Agriculture Commons^™

U.S. Drought Monitor, August 27, 2013, Anthony Artusa

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for August 27, 2013 (8/27/13) 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.

U.S. Drought Monitor, August 20, 2013, Michael J. Brewer

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for August 20, 2013 (8/20/13) 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.

U.S. Drought Monitor, August 13, 2013, Michael J. Brewer

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for August 13, 2013 (8/13/13) 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.

U.S. Drought Monitor, August 6, 2013, Brian Fuchs

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for August 6, 2013 (8/6/13) 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.

Assessing The Bioconfinement Potential Of A Nicotiana Hybrid Platform For Use In Plant Molecular Farming Applications, J. Hollis Rice, Richard E. Mundell, Reginald J. Millwood, Orlando D. Chambers, C. Neal Stewart, H. Maelor Davies

Kentucky Tobacco Research and Development Center Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: The introduction of pharmaceutical traits in tobacco for commercial production could benefit from the utilization of a transgene bioconfinement system. It has been observed that interspecific F1Nicotiana hybrids (Nicotiana tabacum × Nicotiana glauca) are sterile and thus proposed that hybrids could be suitable bioconfined hosts for biomanufacturing. We genetically tagged hybrids with green fluorescent protein (GFP), which was used as a visual marker to enable gene flow tracking and quantification for field and greenhouse studies. GFP was used as a useful proxy for pharmaceutical transgenes.

RESULTS: Analysis of DNA content revealed significant genomic downsizing of the hybrid relative to …

Back Matter Agricultural Research Magazine August 2013

Agricultural Research Magazine

U.S. Department of Agriculture

Agricultural Research Magazine

5601 Sunnyside Ave.

Beltsville, MD 20705-5128

Prescription For Curing Citrus Greening, Dennis O’Brien, Yongping Duan

Agricultural Research Magazine

Huanglongbing (HLB), or citrus greening, is the most serious threat to the Florida citrus industry in its history and is costing millions of dollars each year. Working with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS), Yongping Duan and his Agricultural Research Service colleagues in Fort Pierce, Florida, have found a formula for curbing HLB, offering the industry a glimmer of hope.

Duan has published details of work showing that heating potted citrus seedlings in greenhouses kills off the HLB bacterium and can rid the seedlings of citrus greening symptoms. Monitoring efforts show that the benefit can last for …

Early Weaning: A Good Bet For Beef Producers In Drought-Stricken Areas, R.C. Waterman, Sandra Avant

Agricultural Research Magazine

At the beginning of 2013, cattle-ranchers in the Northern Plains were among U.S. agricultural producers still feeling the lingering effects of the sweltering 2012 drought, the worst in half a century.

Beef cow numbers were at the lowest in 50 years as U.S. beef producers—severely affected by extended drought—tried to recover from some of the driest months on record.

Across the Northern and Southern Plains, beef producers hit the hardest by drought are threatened by limited forage resources for cows, which restricts calf growth, resulting in lighter calf weaning weights. In addition, drought can decrease cow body weight and condition …

Scientific Works Of Art Reveal A Hidden World, Gary Bauchan, Jan Suszkiw

Agricultural Research Magazine

It has been said that a picture is worth a thousand words, and at the Agricultural Research Service’s Electron and Confocal Microscopy Unit (ECMU) in Beltsville, Maryland, this adage couldn’t be more true. Led by unit director Gary Bauchan, the ECMU is tasked with producing highresolution images that provide a window to the extraordinary world of the unseen.

“We have observed viruses, bacteria, fungi, nematodes, insects, mites, and parasites that threaten global food security, and we’ve contributed to the discovery of how pathogens spread by helping elucidate their relationship to the environment, hosts, and vectors,” says Bauchan. “We’ve also described …

Novel Ways To Combat Plant Pathogens, Deborah Fravel, Gail C. Wisler

Agricultural Research Magazine

Plant diseases must be managed to successfully and reliably produce crops to meet humanity’s growing food, fiber, feed, and fuel needs. Plant disease management relies on many different types of tools—from disease-resistant plant varieties and pesticides to cultural and biological strategies. Agricultural Research Service scientists are seeking new methods of managing plant diseases, more efficient means of using older methods, and combinations of these methods. Two of the oldest ways of reducing plant diseases are crop rotation and organic amendments to soil.

In Orono, Maine, for example, ARS scientists are evaluating a holistic approach to suppressing soilborne pathogens of potato, …

Possible Links Between Soil Microbial Communities And Stroke Risk, Ann Perry

Agricultural Research Magazine

“A big part of our Agricultural Research Service culture is cross-talking with outside researchers,” says ARS soil and water scientist Patrick Hunt. “Partnerships are what we do.”

So one day in 2011, Hunt called Medical University of South Carolina professor Daniel Lackland to discuss a paper Lackland had published about stroke risk in the state. South Carolina is part of the U.S. “Stroke Belt,” where residents have a significantly higher incidence of stroke than the rest of the U.S. population. South Carolina counties with the highest rates of stroke—between 89 and 115 cases per 100,000 residents—are found within the Southern …

Fungal Foam Tested Against Avocado Threat, Jan Suszkiw

Agricultural Research Magazine

Avocados aren’t just nutritional powerhouses; they’re also the chief ingredient in such party favorites as guacamole dip.

More than 99 percent of the nation’s $322 million avocado crop is grown in south Florida and southern California (less than 1 percent is produced in Hawaii), which makes recent infestations of groves there by invasive, wood-boring ambrosia beetles so alarming. A host of counter strategies are in the works, including a biobased foam originally developed by Agricultural Research Service scientists for use against Formosan subterranean termites.

