Agricultural Science Commons^™

From The Dean And Director, Gary Pierzynski

INTSORMIL Impacts and Bulletins

This issue of the Ag Report has an international theme. It features our efforts to train the Kansas National Guard agribusiness development teams deploying to Afghanistan and some of our international activities in Africa.

Grain Science Honors Alumni And Industry Leaders, Gloria Holcombe

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The Department of Grain Science and Industry recognized eight distinguished individuals at its spring luncheon.

Outstanding Service Awards were presented to Aaron Harries, John Khoury,John Mathew, and Jim Rempe. Outstanding Alumni Awards went to Fred Merrill, Bill Pursley, Dale Rodman, and Lloyd Rooney.

Borlaug Fellowship Opens Doors For Rachel Opole [Student Accolades], Mary Lou Peter

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Rachel Opole grew up in Nairobi, Kenya’s capitol, and the K-State doctoral student developed an early interest in livestock and crop production. Those interests, largely influenced by her parents, inspired her desire to improve crops grown to feed people. To enhance her work in that area, Opole earned the Norman E. Borlaug Leadership Enhancement in Agriculture Program (LEAP) fellowship, administered by the University of California–Davis.

Beneficial Partnerships: K-Staters Conduct Projects Throughout Africa, Gloria Holcombe, Timothy Dalton

INTSORMIL Impacts and Bulletins

Africa grows many of the same crops as Kansas, including sorghum and wheat. In fact, sorghum germplasm came from Africa, and now Kansas is the No. 1 sorghum producer in the United States.

K-State has expertise in grain storage issues, wheat and grain sorghum milling, and growing crops under dryland and irrigated conditions — vital information for African producers. Faculty secure grant funding to cover travel and other expenses associated with these partnerships. As an added bonus, they bring international experience into the classroom to share with their students. International collaborations help develop networks to share research, establish new markets, …

Plant Pathologist And Grain Scientist Earn K-State’S Highest Honor, Gloria Holcombe

INTSORMIL Impacts and Bulletins

Two innovative College of Agriculture faculty — John Leslie, professor and head of the Department of Plant Pathology, and Xiuzhi “Susan” Sun, professor of grain science and industry — were selected university distinguished professors, a lifetime title and the highest honor K-State bestows on its faculty.

Phenological Development In Two-Row Spring Barley When Grown In A Long-Day (Alberta, Canada) And A Short-Day (Western Australia, Australia) Environment, Blakely Paynter, P E. Juskiw, J H. Helm

Grain and Other Field Crops Research Articles

Phenological development in eight cultivars of two-row, spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) was examined when sown at two dates of seeding in two diverse environments. These environments were a short-day environment at Northam, Western Australia, Australia, in 1997 and a long-day environment at Lacombe, Alberta, Canada, in 1998. The Australian and Canadian barley cultivars used had different combinations of basic vegetative phase and daylength sensitivity. Barley grown at Lacombe reached each stage of phenological development in less time than at Northam. Most noticeable was a shorter duration of the period between seedling emergence to double ridge and between double ridge …

Weed Science Research Summaries 2010, K. L. Smith, J A. Bullington, R. C. Doherty, J. R. Meier

Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Series

No abstract provided.

Arkansas Wheat Cultivar Performance Tests 2010-2011, R. E. Mason, R. G. Miller, R. D. Bond, E. A. Milus, J. P. Kelley, R. K. Bacon

Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Series

Wheat cultivar performance tests are conducted each year in Arkansas by the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, Department of Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences. The tests provide information to companies developing cultivars and/or marketing seed within the state and aid the Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service in formulating cultivar recommendations for small-grain producers.

Miscanthus 3 Giganteus Productivity: The Effects Of Management In Different Environments, Matt Maughan, German Bollero, D.K. Lee, Robert Darmody, Stacy Bonos, Laura Cortese, James Murphy, Roch E. Gaussoin, Matthew Sousek, David Williams, Linda Williams, Fernando Miguez, Thomas Voigt

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Miscanthus 9 giganteus is a C4 perennial grass that shows great potential as a high-yielding biomass crop. Scant research has been published that reports M. 9 giganteus growth and biomass yields in different environments in the United States. This study investigated the establishment success, plant growth, and dry biomass yield of M. 9 giganteus during its first three seasons at four locations (Urbana, IL; Lexington, KY; Mead, NE; Adelphia, NJ) in the United States. Three nitrogen rates (0, 60, and 120 kg ha -1) were applied at each location each year. Good survival of M. 9 giganteus during its first …

Effects Of In Situ Freezing On Soil Net Nitrogen Mineralization And Net Nitrification In Fertilized Grassland Of Northern China, X. Zhang, W. Bai, Frank S. Gilliam, Q. Wang, X. Han, L. Li

Biological Sciences Faculty Research

Effects of soil freezing on nitrogen (N) mineralization have been the subject of increased attention in the ecological literature, though fewer studies have examined N mineralization responses to successive mild freezing, severe freezing and cyclic freeze–thaw events. Even less is known about relationships of responses to soil N status. This study measured soil N mineralization and nitrification in the field along an experimental N gradient in a grassland of northern China during the dormant season (October 2005–April 2006), a period in which freezing naturally occurs. Net N mineralization exhibited great temporal variability, with nitrification being the predominant N transformation process. …

Usda Nutrient Data Set For Retail Beef Cuts, Marybeth L. Duvall, Seema Bhagwat, Juliette C. Howe, Joanne M. Holden, Kristine Y. Patterson

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Purpose
This data set provides retailers with a tool to find the most accurate beef nutrient data for the purpose of on-pack nutrition labeling. This data set focuses on the beef cuts identified by the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) for nutrition labeling and, in addition, some new Beef Value Cuts.

