Agriculture Commons^™

Tillage And Crop Residue Removal Effects On Evaporation, Irrigation Requirements, And Yield, Simon Van Donk, Norman L. Klocke

West Central Research and Extension Center, North Platte

Irrigators in the western Great Plains and other irrigated regions face water restrictions caused by decreased well capacity, water allocations imposed by water policy, and/or rising energy costs. These growers require water management practices that optimize grain production. When not enough water is available to produce full yields, the goal for water management is to maximize transpiration and minimize nonessential water losses such evaporation of soil water.

It is generally believed that increasing crop residue levels leads to reduced evaporation. However, crop residue that is removed from the field after harvest is gaining value for use in livestock rations and …

Nebline, February 2012

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

Feature: 4-H Diamond Clover Program Helps Youth Plan and Achieve Goals

Farm Views

Urban Agriculture

Food & Fitness

Home & Family Living

Horticulture

Environmental Focus

4-H & Youth

Community Focus

Extension Calendar

Nutrition Education Program

Family and Community Education (FCE) Clubs

and other extension news and events

Battling Problem Pests In Paradise, Stephanie Yao, Dennis O’Brien

Agricultural Research Magazine

Sandy beaches, blue water, warm weather, and—invasive insects? One of these things certainly doesn’t belong. When we think of island paradise, invasive insects don’t usually come to mind. But these pesky pests are a problem for countries all over the world.

In two separate projects, Agricultural Research Service scientists are working with their Azorean and French Polynesian counterparts to help control invasive insects there. Since these pests are also invasive in the United States, these collaborations may have mutual benefit. So far, the results have been promising.

An Infestation in the Azores

Off the coast of Portugal lies an archipelago …

Buckhorn Plantain, Allan Sulser, Ralph Whitesides

All Current Publications

Buckhorn plantain (Plantago lanceotata) is a weed with increasing significance in Wasatch County. It is invading alfalfa fields and pastures in the Wallsburg and Heber valleys. Other names for buckhorn plantain are narrow-leaf plantain, ribwart plantain, English plantain, and ribgrass. Plantain is a problem because it reduces the health of the plants that remain by crowding out desirable plant species and using up soil nutrients, water, and light.

What Is Expected Of The Poultry Showman?, Troy D. Cooper, David D. Frame

All Current Publications

Showmanship is an exhibitor focused activity. The bird serves as a prop, while the exhibitor does the performing

Agricultural Production Economics, David L. Debertin

Agricultural Economics Textbook Gallery

Agricultural Production Economics (Second Edition, Amazon Createspace 2012) is a revised edition of the textbook Agricultural Production Economics published by Macmillan in 1986 (ISBN 0-02-328060-3). This is a free pdf download of the entire book. As the author, I own the copyright. Amazon markets bound print copies of the book at amazon.com at a nominal price for classroom use. The book can also be ordered through college bookstores using the following ISBN numbers:

• ISBN-13 978-1469960647
• ISBN-10 1469960648

The format and coverage remains similar to the first edition, many small revisions and updates have been made. All graphs have been redrawn …

Agricultural Production Economics: The Art Of Production Theory, David L. Debertin

Agricultural Economics Textbook Gallery

Agricultural Production Economics: The Art of Production Theory is a companion book of color illustrations to Agricultural Production Economics (Second Edition, Amazon Createspace 2012) and is a free download. A bound print copy is also available on amazon.com at a nominal cost under the following ISBN numbers:

• ISBN- 13: 978-1470129262
• ISBN- 10: 1470129264

This is a book of full-color illustrations intended for use as a companion to Agricultural Production Economics, Second Edition. Each of the 98 pages of illustrations is a large, full-color version of the corresponding numbered figure in the book Agricultural Production Economics. The illustrations are …

A Comprehensive Method For Fractionating Soil Organic Matter Not Protected And Protected From Decomposition By Physical And Chemical Mechanisms, César Plaza, José M. Fernández, Engil Isadora Pujol Pereira, Alfredo Polo

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

The objective of this work was to describe a method for isolating meaningful and measurable soil organic matter (SOM) pools that differ in the mechanisms by which they are protected from decomposition. The proposed method is appropriate for soil C stabilization and sequestration studies. Unlike previous fractionation schemes, this procedure allows free SOM located between aggregates (unprotected C pool) and SOM occluded within both macroaggregates and microaggregates (C weakly and strongly protected by physical mechanisms, respectively) to be recovered separately, freed from the soil mineral matrix and the mineral-associated SOM pool (C pool protected by chemical mechanisms) and thus well …

Organizing A Poultry Showmanship Contest, Troy D. Cooper, David D. Frame

All Current Publications

Poultry showmanship is an opportunity for young people to demonstrate their ability to present and display their bird and communicate their knowledge of poultry husbandry to others.

Beef Heifer Retention Decisions, Cody Reed, Dale Zobell

All Current Publications

This publication discusses a number of general factors that are essential to an effective decision regarding whether to retain heifers or not.

2011 Vadose Zone Nitrate Study At Hastings, Ne (Revised), Roy F. Spalding, Martin Toavs

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

In an effort to assist Hastings Utilities in the management of their well-head protection area (WHP A) and to protect the groundwater from the impact of nitrate loading from potential nonpoint and point sources, Hastings Utilities subcontracted with the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture at the University of Nebraska for deep vadose zone coring. Continuous 60-ft soil cores were obtained at 36 sites within the apparent WHP A (Figure 1). The sites were selected by Marty Stange on the basis of availability for sampling, management, landuse , cropping history, and location within the WHPA. Nitrogen analyses of these deep soil …

Silva, Ann (Fa 53), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of paper (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 53. “A History of the Logan County Tobacco Festival” Paper written about an annual festival celebrating tobacco culture held in Russellville, Kentucky. Paper was written for a history class at Western Kentucky University.

