Agriculture Commons^™

Plant Community Composition, Floristic Quality, And Establishment Of Roadside Revegetation In Nebraska, Usa, Jonathan M. Soper

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

Roadside revegetation poses a challenge and opportunity for biodiversity conservation, as the land area occupied by roadsides is not expected to decline in the future. In the context of roadside revegetation activities in rural regions dominated by agricultural land uses, revegetation efforts can establish plant communities that offer unique species that would otherwise be absent on the landscape. To determine the efficacy of roadside revegetation efforts in 1) providing plant communities of high biodiversity value and 2) meeting the expectations of roadside revegetation managers for establishment, we quantified botanical composition, floristic quality, and success in seeding efforts to meet manager …

Agricultural Market Liberalization And Household Food Security In Rural China, Lia Nogueira, Kathy Baylis, Linlin Fan

Cornhusker Economics

Recent World Trade Organization (WTO) disputes have brought China’s agricultural trade policy back into the spotlight. In November 2008, China issued the nation’s first Outline of Medium and Long-term Plan for National Food Security (China Central People’s Government, 2008), in which they stipulate that the country will seek to stabilize the area sown to grain and achieve more than 95% grain self-sufficiency. Trade restrictions are argued to support implementing this plan because increased imports of grains and soybeans will lower prices, causing grain and soybean farmers to leave farming, thereby generating food insecurity (Wong and Huang, 2012). Others suggest that …

Point-Of-Sale Specific Willingness To Pay For Quality-Differentiated Beef, Kar Ho Lim, Michael Vassalos, Michael R. Reed

Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

Despite the growing interest of producers and consumers toward grass-fed, local, and organic beef, the supply chain for these products to reach consumers is not always clear-cut. Among the available options are direct-to-consumers and the conventional food supply chain. Although consumers may pay a premium for beef differentiated by quality attributes, the willingness to pay (WTP) difference across point-of-sales is unclear. In this study, we contrast the WTPs for conventional, grass-fed, local, and organic beef by brick-and-mortar supermarkets (B&Ms), farmers’ markets, and via online stores. We conduct a choice experiment with a nationwide online sample of American consumers. The findings …

Fitness Consequences Of Interspecific Nesting Associations Among Cavity-Nesting Birds, James C. Mouton, Thomas E. Martin

Aspen Bibliography

Interspecific aggregations of prey may provide benefits by mitigating predation risk, but they can also create costs if they increase competition for resources or are more easily detectable by predators. Variation in predation risk and resource availability may influence the occurrence and fitness effects of aggregating in nature. Yet tests of such possibilities are lacking. Cavity-nesting birds provide an interesting test case. They compete aggressively for resources and experience low nest predation rates, which might predict dispersion, but across 19 years of study we found that they commonly aggregate by sharing nest trees. Tree sharing was more common when aspen …

Removal Of Invasive Plants From Pando Exclosure 2018, Marc Coles-Ritchie

Aspen Bibliography

On July 10-11, 2018 volunteers and staff from Great Old Broads for Wilderness and Grand Canyon Trust removed invasive plants from the Pando exclosure, a fenced portion of the Pando Clone aspen forest adjacent to Fish Lake, in Central Utah. This area has been fenced to restore a portion of the Pando Clone that has been lacking recruitment for decades, by protecting young aspen from browsing by deer and cattle. We have been removing invasive species for five years from this exclosure.

The 2018 trip included 10 women and one staffer of Great Old Broads for Wilderness, from the states …

Trade Wars, E. Wesley F. Peterson

Cornhusker Economics

Current United States trade policies are in line with an old economic doctrine known as mercantilism which calls for protectionist policies to reduce imports and expand exports with the goal of generating large trade surpluses. This doctrine has been discredited for over 200 years following the analyses of Adam Smith, David Ricardo and other late eighteenth- and early nineteenth century economists. Mercantilist policies by one country not only lower well-being in that country through harm to consumers and industries relying on imported inputs but also almost always lead to trade wars with that country’s trading partners. This is precisely what …

