benefit the plant in tolerating heat, drought, and grazing. Unfortunately, the endophyte also produces ergot alkaloids that can cause “fescue toxicosis” in cattle. Cattle inflicted with toxicosis have reduced dry matter intake, elevated body temperature, and often retain their winter …

Weed Control Options For Pastures, Jon Doran

Kentucky Grazing Conference

What is a weed? A pasture or hayfield “weed” is any plant that you deem as being out of place and/or a plant that is decreasing your desired forage production. Weeds may be classified in several ways including broadleaf weeds, woody plants, and undesirable grasses. Besides decreasing forage, weeds can also interfere with forage utilization, grazing distribution, etc. There are several methods available to control weeds and increase production of and access to desirable forages. The three main methods are cultural, mechanical, and chemical. The cultural method is quite simple-a thriving grass stand is an excellent form of weed control …

Our Experiences With Eastern Gamagrass, Tommy R. Yankey

Kentucky Grazing Conference

As livestock producers try to reduce their cost of production, many look at ways to reduce their feed costs. Feed costs have been identified as the largest single cost of livestock production, making up 50 to 70% of the total cost of production. Grazing is the cheapest way to feed cattle on a cost per pound of nutrient basis.

New Developments In Grazing Species And Varieties, S. Ray Smith

Kentucky Grazing Conference

During the last 10 years there have been several new forage species that have emerged as useful in grazing systems and many new varieties have been released of traditional species. Plant breeders continue to make improvement in our traditional pasture species like tall fescue, orchardgrass, and red and white clover. In the following paragraphs, I will focus more on some of the forage species that you may not be as familiar with and highlight the advancements occurring in developing new varieties for grazing. There are many sources of information on this subject. I especially encourage you to read the new …

Why Should I Improve My Grazing Program?, Garry D. Lacefield

Kentucky Grazing Conference

Grazing represents the cheapest way to feed ruminants on a cost per pound of nutrient basis. Stored feed is usually the single largest item in livestock budgets and cost or amount of stored feed is usually the best prediction of potential profitability in most beef cattle operations.

Foreword And Kfgc Award Winners [2009], Garry D. Lacefield, Christi L. Forsythe

Kentucky Grazing Conference

No abstract provided.

Multimeric Hemicellulases Facilitate Biomass Conversion, Zhanmin Fan, Kurt Wagschal, Wei Chen, Michael D. Montross, Charles C. Lee, Ling Yuan

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Publications

Two highly active trifunctional hemicellulases were constructed by linking the catalytic portion of a xylanase with an arabinofuranosidase and a xylosidase, using either flexible peptide linkers or linkers containing a cellulose-binding domain. The multifunctional enzymes retain the parental enzyme properties and exhibit synergistic effects in hydrolysis of natural xylans and corn stover.