In Miami-Dade County, Florida, avocado growers are contending with Xyleborus glabratus, the redbay ambrosia beetle. …

Fire Ant Venom Compounds May Be Useful As A Fungicide, Jan Suszkiw, Jian Chen, Xixuan Jin

Agricultural Research Magazine

Red imported fire ants are named for the firelike burn of their sting. Now, the same venom that packs such a painful wallop may actually do some good for a change.

Studies by scientists at the Agricultural Research Service’s Biological Control of Pests Research Unit in Stoneville, Mississippi, have shown that certain alkaloid compounds in the venom—namely, piperideines and piperidines—can hinder growth of Pythium ultimum, a top crop pathogen worldwide.

Chemical controls, delayed plantings, and crop rotation are among methods now used against P. ultimum, which causes damping-off diseases that decay the seed or seedlings of vegetable, horticultural, …

August 2013- Locations Featured In This Magazine Issue

Agricultural Research Magazine

Albany, California

9 research units ■ 241 employees

San Joaquin Valley Agricultural Sciences Center, Parlier, California

3 research units ■ 125 employees

Northwest Watershed Research Center, Boise, Idaho

1 research unit ■ 18 employees

Tucson, Arizona

2 research units ■ 54 employees

U.S. Sheep Experiment Station, Dubois, Idaho

1 research unit ■ 10 employees

Fort Keogh Livestock and Range Research Laboratory, Miles City, Montana

1 research unit ■ 25 employees

Roman L. Hruska U.S. Meat Animal Research Center, Clay Center, Nebraska

6 research units ■ 117 employees

Grazinglands Research Laboratory, El Reno, Oklahoma

2 research units ■ 43 employees

National …

Ars Validates Soil Moisture Data Collected Via Satellite, Ann Perry

Agricultural Research Magazine

The European Space Agency’s Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission includes the latest advance in using Earth-orbiting satellites for estimating soil moisture across the globe. The SMOS satellite was launched in 2009 and was designed to estimate soil moisture levels to within 4 percent, which is like measuring a teaspoon of water in a handful of dry soil.

To capture this data, SMOS uses a new sensor technology that is the first passive L-band system—measuring microwave radiation emitted around the frequency of 1.4 gigahertz—in routine operation. But the accuracy of the information collected by this new technology still needs …

New Strategies To Thwart Pecan Scab, Sharon Durham

Agricultural Research Magazine

Pecans are great for eating out of the shell or in a myriad of recipes. But abundant pickings of high-quality nuts are only possible if the tree escapes the devastating disease called “pecan scab.” Caused by the fungus Fusicladium effusum, it is the most destructive disease of pecan in the southeastern United States. When scab is severe, most often when rainfall is above average, nut size is reduced, and total crop loss might occur.

Scientists at the Southeastern Fruit and Tree Nut Research Laboratory in Byron, Georgia, are working to help pecan growers mitigate the effect of pecan scab. …

Screening Fresh Oranges With Uv Study Pinpoints New Value Of Detection Tactic, David M. Obenland, Joseph L. Smilanick, Marcia Wood

Agricultural Research Magazine

Fresh, deliciously sweet navel oranges, on display at your local supermarket, may have been quickly inspected with ultraviolet (UV) light when they were still at the packinghouse. Usually, the purpose of this special sorting and screening is to see if circular spots—which glow a bright, fluorescent yellow and may be about the size of a quarter or larger—show up on the fruit’s peel.

More often than not, these spots, which scientists refer to as “lesions,” are telltale indicators of the presence of microbes that cause decay, namely Penicillium italicum, responsible for blue mold, or P. digitatum, the culprit …

Agricultural Research Magazine August 2013

Agricultural Research Magazine

Table of Contents

4 Prescription for Curing Citrus Greening: Apply Heat and Wait

7 Screening Fresh Oranges With UV: Study Pinpoints New Value of Detection Tactic

8 Breed Matters: Selecting Rams for Rangeland Production

10 Scientific Works of Art Reveal a Hidden World

13 ARS Validates Soil Moisture Data Collected Via Satellite

14 New Strategies To Thwart Pecan Scab

15 Fire Ant Venom Compounds May Be Useful as a Fungicide

16 Possible Links Between Soil Microbial Communities and Stroke Risk

18 Early Weaning: A Good Bet for Beef Producers in Drought-Stricken Areas

20 Fungal Foam Tested Against Avocado Threat

21 …

Agriculture Honors Programs In Aplu Member Institutions, Sable A. Sellick

Agricultural Education, Communications and Technology Undergraduate Honors Theses

In order to continue to feed and clothe nearly 9 billion people by the year 2050, there is a definite need for innovative agriculturalists to contribute to the field of agricultural research. Land-grant and public universities, established over 100 years ago with a devotion to agricultural research, have begun to develop “honors programs” in order to attract the best and brightest students away from private universities and to their campuses. This study sought to discover how common agricultural honors programs were and what characteristics they shared via a survey administered over the internet and distributed to a database of contacts …

Cultivar, Mowing Height, And Herbicide Effects On Bermudagrass, Cynodon Dactylon [L.] Pers., Suppression In Tall Fescue, Schedonorus Arundinaceus [Schreb.] Dumort., Nom. Cons., Daniel S. Sandor

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In the fall of 2011, a study was initiated at the Western Kentucky University Farm in Bowling Green, Kentucky on a Crider silt loam (Typic Paleudalf). The objective of this study was to determine cultivar, mowing height, and herbicide effects on bermudagrass, Cynodon dactylon [L.] Pers., suppression in tall fescue, Schedonorus arundinaceus [Schreb.] Dumort., nom. cons. The experimental design was a split plot design with whole plots consisting of varying mowing heights and split plots consisting of different herbicide treatments with three replications. Two separate experiments were conducted. The tall fescue variety ‘KY 31’ was utilized for one study and …