Agriculture Commons^™

Evolution Of Food Quality Demand In The Food Service Industry In China: The Case Of Duck, Rachel Alison Carnegie

Open Access Theses

Booming economic growth and rising consumer incomes have impacted food preferences and purchasing behavior in China. At the same time, several internationally publicized food safety incidents, particularly in the animal husbandry sector, have heightened awareness of and concern for food safety and quality in meat and dairy. Rising quality demand and safety concerns have been studied at length in the food retail sector, but also appear to be important in the food service industry. This research uses data from a survey of duck restaurant managers and consumers in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, and Guangzhou to determine preferences and willingness to pay …

Two Essays On Large Agricultural Producer Buying Behaviors, Jacqueline K. Holland

Open Access Theses

The trend of consolidation of large farms into high volume operations has continued over the past 30 years. Large farm management is a juggling act of a variety of biological processes, financial management, technology adaptation, and human resource development activities. This research looks to provide insights into the underlying management psychology of those large farmers to serve not only as a benchmark for other producers, but to provide customer information to agribusinesses so these firms can strengthen their relationships with their large farmer customers. The first part of this analysis will use Best-Worst modeling to examine five predetermined success factors …

Where Can Edible Non-Timber Forest Products Be Sold?

Working Trees (USDA-NAC)

Where can edible non-timber forest products be sold?

Increasingly, forest landowners are looking to non-timber forest products (NTFPs) as opportunities to create additional income from their woodlands. Harvesting NTFPs is can be appealing to landowners who are not interested in harvesting trees or landowners who want to grow a product that generates income in a shorter time-frame than timber harvesting. While there are a variety of types of non-timber forest products including medicinal plants, woody florals, and craft products, this info sheet focuses on forest-based food products, like mushrooms and berries.

Determining The Effectiveness Of Optimal Time-Varying Hedge Ratios For Cattle Feeders Under Multiproduct And Single Commodity Settings, Hernan A. Tejeda, Dillon M. Feuz

Applied Economics Faculty Publications

The purpose of this paper is to determine and contrast the risk mitigating effectiveness from optimal multiproduct time-varying hedge ratios, applied to the margin of a cattle feedlot operation, over single commodity time-varying and naive hedge ratios. Design/methodology/approach – A parsimonious regime-switching dynamic correlations (RSDC) model is estimated in two-stages, where the dynamic correlations among prices of numerous commodities vary proportionally between two different regimes/levels. This property simplifies estimation methods for a large number of parameters involved. Findings – There is significant evidence that resulting simultaneous correlations among the prices (spot and futures) for each commodity attain different levels along …

Development Of A Public Education Website: Building Bridges Over Water, Angelina Mckee

Agricultural Education and Communication

Website created by Angelina McKee to educate the public about water resource issues. Water is the basic unit of life, water resources are the basis for what societies and ecosystems are founded upon. Water shortages and droughts are more prevalent in our ever-changing world. It is no shock that there are discrepancies between various stockholders on either sides of the dry riverbed. This senior project resulted in the development of a website that addresses global water resources, water use in California, water conservation, and water allocation. The website informs the public on water resources and related issues and will hopefully …

U.S. Drought Monitor, July 1, 2014, Anthony Artusa

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for July 1, 2014 (7/1/14) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

Crystallization Inhibitor Properties Of Polymers And Effects On The Chemical And Physical Stability Of L-Ascorbic Acid During Preparation And Storage, Belinda Christina

Open Access Theses

Crystalline L-ascorbic acid (VitC) is an essential nutrient solid that is widely used in food applications for fortification, antioxidant, and label claim purposes. VitC is known as one of the most unstable vitamins, and its content must be declared on food labels. Interest has been increasing in creating amorphous solid structures for improving the solubility and/or dissolution rates of crystalline compounds. One of the most promising methods studied to prevent the crystallization of an amorphous solid is the use of polymers in dispersions, although the specific polymer properties that lead to the best physical stability for a particular type of …

