| Weekly News 2003 |
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December 12, 2003. Prime-time hay is an article about afternoon vs morning cutting of forage for highest quality. It appears in the December issue 'Furrow' magazine and features technology developed by Hank Mayland, ARS, Kimberly, ID and tested across the U.S. and overseas. Application of this technolgy is valued at nearly $500 million annually in western U.S.
December 7-11, 2003. Hank Mayland, Soil Scientist, Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory will participate in the Second National Conference on Grazing Lands, Nashville, TN. He will present two posters and one oral paper on cooperative studies explaining the diurnal cycling of sugars in forages and subsequent animal consumption and production responses. (KIM2003.1203N1)
November 5, 2003. Dr. Allen Dedrick, Associate Director of Natural Resource and Sustainable Agricultural Systems in Beltsville, MD, requested a copy of the following poster for display in the George Washington Carver Building: Horse Preference for Afternoon- or Morning-Cut Alfalfa-Grass Hay. Authors are L.C. MacKay, H. F. Mayland, W. P. MacKay, J. C. Burns, and R. E. Whitchurch. The study and poster are part of a mentoring program of Linda MacKay by Hank Mayland. Linda was a high school student at the time the study was completed and is now a freshman at New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM. Linda has published results of this study in Western Section Proceedings, Animal Science Society America supplemental publication 2003.
Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Lab scientists will receive two awards at the Soil Science Society of America 2003 annual meeting in Denver, CO on November 4. Robert E. Sojka will be presented the 2003 "Soil Science Applied Research Award" which is being awarded to Sojka for "Career-long accomplishment in soil and water conservation, environmental protection and overcoming soil physical limits to crop production." Also, co-authors James A. Entry, Glenn E. Shewmaker and Robert E. Sojka will receive the "Division S-6 Best Paper" award for their paper "Management of irrigated agriculture to increase organic carbon storage in soils" which was published in the soil and water conservation section of the Soil Science Society of America Journal in 2002. Sojka and Entry are ARS scientists at the Kimberly Idaho Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Lab. Glenn Shewmaker is a range and forage extension specialist with the University of Idaho Research and Extension Center in Twin Falls, Idaho.
On October 27-30, Hank Mayland, Soil Scientist at Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory, Kimberly, ID, will participate in the 2003 conference of the Pacific Northwest Forage Workers held in Nampa, ID. This will be a highly interactive meeting about industry needs, ongoing research, and latest findings.
On October 10, Hank Mayland will speak at an animal husbandry class at the College of Southern Idaho. He will discuss the role of 'Mineral uptake by forages and their effects on animal health'.
On September 24, Rick Lentz and Gary Lehrsch will meet with Joe Baldwin and Bill Allred of the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality to discuss a coordinated and cooperative research effort to increase our understanding of nitrate-N concentrations and sources in shallow groundwater below irrigated agricultural regions. The research will likely employ nitrate 15N and 18O fractionation, which has been shown to be a potent tool for identifying and tracing nitrate sources in both surface and groundwater.
On September 10, Dr. R. B. Murray, retired Research Range Scientist previously at U.S. Sheep Experiment Station, worked with Hank Mayland. They studied several data sets that may be summarized into organized technical papers.
Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Lab soil scientist Bob Sojka will attend the International Water Association's 7th International Specialized Conference on Diffuse Pollution and Basin Management August 17-22 in Dublin, Ireland. Dr. Sojka will present the paper entitled "Synthetic- and Bio-Polymer Use for Runoff Water Quality Management in Irrigated Agriculture." The paper's co-authors are J. A. Entry and W. J. Orts of ARS, D. W. Morishita of the University of Idaho, C. W. Ross of Landcare Research, New Zealand, and D. J. Horne of New Zealand's Massey University. (KIM2003.0813N1)
On August 4-5, Hank Mayland, Soil Scientist, Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Lab, Kimberly, ID, will meet with Linda MacKay and her parents at their ranch in Montana to discuss future academic and research plans. Dr. Mayland mentored Ms. MacKay for several years during high school and will continue to mentor her while attending college at New Mexico State University, Las Cruses, NM, in pursuit of a Ph.D. in animal and environmental science. (KIM2003.0730N1)
On July 13-18, ARS scientists Ben Turner and April Leytem attended the international workshop on Organic Phosphorus in the Environment, held at Monte-Verit?, near Ascona, Switzerland. The meeting brought together scientists from around 20 countries working in fields as diverse as plant physiology and deep ocean sediments. Ben Turner presented a talk on the role of organic phosphorus in the phosphorus transfer process, and co-authored two other presentations on the role of organic acid excretion in organic phosphorus utilization by plants, and the utilization of organic phosphorus by eukaryotic algae, cyanobacteria and mosses. April Leytem presented ongoing work on the influence of organic phosphorus in animal manures on phosphorus solubility in soil. Several other ARS scientists also attended the meeting. A book containing state-of-the-art review chapters from the invited speakers is being edited by Ben Turner, and is scheduled for publication in July 2004 by CAB International. (KIM2003.0730N2)
Rick Lentz, Soil Scientist, Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Lab, Kimberly, ID, will participate in the Annual Soil and Water Conservation Conference July 27-29 in Spokane, WA. Lentz's presentation will address the effects of furrow irrigation on nutrient leaching. In addition, he will discuss new infiltration-manipulating techniques that can be used to reduce deep percolation losses of both water and nutrient solutes from furrow irrigated soils. (KIM2003.0723N1)
Dave Bjorneberg, Agricultural Engineer, and Rick Lentz and Bob Sojka, Soil Scientists, Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Lab, Kimberly, ID, will attend the Annual Conference of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers July 28-31 in Las Vegas, NV. Bjorneberg will give an oral presentation on sediment pond effectiveness for PAM-treated furrows. Lentz and Sojka together will receive the ASAE 2003 Award for the Advancement of Surface Irrigation. The award seeks to annually recognize an individual, group, or project that successfully demonstrates and publicizes the use of surface irrigation. The Sojka-Lentz team are being recognized for their research and development leading to the successful use of water soluble anionic polyacrylamide as an erosion-control and infiltration management tool in furrow irrigation. (KIM2003.0723N2)
On July 22, Whitney Kossman, member of the South Hills SideKicks 4-H Club, and her father, Marvin, interviewed Hank Mayland, Soil Scientist, Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Lab, Kimberly, ID. Ms. Kossman wished to learn more about animal preference and production when eating afternoon versus morning harvested forages. She will be preparing an oral report to make at her club's August meeting. (KIM2003.0723N3)
On July 18, Dale Westermann, Research Leader, Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Lab, Kimberly, ID, attended a joint meeting with NRCS and University of Idaho personnel to update the nutrient recommendation component found in Idaho's OnePlan Nutrient Management Planning Tool. This tool will soon be available for downloading by producers and planners from the OnePlan web page. It is anticipated that it will be heavily used to update the nutrient management plans required for Idaho's 900 dairies and to develop nutrient management plans for producers receiving NRCS funding for approved conservation practices. The eleven western states have expressed a strong interest in using this program for developing nutrient management plans for irrigated agriculture. (KIM2003.0723N4)
On July 16, Dale Westermann, Research Leader at the Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory was interviewed about the new sugarbeet research program at Kimberly by Jay Goemmer, news reporter from Twin Falls TV Station KMVT. A plant geneticist and plant pathologist will conduct research to develop sugarbeet germplasm resistant to diseases affecting sugarbeet production. (KIM2003.0716N2)
On July 9, Drs. Lewis Smith, National Program Leader, Aquaculture and Animal Well-Being, Beltsville, MD, and William Hershberger, Director, National Center for Cool and Cold Water Aquaculture, Kearneysville, WV, visited the Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Center, Kimberly, ID. They exchanged information with our staff regarding P-cycling, water quality, and molecular genetics research. (KIM2003.0716N1)
On July 3, Soil Scientist Hank Mayland, Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory, Kimberly, ID, spoke to the Twin Falls Monarch Lions Club about the research challenges to agriculture that are being addressed by the ARS staff at Kimberly, ID. (KIM2003.0702N1)