A Spatial Cluster Analysis Of Tractor Overturns In Kentucky From 1960 To 2002, Daniel M. Saman, Henry P. Cole, Agricola Odoi, Melvin L. Myers, Daniel I. Carey, Susan C. Westneat

Epidemiology and Environmental Health Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Agricultural tractor overturns without rollover protective structures are the leading cause of farm fatalities in the United States. To our knowledge, no studies have incorporated the spatial scan statistic in identifying high-risk areas for tractor overturns. The aim of this study was to determine whether tractor overturns cluster in certain parts of Kentucky and identify factors associated with tractor overturns.

METHODS: A spatial statistical analysis using Kulldorff's spatial scan statistic was performed to identify county clusters at greatest risk for tractor overturns. A regression analysis was then performed to identify factors associated with tractor overturns.

RESULTS: The spatial analysis …

Genome-Wide Analysis Of Syntenic Gene Deletion In The Grasses, James C. Schnable, Michael Freeling, Eric Lyons

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

The grasses, Poaceae, are one of the largest and most successful angiosperm families. Like many radiations of flowering plants, the divergence of the major grass lineages was preceded by a whole-genome duplication (WGD), although these events are not rare for flowering plants. By combining identification of syntenic gene blocks with measures of gene pair divergence and different frequencies of ancient gene loss, we have separated the two subgenomes present in modern grasses. Reciprocal loss of duplicated genes or genomic regions has been hypothesized to reproductively isolate populations and, thus, speciation. However, in contrast to previous studies in yeast and teleost …

Craig, James Harvey, 1842-1929 (Sc 240), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "additional files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 240. Photocopy of autobiography written by James H. Craig, possibly in 1917. He was a native of Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, although he was an Arkansas resident for several years. The autobiography contains much Craig family data. In addition, there is a photocopy of Craig's essay denouncing the evils of alcohol, possibly to be delivered as a speech

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Kitchens, Amy (Fa 35), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 35. [Warren County agriculture – past, present, future] Oral history project completed by Amy Kitchens with Kelcy Driskill about agriculture in Warren County, Kentucky, for a folk studies class at Western Kentucky University. Contains indices, tape summaries and transcriptions.

Corn Defenses Probed For New Pest-Fighting Clues, Jan Suszkiw, Eric Schmelz, Alisa Huffaker

Agricultural Research Magazine

On one front, a team led by ARS plant physiologists Eric Schmelz and Alisa Huffaker has identified 10 compounds in corn, kauralexins and zealexins, which rapidly accumulate at fungal infection sites, impeding the microbes’ spread. Kauralexins and zealexins, members of a larger family of plant-defense compounds known as “terpenoid phytoalexins,” are also partly triggered by insect chewing—with Ostrinia nubilalis, the European corn borer, among species that find them distasteful.

On another front, Huffaker led the discovery of a new peptide (protein) in corn, ZmPep1, that’s produced in response to fungal infection. In addition to serving as a sort …

Using Cactus As A Bioremediation Tool, Dennis O’Brien, Gary Bañuelos

Agricultural Research Magazine

Ancient seas that once covered the area left behind marine sediments, shale formations, and deposits of selenium and other minerals. Anything grown there needs to be irrigated, but the resulting runoff, when it contains high levels of selenium, can be toxic to fish, migratory birds, and other wildlife that drink from waterways and drainage ditches. Selenium runoff is subject to monitoring by regional waterquality officials. Periodic droughts and population growth are also squeezing supplies of the fresh water available for irrigation.

“We need to find a way to keep the land productive, but that becomes difficult when you have environmental …

There’S A New Biofuel Crop In Town, Ann Perry, Keri Cantrell, Kyoung Ro, Philip Bauer

Agricultural Research Magazine

Work by Agricultural Research Service scientists in Florence, South Carolina, suggests that farmers in the Southeast could use the tropical legume sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea) in their crop rotations by harvesting the fast-growing annual for biofuel.

Agricultural engineer Keri Cantrell, agronomist Philip Bauer, and environmental engineer Kyoung Ro all work at the ARS Coastal Plains Soil, Water, and Plant Research Center in Florence. They compared the energy content of sunn hemp with cowpea (Vigna unguiculata)—another common regional summer cover crop—in 2004 and 2006.

The crops were grown in experimental plots near Florence, and both were harvested …

Mining For Phytochemicals: A Multifaceted Effort, Kay W. Simmons, Jack Okamuro

Agricultural Research Magazine

Unlike in animals, the “fight or flight” response isn’t an option for imperiled plants—including those grown as crops for our food, fuel, and fiber needs. A plant, for example, cannot simply uproot itself and sprint to safety from an approaching caterpillar.

But plants can defend themselves, and they’ve done so for millennia, by using an abundance of potent secondary compounds broadly referred to as “phytochemicals.” Some, like glyceollins in soybeans, are produced only in response to a specific threat—similar to the adrenaline surge a person experiences from a life-threatening event. For plants, this threat can be from a grazing animal, …