Understanding Soilless Media Test Results And Their Implications On Nursery And Greenhouse Crop Management, Dewayne L. Ingram

Agriculture and Natural Resources Publications

Soilless media, sometimes called growth media or substrates, are one of the most important components of crop production in containers or raised beds with restricted volume. The word media is the plural of medium. The physical and chemical properties of media greatly influence optimal management protocols. Primary components of these media may be peat, pine bark, perlite, vermiculite, compost and/or perhaps coarse sand. Understanding the chemical and physical properties of optimal media, or the chosen medium for a production system, allows more effective system management. Although choosing or formulating media with optimum physical properties (such as pore air space and …

Stress And Decline In Woody Plants, Nicole Ward Gauthier, Cheryl A. Kaiser, Jamie Dockery, Delia Scott, Kristin Goodin, Jeremy Williams

Agriculture and Natural Resources Publications

Woody plant stress has many causes that might ultimately lead to plant decline. Tree and shrub degeneration is often referred to as a “complex,” meaning the condition is usually caused by multiple factors. Typically, one or more primary stresses cause deterioration of plant health, followed by secondary pathogens and/or insects that further decline or destroy plants. Determining causes of decline requires careful examination of plants and growing sites, as well as knowledge of site history. Nevertheless, diagnoses may be difficult, as the original cause(s) of plant stress may be obscure or no longer present.

Streambank Erosion, Matthew C. Burnette, Carmen T. Agouridis

Agriculture and Natural Resources Publications

Streambank erosion refers to the removal of soil and other material, such as rock and vegetation, from the streambank (Figure 1). Streambank erosion is a naturally occurring process, but the rate at which it occurs is often increased by anthropogenic or human activities such as urbanization and agriculture. Changes in land use can cause streambanks to erode at rates much faster than those seen in natural, undisturbed systems.

Liming Kentucky Lawns, Gregg Munshaw, Edwin L. Ritchey

Agriculture and Natural Resources Publications

Most homeowners desire an aesthetically pleasing landscape and will take steps to ensure success. Proper fertilizing, watering, and pest control are all steps that will lead to a quality lawn. However, some confusion surrounds when and why lime should be applied to a lawn. Many homeowners believe that lime needs to be applied on an annual basis for a quality lawn. The purpose of this publication is to explain why lime is needed and whether it is required on your lawn.

Fertilizing Your Lawn, Gregg Munshaw

Agriculture and Natural Resources Publications

Lawns require fertilizer to remain healthy. Proper fertilization practices will lead to a thick, dark green, uniform lawn that is competitive against weed and disease invasions. The nutrients contained in fertilizers are necessary to support many processes occurring within the plants. If any essential nutrient is limiting, the plants will not perform at their highest level.

Fescue Toxicosis, Michelle Arnold, Cynthia Gaskill, S. Ray Smith

Agriculture and Natural Resources Publications

Tall fescue [Lolium arundinaceum (Schreb.) Darbysh.] is a cool-season, perennial grass frequently infected with the fungal endophyte Neotyphodium coenophialum. An endophyte is a fungus or bacteria that lives entirely within the tissue spaces of plants and is only visible microscopically. The plant and fungus enjoy a relationship that is symbiotic—mutually beneficial to both organisms. The fungus has free access to the plant’s nutrients and the plant provides a means for the endophyte to reproduce through infected seeds. The fungus, in turn, produces chemicals (ergot alkaloids) that function as chemical defenses, making the plant more vigorous, pest-resistant, drought-resistant, and …

Guía De Monitoreo De Mip Para Plagas Comunes De Los Cultivos De Solanáceas En Kentucky, Timothy Coolong, John Strang, Ricardo Bessin, Kenneth W. Seebold

Agriculture and Natural Resources Publications

Este manual es el resultado de los esfuerzos del equipo de MIP en vegetales de la Universidad de Kentucky. Financiamiento para esta publicación fue proporcionado por el Programa de Manejo Integrado de Plagas de la Universidad de Kentucky y el Servicio Cooperativo de Extensión de la Universidad de Kentucky.