Usu Student Organic Farm, Usu Student Organic Farm

USU Student Organic Farm Newsletter

So much food! It’s so fun to see it! The cabbage, broccoli, early curcubits, tomato, pepper and tomatillo plants are loaded, and the melons, fall squash, beans and potatoes are looking super promising. We have a shed wall covered in garlic, and about 20 lb. of broccoli in the cooler, with more to harvest. We’ve got a good rhythm now with reseeding beets and radishes, and are expecting them and car­rots in August and hopefully Sept. It’s also fall planting month, and over the next two weeks we’ll be transplanting more Asian greens, lettuce, mizuna, arugula, broccoli and kohlrabi as …

Utilizing Random Regression Models For Genomic Prediction Of A Longitudinal Trait Derived From High‐Throughput Phenotyping, Malachy T. Campbell, Harkamal Walia, Gota Morota

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

The accessibility of high‐throughput phenotyping platforms in both the greenhouse and field, as well as the relatively low cost of unmanned aerial vehicles, has provided researchers with an effective means to characterize large populations throughout the growing season. These longitudinal phenotypes can provide important insight into plant development and responses to the environment. Despite the growing use of these new phenotyping approaches in plant breeding, the use of genomic prediction models for longitudinal phenotypes is limited in major crop species. The objective of this study was to demonstrate the utility of random regression (RR) models using Legendre polynomials for genomic …

Phytochemical Screening Of Quaking Aspen (Populus Tremuloides) Extracts By Uplc-Qtof-Ms And Evaluation Of Their Antimicrobial Activity, Annabelle St-Pierre, Dorian Blondeau, André Lajeunesse, Julien Bley, Nathalie Bourdeau, Isabel Desgagné-Penix

Aspen Bibliography

The continual emergence of pathogen resistance is a recurring challenge and pushes for the development of antimicrobial compounds. Here, we investigated compounds from quaking aspen trees (Populus tremuloides) as potential antimicrobial agents. Several extractions using different solvents were realized, and corresponding antimicrobial activity was tested against eight microorganisms. Results revealed that polar extraction solvents including water, ethanol and methanol gave the best extraction yields (>15.07%). Minimal inhibition concentration (MIC) and minimal bactericidal/fungicidal concentration (MBC/MFC) demonstrated that water extracts had the best antimicrobial activity by a weak to moderate inhibition of growth of all eight tested microorganisms in addition to …

Identification Of Genomic Regions Contributing To Protein Accumulation In Wheat Under Well-Watered And Water Deficit Growth Conditions, Ibrahim S. Elbasyoni, Sabah M. Morsy, Raghuprakash Kastoori Ramamurthy, Atef M. Nassar

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Sustaining wheat production under low-input conditions through development and identifying genotypes with enhanced nutritional quality are two current concerns of wheat breeders. Wheat grain total protein content, to no small extent, determines the economic and nutritive value of wheat. Therefore, the objectives of this study are to identify accessions with high and low grain protein content (GPC) under well-watered and water-deficit growth conditions and to locate genomic regions that contribute to GPC accumulation. Spring wheat grains obtained from 2111 accessions that were grown under well-watered and water-deficit conditions were assessed for GPC using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR). Results indicated significant influences …

Role Of Information And Communication On Spatial Conservation Auction Performance: Evidence From A Laboratory Experiment, Simanti Banerjee, Marc Conte

Cornhusker Economics

Policy makers such as the USDA are interested in producers voluntarily adopting pro-environmental land use practices on their properties as these land uses deliver various ecosystem service benefits. As a result, they have implemented incentive based policies such as the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) (Hellerstein et al., 2015). The CRP involves a reverse auction in which producers submit bids for adopting different land use practices. In running these auctions, agencies are interested in both cost-effectiveness i.e. procuring land use projects which yield the highest level of ecosystem service benefits for the money spent and specific environmental goals. One key goal …

Usu Student Organic Farm, Usu Student Organic Farm

USU Student Organic Farm Newsletter

We’ve moved back into mitigation mode! It’s nice that the weather and pest situation in May and June was manageable- we already had our hands full with field logistics, bed preparation, planting, weeding and establishing harvesting and processing routines. Now that we’ve got the basics fairly under control, we can better respond to increasing daytime and nighttime temps, and the pests and weeds that come with it. In the last two weeks, we’ve used Neem Oil for aphids, Bacillus Thuringiensus (B.T.), for cabbage moth caterpillars, and tonight are spraying Pyrethrin to stay ahead of Utah’s 2018 grasshopper plague. All of …

Weather And Climate Summary And Forecast: July 2018 Report, Gregory V. Jones

Linfield University Wine Studies Reports

This report provides a summary of the weather and climate forecast for July 2018. It includes forecast information specific to the Pacific Northwest and the western United States, as well as forecast information for other portions of the United States and abroad.

