An assessment of SARE-funcled farmer research on sustainable agriculture in the north central U.S.

2001 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 73-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret M. Kroma ◽  
Cornelia Butler Flora
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Agriculture ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
The United States ◽  
Funding Agency ◽  
Resource Base ◽  
North Central ◽  
Knowledge Community ◽  
The North ◽  
Research And Education

AbstractEmergent research shows how some farmer groups in the United States are gaining visibility as a critical knowledge community, making important contributions to the ecological health and overall sustainability of the natural resource base. This study focuses on funded farmer research projects in the north central region, to analyze the process and outcome of local inquiry embodied in the discursive contents of reports to a funding agency, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program. The analyses suggest that farmers' locality-specific agricultural practices may constitute a reflective and learning community, generating local knowledge keenly attuned to an underlying value system that supports actions towards sustainability.

Information dissemination in alternative agriculture research: An analysis of researchers in the North Central region

2000 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 171-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.L. Larson ◽  
L.A. Duram
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Agriculture ◽  
Central Region ◽  
Information Dissemination ◽  
Agricultural Research ◽  
Alternative Agriculture ◽  
North Central Region ◽  
Farming Practices ◽  
North Central ◽  
The North ◽  
Research And Education

AbstractAgricultural research and education significantly influence the direction of U.S. agriculture by improving the practices available to farmers and by decreasing uncertainties associated with adopting new farming practices. Because sustainable agriculture is management-intensive, access to information is particularly important in adopting and implementing sustainable farming practices. Given that relatively little funding is allocated to sustainable agriculture research by the federal government, successful dissemination of these research results is critical. This paper presents an analysis of the dissemination efforts of 42 researchers funded through the USDA's North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program. Results show that these SARE researchers purposefully consider the effectiveness of various dissemination methods in reaching targeted audiences and attempt to involve farmers in their dissemination efforts. Overall, researchers note that information dissemination is limited by farmer interest. Additional barriers exist, most notably insufficient resources and institutional biases. In the future, the ways in which information is compiled and made available must be improved, and responsibility for farmer outreach should be better coordinated.

scholarly journals University of Arkansas Agriculture Professionals' Perceptions toward Sustainable Agriculture

HortScience ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 831C-831
Author(s):  
Heather Friedrich* ◽  
Curt R. Rom ◽  
Jennie Popp ◽  
Barbara Bellows ◽  
Donn Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Agriculture ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cooperative Extension Service ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Row Crops ◽  
Perceptions And Attitudes ◽  
Agricultural College ◽  
Research And Education ◽  
Sustainable Agricultural Practices

Interest IN and conversion to sustainable agriculture practices, such as organic agriculture, integrated pest management or increasing biodiversity, has been increasing for a number of years among farmers and ranchers across the United States In order to meet the needs of producers, university researchers and educators must adapt their program areas to reflect this change toward sustainable agriculture practices. Although consumers, producers, and extension workers have been surveyed regarding their attitudes and interests in sustainable agricultural practices, few surveys have examined sustainable agriculture perceptions among university agriculture professionals. The object of this study was to survey 200 agriculture professionals, including research scientists, classroom educators of the Land-Grant agricultural college and the Cooperative Extension service of a southern state with a traditional agricultural economy in order to determine their perceptions and attitudes toward sustainable agriculture and to gather information on current research and education activities relevant to sustainable agriculture. Seventy-eight questions were asked concerning professional incentives, personal and professional importance of topics under the sustainable agriculture rubric, current research and educational activities, and demographics. By conducting this research we hope to identify factors that are an impedance or assistance to future research and education to support sustainable agriculture. The survey findings will provide a foundation for directing and developing agriculture research and education programs for row crops, fruit, vegetable and livestock production.

