Agriculture Commons^™

Impact Of Storage Temperature On Viability Of Microbial Inoculum For Estimating In Vitro Equine Digestibility, Delaney Brenne O'Donnell

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

This study evaluated the effect of storage temperature of equine fecal material on the viability of microbial inoculum used for in vitro equine digestibility trials. Fecal material was stored at four storage temperatures of 39°C for 15 minutes (control), 22°C for 6h, 3°C for 6h, and -18°C for 24h. Stored fecal material was used to form microbial inoculum for use in an Ankom Daisy II Incubator. Six different forage samples were digested in the Ankom Daisy II Incubator to evaluate interactions between storage condition of microbial inoculum and chemical composition of digested forage samples. After determination of dry matter digestibility …

Investigation Of The Individual Soybean Root Nodule Microbiome, Parris Mica Mayhood

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Soybean is a valuable crop that establishes a symbiotic association with nitrogen-fixing microorganisms. Previous research suggests members of the genus Bradyrhizobium are the major nitrogen-fixing inhabitants of soybean root nodules. However, results from recent studies identified the presence of other bacteria, so called non-rhizobial endophytes (NREs), inside root nodules. All previous research has pooled nodules of different plants for bacterial community analysis, but this study investigated the presence and relative abundance of rhizobia and NREs within multiple root nodules of a single plant. Three sites were selected on Kendrick Farm in Springfield, MO, where three plants and rhizosphere soil were …

Alternative Production Practices And The Role Of Consumer Choice: Willingness-To-Pay Analyses, Amanda P. Wecker

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Production choice is often viewed as driven by the resources and methods known to the producers. However, recent discussions focus on the other factors leading to production choice such as consumer preference, measured by factors such as willingness to pay (Tait, Saunders, Guenther, and Rutherford, 2016). This study evaluates the role of diet preference and age in driving a consumer’s willingness to pay for food produced with specific method. The data analyzed are from the 2016 U.S. Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability (LOHAS) Consumer survey. A total of 1042 individuals were asked whether they were willing to pay 10% more …

Translational Genomics For Improving Sow Fertility, Hiruni R. Wijesena

Department of Animal Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Sow fertility traits, such as litter size and number of lifetime parities produced (reproductive longevity), are economically important. Selection for these traits is difficult because they are lowly heritable, polygenic, sex-limited, and express late in life. Age at puberty is an early indicator of reproductive longevity. Gilts that achieve puberty at an early age have a greater probability to produce more parities over their lifetime. However, measuring age at puberty is time consuming and tedious. Identifying pleiotropic polymorphisms that affect age at puberty and other fertility traits, including reproductive longevity, could help to improve the accuracy of genomic prediction for …

Impact Of Cow Size And Validation Of An Electronic Feeder To Optimize Resources In Beef Production Systems, Robert L. Ziegler

Department of Animal Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Optimizing beef production systems is critical in the longevity of an enterprise. In a time of rapid change and innovation, there are increasingly more opportunities to improve efficiency of livestock production by taking advantage of new technologies. Furthermore, production environments vary drastically in all segments of the beef industry, which influence feed resource availability. Therefore, it is critical to realize the cow type that excels in a given production environment according to management objectives. To gain a better understanding of the optimal cow type in the Nebraska Sandhills, a retrospective analysis was conducted to evaluate increasing cow body weight (BW) …

The Impact Of Oxidative Stress On Postmortem Meat Quality, Nicolas J. Herrera

Department of Animal Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Tenderness is the primary factor to influence consumer palatability in fresh meat. The tenderization of muscle is dependent on proteolytic mechanisms, including calcium dependent, non-lysosomal endogenous enzymes such as calpains and proteasomes. These mechanisms have been indicated alongside apoptosis early postmortem as cascades of apoptotic events promote ideal conditions for postmortem tenderization. Recent literature has identified oxidative stress-mediated events to be linked to apoptotic activity. Oxidative stress is defined as the overwhelming production of reactive species compared to homeostatic, endogenous antioxidants present within muscle systems. These conditions exhaust antioxidant function and facilitate reactive species to alter protein, lipid, or nucleic …

Energy And Amino Acid Metabolism In Lactating Jersey Cows Consuming Feed Byproducts, Kyle Alvin Mclain

Department of Animal Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Animal protein byproducts are high bypass proteins commonly used in the dairy industry. These bypass proteins can escape the rumen to supply additional amino acids needed to support milk and protein yield. Two of the more popular animal protein byproducts used in the dairy industry are blood meal and hydrolyzed feather meal. In the first experiment, two flow meters were compared using headbox-style calorimeters. The objectives of the first study were to test mass flow meter (MFM) and volumetric flow meter (VFM) by measuring O₂ consumption and CO₂ production and to illustrate the effects of incomplete gas recovery …