Considering The Environment In The Maintenance Of Your Kentucky Lawn: A Season By Season Approach, Gregg Munshaw, Paul C. Vincelli

Agriculture and Natural Resources Publications

“Going Green” is a buzz phrase that is heard a lot these days. Everything from driving hybrid cars to recycling plastics can be considered going green. But can we go green when it comes to maintaining our lawns? The answer to that question is not all that simple. Most people do not realize the environmental benefits of lawns. Lawns are known to cool the air, reduce soil erosion, remove dust and pollutants (including CO₂) from the air, reduce run-off of water and pollutants, create oxygen for humans, and improve soils over time by supplying organic matter. Lawns are …

How Dry Seasons Affect Woody Plants, Nicole Ward Gauthier, Susan Fox, Kathy Wimberley

Agriculture and Natural Resources Publications

Pattern, frequency, and amounts of rainfall are important components to plant health. Water is an essential plant component, making up 70 percent to 90 percent of plant mass. Growth, photosynthesis (manufacture of food), nutrient transport, important chemical reactions, and the production of secondary metabolites are all dependent upon water uptake from roots. Water expands and enlarges new cells within stems and leaves, which holds them upright (turgor pressure).

During dry seasons and drought conditions, plants become stressed (Figure 1). Growth ceases, nutrient transport slows, and plants wilt as cells become water-deficient. Severe, long-term, or consecutive drought events may cause permanent …

Louisiana Agriculture Summer, 2014, Lsu Agcenter

Louisiana Agriculture

No abstract provided.

Physical And Chemical Attributes Of A Genetically Modified Fruit Pectin, Carl Patrick Littrell

Open Access Theses

Pectin is an important polymer used in the food industry as a thickening and gelling agent. Though pectin is ubiquitous in plants, chemical and structural differences among pectin molecules prevent most from being viable for industrial use. Enzymes found naturally in fruit cell walls during the ripening process impair many desirable attributes of fruit pectins, rendering them unsuitable for industrial applications. Pectin methylesterase (PME) is one such enzyme whose expression can be altered during ripening through the use of recombinant genetic engineering. Reduction in levels of PME results in increased degree of methylation and molecular size of pectin, greatly increasing …

Changes In Tundra Plant And Soil Organic Geochemical Composition In Response To Long-Term Increased Winter Precipitation In N. Alaska, Olivia Miller

Open Access Theses

Tundra ecosystem soils store half of the global soil organic carbon (SOC) pool and have the potential to release large amounts of greenhouse gases, primarily CH₄ and CO₂. As climates warm and permafrost thaws, the emissions of these gases as organic matter decomposition rates increase may become increasingly important to the chemistry of the atmosphere. Increases in precipitation that accompany warming, may shift tundra vegetative composition from moss/graminoid- to shrub-dominated systems. These vegetation shifts may result in important feedback effects as altered plant and litter chemistry may affect SOC storage in soils. Questions investigated include: 1) How …

Management Of Root Knot Nematode (Meloidogyne Incognita ) In Indiana Soybeans, David Edgardo Perla Martinez

Open Access Theses

The aim of this project was to evaluate different strategies for management of Root Knot Nematode (RKN) on soybean and tomato in Indiana. Seed treatments were evaluated under field and greenhouse conditions, but no effect on RKN populations was observed. Soybean lines evaluated for resistance to RKN under greenhouse conditions showed that six lines may be resistant to RKN. Four different commercial mustard cover crops were evaluated for their bio-fumigant impact on RKN populations in the production of tomato. Euruca sativa, Cv. Nemat was a poor host of RKN. A positive impact on the vigor of the tomato plants followed …