Within-field Pathogenic Diversity of Phytophthora sojae in Commercial Soybean Fields in Iowa

2009 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison E. Robertson ◽  
Silvia R. Cianzio ◽  
Sarah M. Cerra ◽  
Richard O. Pope
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Phytophthora Sojae ◽  
Soil Samples ◽  
Soybean Plant ◽  
North Central Region ◽  
North Central ◽  
The North ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Many ◽  
Pathogenic Diversity

Phytophthora root and stem rot (PRR), caused by the oomycete Phytophthora sojae, is an economically important soybean disease in the north central region of the United States, including Iowa. Previous surveys of the pathogenic diversity of P. sojae in Iowa did not investigate whether multiple pathotypes of the pathogen existed in individual fields. Considering the many pathotypes of P. sojae that have been reported in Iowa, we hypothesized multiple pathotypes could exist within single fields. In the research reported herein, several soil samples were collected systematically from each of two commercial fields with a history of PRR in Iowa, and each soil sample was baited separately for isolates of P. sojae. Numerous pathotypes of P. sojae were detected from both fields. As many as four pathotypes were detected in some soil samples (each consisting of six to eight soil cores), which suggests that a single soybean plant could be subjected to infection by more than one pathotype. This possibility presents important implications in breeding resistant cultivars and in the management of PRR. Accepted for publication 14 July 2009. Published 8 September 2009.

Document Delivery

2011 ◽  
pp. 734-735
Author(s):  
Robin L. Ewing
Keyword(s):  
Distance Education ◽  
The United States ◽  
North Central Association ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Regional Accreditation ◽  
North Central ◽  
Document Delivery ◽  
The North ◽  
Library Resources ◽  
Delivery Services

Document delivery is a service offered by academic libraries that allows distance education students to access or obtain the research materials required for their studies. These services find the document and send a copy of it to the student (Calvert, 2001). Document delivery services aim to provide the same level of service to on-campus students and to off-campus students. They provide access to library materials at the student’s home institution as well as from other libraries. Document delivery services for distance students are generally part of a library’s Interlibrary Loan Department but document delivery can be a separate department. Some libraries have a division or department dedicated to serving distance students and document delivery is handled there when they exist. In the United States, regional accreditation agencies consider document delivery services to be a vital part of a distance education program. For example, the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools’ Guidelines for Distance Education emphasize that students should have access to the appropriate library resources for the field of study (2000).

scholarly journals Performance of Landscape Roses Grown with Minimal Input in the North-central, Central, and South-central United States

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (5) ◽  
pp. 718-730 ◽  
Author(s):  
David C. Zlesak ◽  
Randy Nelson ◽  
Derald Harp ◽  
Barbara Villarreal ◽  
Nick Howell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
National Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
The South ◽  
Flower Number ◽  
North Central ◽  
The North ◽  
South Central ◽  
Central United States ◽  
Plant Hardiness

Landscape roses (Rosa sp.) are popular flowering shrubs. Consumers are less willing or able to maintain landscape beds than in years past and require plants that are not only attractive, but well-adapted to regional climatic conditions, soil types, and disease and pest pressures. Marketing and distribution of rose cultivars occurs on a national level; therefore, it is difficult for U.S. consumers in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Plant Hardiness Zones 3 to 5 to identify well-adapted, cold-hardy cultivars. Identifying suitable cultivars that have strong genetic resistance to pests and disease and that will tolerate temperature extremes without winter protection in the USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 3 to 5 is of tremendous value to consumers and retailers in northern states. Twenty landscape rose cultivars, primarily developed in north-central North America, were evaluated at five locations in the United States (three in the north-central United States, one in the central United States, and one in the south-central United States) using the low-input, multiyear Earth-Kind® methodology. Six roses had ≥75% plant survival at the end of the study and were in the top 50% of performers for overall mean horticultural rating at each of the three north-central U.S. sites: ‘Lena’, ‘Frontenac’, ‘Ole’, ‘Polar Joy’, ‘Sunrise Sunset’, and ‘Sven’. Five of these six roses met the same criteria at the central United States (exception ‘Lena’) and the south-central United States (exception ‘Polar Joy’) sites. Cultivar, rating time, and their interaction were highly significant, and block effects were not significant for horticultural rating for all single-site analyses of variance. Significant positive correlations were found between sites for flower number, flower diameter, and overall horticultural rating. Significant negative correlations were found between flower number and diameter within each site and also between black spot (Diplocarpon rosae) lesion size from a previous study and overall horticultural rating for three of the five sites. Cane survival ratings were not significantly correlated with overall horticultural rating, suggesting some cultivars can experience severe winter cane dieback, yet recover and perform well. Data from this study benefit multiple stakeholders, including nurseries, landscapers, and consumers, with evidence-based regional cultivar recommendations and breeders desiring to identify regionally adapted parents.