Impact Of Diet And Quality Grade On Meat Quality Characteristics And Their Relationship To Oxidative Stress, Nicolas A. Bland

Department of Animal Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Marbling and tenderness in meat are some of the most impactful factors for the consumer eating experience. The cause of the relationship between marbling and tenderness is still unresolved. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of feeding different types of processed corn, with or without distiller grains on oxidative stress, and how that relates to tenderness and shelf life of beef steaks of differing quality grades. Steers (n = 240) were finished on dry rolled corn (DRC), DRC + 30% dried distillers grains (DDGS), steam flaked corn (SFC), or SFC + 30% DDGS. Cattle were fed 10 …

Perceptions And Behavioral Intentions Of Utah 4-H Equine Program Leaders In Teaching Equine Safety To Youth, Katelyn M. Huffman

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

There is an inherent risk associated with working with youth and large equine. The Utah 4-H Equine program is a volunteer-based program that seeks to properly educate youth on equine husbandry, this includes the topic of safe equine handling practices. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions and behavioral intentions of Utah 4-H Equine Program leaders about teaching equine safety, including attitudes, perceived behavioral controls and subjective norms. The survey instrument consisted of multiple choice, fill in the blank, and six-point Likert scale questions regarding personal demographics, experience teaching equine safety, attitudes towards safety, perceived behavioral controls, …

Effect Of Zelnate Administered As A Metaphylactic Upon Initial Processing Of High-Risk, Newly Received Beef Calves On Performance And Morbidity, Brady Martin

Animal Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Bovine Respiratory Disease (BRD) is the most prominent and costly ailment in the stocker cattle industry today, and its prevalence has not been diminished in the last thirty years. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the effects of Zelnate, a DNA immunostimulant, administered upon arrival to calves (n = 261; BW 253 ± 4.0 kg), on morbidity/mortality, performance and producer costs. Crossbred male beef calves were acquired and transported to the University of Arkansas stocker unit for a 42-d backgrounding period. Calves were allocated into treatment groups: 1) Zelnate, DNA immunostimulant administered or 2) Control, in which …

Nebline, May 2020

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

Vegetable Gardening for Beginners

"Sewing for Hospitals" Community Service Project

Extension Postponements, Cancellations & Changes

Making a Meal With What's on Hand

Recipe of the Month

2020 Cash Rent Survey

Pesticide Applicators: Deferment of License Recertification

When Thunder Roars or Lightening Flashes, Go Indoors!

Sleep Impacts Mental and Physical Health

2020 Perennial Plant of the Year

Garden Guide: Things to Do This Month

Composting How-To Videos

Spending Time in Nature is Beneficial to Children and Adults

4-H Announcements for enrolled 4-H'ers or 4-H volunteers

Heart of 4-H Volunteer Award: Mary Burroughs

Clover College Workshop Descriptions

Extension Calendar

Support Local 4-H …

Applying Agriculture Curriculum As A Vehicle For Science Learning, Nicole Sorensen

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Theses and Other Student Research

Agricultural educators in Nebraska are confronting increasing need to integrate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education into agricultural curriculum. Though there are more than 80 agricultural education programs in Nebraska, the state does not provide many state-based curricula options within agricultural education pathways. The purpose of this exploratory survey research is to learn about the viability of an integrated, agriculture and science-based curriculum that is publicly available to agricultural education instructors. The study posed the questions: (1) What is the feasibility of a publicly available, science-integrated agriculture curriculum within Nebraska agricultural education programs? and (2) What are the benefits …

Impact Of Selected Infrared Wavelengths Treatment On Inactivation Of Microbes On Rough Rice, Rebecca Bowie

Food Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Formation of harmful microbes and their associated mycotoxins on rough rice during storage present negative socioeconomic impacts to producers and consumers. The objective for this study was to investigate the impact of treating rough rice with selected infrared (IR) wavelengths at different IR intensities and heating durations, followed by a tempering step for further inactivation of microbes (mold and bacteria) on the grain. Freshly-harvested long-grain, hybrid, rough rice (XL 745) with initial moisture content (IMC) of 18.4% wet basis (w.b.) was used. Two-hundred grams (200 g) of the samples were treated at different IR wavelengths (λ) which were 3.2, 4.5, …

Characterization Of Jasmine Rice Cultivars Grown In The United States, Anastasia Mills