The Old Versus The New Equestrian Circus: Demonstrating And Promoting Equine Welfare, Veronica Painter

Theses and Dissertations

Circus is an art form that was originally considered as a humanitarian art, promoting equine welfare by shedding a new light on the horse and human relationship. During a time where horses were used for war, work, and transportation; fancy riding and liberty stood as the framework for a new togetherness between man and beast. The animal activist revolution centered on exotic animals in circus, yet the effects of these demanding pressures caused a major blow to the equestrian circus. This comparative study examines possible improvements to the industry in order to keep this art alive. Keeping up with eclectic …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Polyaniline Agglomerates And Polyaniline Nanoparticles To Use As Printed Sensors To Detect Spoilage Of Catfish During Refrigerated Storage, Vashti Martae Campbell

LSU Master's Theses

There is growing interest in the development of sensors contained in packaging for seafood that are applicable at the consumer level to monitor freshness in a non-destructive manner. Total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N) analysis indicates the freshness of seafood. TVB-N analysis is sensitive to the spoilage compounds comprised of ammonia, trimethylamine, dimethylamine, and biogenic amines commonly found in seafood and whose concentration increases when spoilage microbial growth occurs. However, TVB-N analysis is laborious and is not suitable for use at the consumer level. Polyaniline (PANI) is a polymer that may be used as a sensor for detecting TVB-N in seafood. …

Distribution Of Classified Soils In South-West Western Australia, Dennis Van Gool, Angela Stuart-Street, Peter Tille

Resource management technical reports

This report provides areas, locations and properties of the main soil classifications identified in south-west Western Australia using current conventional soil map data. It is a reference point for classified soils in the south-west. It provides a way of communicating how soil properties or productivity are likely to relate to soils with similar classifications found elsewhere so that soil research or knowledge can be effectively shared around the state and across Australia.

This is a high-level summary of the relationships between the main soil classifications currently used in Western Australia. These are: • Western Australian Soil Groups, WASG (Schoknecht & …

Effects Of Bacillus Mycoides Supplement In A Reduced Frequency Fungicide Program On Chambourcin Grapevines (Vitis Vinifera L.), Ryan Alan Mairs

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Fungal diseases pose significant challenges for grapevine producers in Kentucky due to the region’s abundant moisture and relative humidity. Methods to reduce fungicide application frequency would prove both economically and temporally valuable to producers. A field experiment was established in Bowling Green, KY in 2017 to investigate Bacillus mycoides isolate J (LifeGard) as a supplement to a fungicide program for systemic acquired resistance (SAR). Three fungicide treatment regimens were implemented consisting of a program modelled from the Midwest Fruit Pest Management Guide (2017) and an identical program supplemented with 140 g ha-1 LifeGard per application (both applied on 14 day …

Nebline, July 2018

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

Feature: Pretty things that sting

Food & Health

Farm & Acreage

Pests & Wildlife

Horticulture

Early Childhood

4-H & Youth

and other extension news and events

Introduction To Integrated Crop-Livestock Systems, P. Troy White

STEM & Agricultural Education Curriculum Resources

This presentation is an introductory lesson on integration of crop-livestock systems in the United States. The lesson includes national Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources Standards, objectives, and a student project. This lesson is intended to be inquiry-based, and as such only foundational information is presented. Students are expected to take the introductory information and fins specific information needed to sold the problem posed at the beginning of the presentation. It is expected that at a minimum this lesson will take three 50-minute class periods and could take longer based on teacher preferences.

Joining The Dots On Ten Key Northern Beef Futures Informing Studies, Acil Allen Consulting

Animal production and livestock published reports

This report summarises findings from 10 completed first phase studies which were selected to:

• outline constraints and opportunities at specific points in the supply chain identified by NBF
• “joining the dots” in terms of what the NBF findings mean across the whole northern beef industry.