scholarly journals Characteristics of Xanthomonas cucurbitae Isolates from Pumpkins and Survival of the Bacterium in Pumpkin Seeds

Plant Disease ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 102 (9) ◽  
pp. 1779-1784 ◽  
Author(s):  
X. Zhang ◽  
M. Babadoost
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Culture Collection ◽  
Colony Development ◽  
North Central Region ◽  
North Central ◽  
The North ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Optimum Ph ◽  
Pumpkin Seeds ◽  
Maximum Temperatures

This study was conducted to determine characteristics of Xanthomonas cucurbitae, the causal agent of bacterial spot of pumpkin, and survival of the bacterium in pumpkin seeds. Fourteen X. cucurbitae isolates from the north central region of the United States, along with the X. cucurbitae strain 23378 from the American Type Culture Collection, were included in this study. The range of minimum, optimum, and maximum temperatures for colony development of X. cucurbitae were 4 to 6°C, 24 to 30°C, and 34 to 36°C, respectively. Optimum pH for colony development ranged from 6.5 to 8.0. Leaves of 3-week-old pumpkins ‘Howden’ and ‘Dickinson’ were inoculated with X. cucurbitae isolates (108 CFU/ml). There was a significant difference in the postinoculation periods for appearance of bacterial lesions on the leaves among the isolates; however, there was no significant difference in diameters of the lesions on each of the pumpkin cultivar 7 days after inoculation. Four of the isolates caused significantly larger lesions on ‘Dickinson’ leaves than ‘Howden’ leaves. Naturally infected ‘Howden’ pumpkin and inoculated ‘Dickinson’ pumpkin seeds with X. cucurbitae were stored at 4 and 22°C. X. cucurbitae was isolated from both naturally infected and inoculated seeds 24 months after storage at both 4 and 22°C, and the isolated bacteria were pathogenic.

scholarly journals Community Composition, Abundance, and Phenology of Stink Bugs (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) in Soybean in the North Central Region of the United States

2019 ◽  
Vol 112 (4) ◽  
pp. 1722-1731 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela T Pezzini ◽  
Christina D DiFonzo ◽  
Deborah L Finke ◽  
Thomas E Hunt ◽  
Janet J Knodel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Central Region ◽  
The United States ◽  
Growth Stages ◽  
Stink Bug ◽  
North Central Region ◽  
Stink Bugs ◽  
North Central ◽  
The North

Abstract Stink bugs (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) are an increasing threat to soybean (Fabales: Fabaceae) production in the North Central Region of the United States, which accounts for 80% of the country’s total soybean production. Characterization of the stink bug community is essential for development of management programs for these pests. However, the composition of the stink bug community in the region is not well defined. This study aimed to address this gap with a 2-yr, 9-state survey. Specifically, we characterized the relative abundance, richness, and diversity of taxa in this community, and assessed phenological differences in abundance of herbivorous and predatory stink bugs. Overall, the stink bug community was dominated by Euschistus spp. (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) and Chinavia hilaris (Say) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae). Euschistus variolarius (Palisot de Beauvois) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), C. hilaris and Halyomorpha halys (Stål) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) were more abundant in the northwestern, southeastern and eastern parts, respectively, of the North Central Region of the United States. Economically significant infestations of herbivorous species occurred in fields in southern parts of the region. Species richness differed across states, while diversity was the same across the region. Herbivorous and predatory species were more abundant during later soybean growth stages. Our results represent the first regional characterization of the stink bug community in soybean fields and will be fundamental for the development of state- and region-specific management programs for these pests in the North Central Region of the United States.

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