Introduction
Since 1990’s, nutrient composition data for beef products in the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference (SR) have been updated regularly. These updates have been important since changes in animal husbandry practices and industry procedures have led to the availability of leaner cuts, as well …

The Role Of A Transcription Factor In Regulating Rice Response To Drought Stress, Diana Ha, Liyuan A. Zhang, Jeffery Shen

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

The current water shortage is a major concern in regard to our global climate change crisis. A decrease in the availability of water will have direct effects on the development of plants. Some crops, such as Oryza sativa, or commonly known as rice, requires an abundant amount of water for adequate growth. With the water shortage crisis, it will become extremely difficult to harvest such crops to meet the world’s food demand. However, many plants have evolved mechanisms for overcoming and tolerating stresses such as drought. My research focuses on studying the proteins involved with these mechanisms. The WRKY superfamily …

Gata-Family Transcription Factors In Magnaporthe Oryzae, Cristian F. Quispe

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

The filamentous fungus, Magnaporthe oryzae, responsible for blast rice disease, destroys around 10-30% of the rice crop annually. Infection begins when the specialized infection structure, the appressorium, generates enormous internal turgor pressure through the accumulation of glycerol. This turgor acts on a penetration peg emerging at the base of the cell, causing it to breach the leaf surface allowing its infection.

The enzyme trehalose-6- phosphate synthase (Tps1) is a central regulator of the transition from appressorium development to infectious hyphal growth. In the first chapter we show that initiation of rice blast disease requires a regulatory mechanism involving an …

B. R. Wells Rice Research Studies 2010, R. J. Norman, K. A. K. Moldenhauer

Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Series

The 2010 Rice Research Verification Program ( RRVP) was conducted on twenty-two commercial rice fields across the state. Counties rarticirating in the program included Arkansas, Ashley, Chicot, Clark, Clay, Cross, Desha, Drew, Greene, Jackson, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lawrence, Lonoke, Mississippi, Phillips, Poinsett (2 fields), Prairie, Randolph, St. Francis, and White for a total of 1456 acres. Grain yield in the 2010 RRVP averaged 167 bu/acre ranging from 113 to 215 bu/acre. The 2010 RRVP average yield was 25 bu/acre greater than the estimated Arkansas state average of 142 bu/acre. The highest yielding field was in Clay County with a grain yield …

Pyrrolizidine Alkaloid– Containing Toxic Plants (Senecio, Crotalaria, Cynoglossum, Amsinckia, Heliotropium, And Echium Spp.), Bryan L. Stegelmeier

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Many problematic pyrrolizidine alkaloid (PA)-containing plants are foreign invasive weeds that invade pastures, fields, and ranges, and contaminate feeds and food. Others are native plants that may increase or expand on field edges or in disturbed areas. Most are unpalatable, only becoming a problem for livestock when alternative forages are unavailable, or when they are included in hay and other harvested feeds. Human poisoning is most often a result of contaminated grain or flour, although several poisonings have resulted from the use of PA-containing herbal preparations. Major PA plants and their specific health-related characteristics are discussed individually.

Herbicide-Resistant Risk Assessment: Response Of Common Nebraska Weeds To Dicamba Dose, Roberto J. Crespo

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

Dicamba-resistant soybeans are being developed to provide an additional herbicide mechanism of action that can be used in soybean, and to provide a tool to help manage or mitigate the evolution of other herbicide-resistant weed populations. The objectives of this thesis were to assess the risk of common Nebraska weeds developing resistance to dicamba, quantify baseline dose-response to dicamba of high-risk weed species, and survey the variability in dicamba dose-response among populations of those species. Twenty-five weed scientists were asked to estimate the risk likelihood of ten weed species evolving resistance to dicamba following the commercialization of dicamba-resistant soybean. Palmer …

Effects Of Xenobiotics And Phytotoxins On Reproduction In Food Animals, Kip E. Panter, Bryan L. Stegelmeier

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

The influence of natural toxicants and anthropogenic compounds on reproduction in food animals is significant in its economic impact, and the subject requires more research and further experimental substantiation. Confounding factors such as stress, nutritional status, season of the year, animal species involved, genetic variability, disease conditions, management factors, and so forth exacerbate the difficulty of making an accurate diagnosis and thereby may impede progress to improve reproductive performance on an individual operation. The interaction between the reproductive system and xenobiotics (reproductive toxicology) is a relatively new area of study and a subject of increasing interest, especially in the area …

Sweet Sorghum As An Alternative Cellulosic Biofuel In Eastern Kentucky, Sarah A. Hazenfield

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Science and Technology at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science by Sarah A. Hazenfield in June of 2011.

Soil Test And Phosphorus Rate For High Rainfall Clover Pastures, Robert Summers, David Weaver

Bulletins 4000 -

Essential information for soil testing to determine the phosphorus fertiliser requirements for clover pastures in high rainfall coastal areas of Western Australia. Includes procedures for soil sampling, tissue testing, liming, when to apply fertiliser, how to decide on the target production level, how much fertiliser is required and type of fertiliser.

Grinders Convert Sorghum Into Flour, Intsormil

INTSORMIL Impacts and Bulletins

To help contend rising wheat costs Central American bakers are looking for alternative ways to produce their baked products at a low cost without sacrificing nutritional value or taste. Sorghum flour is the answer to their problems. Sorghum flour is about half the cost of wheat flour so using sorghum flour helps bakers save money and make more of a profit. Particle size of sorghum flour must be sufficiently fine in order to substitute for wheat flour in baking recipes. However, small grinders adequate for family level bakers have not been available in Central America. That is until a collaborative …