Food Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Jasmine rice from Thailand accounts for about 60-70% of U.S. imported rice, primarily due to its preference by ethnic Asians as well as general American population. Recently new U.S. jasmine rice cultivars have been developed independently at three rice research stations in Arkansas, California, and Louisiana, but their properties have not been characterized. The objective of this research was to characterize and compare the physical appearance, chemical composition, thermal and pasting properties, cooked rice texture and starch structures of the newly-developed U.S. jasmine rice from Arkansas, California and Louisiana, to be compared with jasmine rice samples from Thailand. In general, …

Design Of A Shallow-Aero Ebb And Flow Hydroponics System And Associated Educational Module For Tri Cycle Farms, Julie Halveland

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Tri Cycle Farms, whose main mission is to reduce food insecurity in their community, is a non- profit urban farm in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The “Tri” in their name refers to the three parts of their foundation: giving a third of their yield to volunteers, giving a third to local food pantries, and selling a third to sustain the farm and demonstrate the economy of local food production. They want to expand on the third part and have a vision of building a hydroponic greenhouse with the intention that it will create more crops to sell and give, as well as …

Control Of Volunteer Corn In Enlist Corn And Economics Of Herbicide Programs For Weed Control In Conventional And Multiple Herbicide-Resistant Soybean Across Nebraska, Adam Michael Striegel

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

With commercialization of multiple herbicide-resistant corn and soybean cultivars, producers have new management options for controlling herbicide-resistant weeds and volunteer corn. Corn-on-corn production systems are common in irrigated fields in southcentral Nebraska which can create issues with volunteer corn management in corn fields. Enlist corn contains a new multiple herbicide-resistant trait providing resistance to 2,4-D choline, glyphosate, and the aryloxyphenoxypropionate (FOPs). Field experiments were conducted in 2018 and 2019 at South Central Agricultural Laboratory near Clay Center, Nebraska with the objective to evaluate ACCase-inhibiting herbicides and herbicide application timing on volunteer corn control, Enlist corn injury, and yield. Glyphosate/glufosinate-resistant corn …

Buffalograss Diversity Assessment, Jesse Collin Marshall

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Buffalograss [Buchloë dactylodes (Nutt.) Engelm. syn. Bouteloua dactyloides (Nutt.) Columbus] is a low input alternative turfgrass for the Great Plains region. Buffalograss is a dioecious stoloniferous warm season grass with wide variation of valuable traits and is well adapted for use in minimal maintenance landscapes. The obligate outcrossing nature of the species and wide variation of potentially valuable traits make buffalograss a prime candidate for cultivar improvement and genetic study. Limited information is available regarding buffalograss genetics. In effort to expand genetic resources around buffalograss, we developed buffalograss derived simple sequence repeat markers from previously available transcriptomes of buffalograss …

Impact Of Agricultural Land Use On Stream Nitrate, Phosphorus, And Sediment Concentrations At The Watershed And Field Scale, Brittany A. Kirsch

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Water quality is directly impacted by the landscape through which it travels. As such, land use, including summer annual and winter annual/perennial agriculture, has dramatic influence on the water quality of downstream aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. I examined the impact of agricultural land use on water quality through two projects, one at a watershed scale and one at a field scale. In my first project, I investigated the impact of agricultural land use and climate on water quality in 13 HUC10 watersheds across Nebraska using public data from US Geological Survey (USGS), US Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service …

Optimal Calving Time For Beef Cows In Southwest Missouri, Briana Rose Verploeg

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to determine if a optimal time of year exists for beef producers to have cows give birth in southwest Missouri for maximal net returns from calf sales and increased cow reproductive performance. To make this determination, data were collected which included year-round forage nutritive value, calf pre-weaning growth, cow energy efficiency and reproductive performance, and income and cost values. Cow and calf field data were gathered for the 2014-2018 production years at Missouri State University’s Leo Journagan Ranch. Monthly forage samples were collected from study cow pastures from 2016 through 2018. Calf, cull cow, …

Building Value Through Innovative Eucheuma Spp. Product Development: A Case Study With The Belize Women's Seaweed Farming Association, Bailey Moritz

All Theses And Dissertations

Seaweed aquaculture has been a successful supplemental livelihood in coastal communities worldwide, creating new income opportunities for women in particular. In most cases, raw or dried carrageenan-producing seaweed is sold into supply chains without local value addition taking place. Upgrading value chains can come in the form of new products, differentiation from existing products through marketing, or breaking into new markets. The research investigates the local market potential for value-added Belizean Eucheuma seaweed products and offers insights into a pathway forward for the Belize Women’s Seaweed Farming Association (BWSFA) to take advantage of these opportunities at an early stage of …