On June 25-27, April Leytem and Ben Turner, Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory, Kimberly, ID, Soil Scientists, hosted a meeting of the SERA-17 work group in Twin Falls, ID. This group is a national group that seeks 1) to develop an interdisciplinary approach to identify P sensitive watersheds and water bodies; 2) to expand and improve upon the Phosphorus Index site assessment tool; 3) to develop best management practices (BMPs) to reduce agricultural P losses to surface waters by erosion and runoff (surface and subsurface); 4) to develop an animal manure application strategy based on both P and N; and 5) to develop upper, environmentally-based, critical limits for soil test P and new soil testing methods that can more accurately identify sites where P loss will be of significant environmental concern. About 60 scientists from the U.S., England, Canada, Ireland, Portugal, and Australia attended the conference. (KIM2003.0702N2)
On June 22-26, Hank Mayland, Soil Scientist, Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory, Kimberly, ID, participated in the joint meeting of the American Society Animal Science, Dairy Science, and Mexican Society Animal Production meeting held in Phoenix, AZ. Studies on diurnal cycling of sugars in forages was pioneered by Dr. Mayland and increasing international interest is being given to this phenomenon. Dr. Mayland and coworkers presented three posters and one technical paper. (KIM2003.0702N3)
On June 19 and 20, Drs. Alain Perrier and Andr?e Tuzet of the Institut National Agronomique, Paris-Grignon, France, visited with Drs. Richard G. Allen of the University of Idaho and James L. Wright of the Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory, Kimberly, ID. Research discussions concerned work on evapotranspiration and windbreak models being conducted in France, Canada, and the United States. Dr. Wright provided Dr. Perrier with a set of evapotranspiration and associated meteorological data collected at the Kimberly ARS weighing lysimeter site representing relatively high water use under arid conditions for use in validation of an evapotranspiration model being developed by Drs. Perrier and Tuzet in France. (KIM2003.0624N1)
Gary Lehrsch and Rick Lentz, soil scientists at the USDA-ARS Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Lab., Kimberly, ID, met with Murray Bullock, Amalgamated Sugar Co. Fieldman, on June 18, 2003, to discuss the sugarbeet seedling emergence and stand establishment phases of an on-going research project. Gary, Rick, Murray, and other ARS and University of Idaho scientists are collaborating in the study of dairy manure and composted manure effects on sugarbeet production, plant and soil N relationships, and soil physical and hydraulic properties. (KIM2003.0624N2)
USDA-ARS Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Lab Soil Scientist Bob Sojka will address the Farm Bureau Watershed Heroes Conference in St. Peter, MN, on Friday, June 20. His presentation will be titled "Polyacrylamide (PAM) reduces runoff sediment, chemicals and microbes." The ARS Kimberly, ID, lab has pioneered the practical use of PAM for erosion control, water management and environmental protection. The Watershed Heroes Conference is a gathering of field conservationists, teachers and students for a three-day experience learning the latest information about soil and water conservation and protection. It involves lectures, tours and hands-on involvement in demonstrations and field plots. An attendance of about 250 is expected. (KIM2003.0618N1)
Dave Bjorneberg, Rick Lentz, and Bob Sojka, Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Lab, Kimberly, ID, met with Ralph Fisher, Idaho State Conservation Agronomist, and Clare Prestwich, NRCS Irrigation Engineer, to discuss polyacrylamide (PAM) application practices and soil conservation efficacies. This information will be used to establish phosphorus reduction benefits associated with this best management practice. This, in turn, will be used to refine the phosphorus accounting protocols in Idaho's Lower Boise nutrient trading program. (KIM2003.0618N2)
Rick Lentz, Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Lab, Kimberly, ID, traveled to Mountain Home, ID, to meet with Ron Blake, Elmore County Soil and Water Conservation District, to participate in a project that applied anionic polyacrylamide (PAM) to an irrigation canal in order to seal the wetted channel surfaces and reduce water seepage losses. Seepage losses from unlined irrigation canals is a serious problem in many areas of the irrigated west, especially during the current drought, when water supplies are very short. Lentz is investigating the effect of the PAM application on PAM concentrations along the length of the irrigation canal. (KIM2003.0618N3)
Dr. Rick Weaver of Texas A&M University is a visiting scientist in Dr. Jim Entry's soil microbiology laboratory at ARS, Kimberly, ID, investigating the source of bacteria in Rock Creek, ID. The objectives of the study are to use antibiotic resistance of enterococcus bacteria and 16S rRNA (ribotype) of Escherichia coli isolates to determine the source of bacterial contamination and to compare the efficacy of antibiotic resistance of enterococcus bacteria with 16S rRNA (ribotype) of Escherichia coli to determine the source of bacterial contamination in streams containing return flows. Dr. Weaver will be at Kimberly until mid-September. (KIM2003.0611N1)
On May 18-23, 2003, Hank Mayland participated in the Molecular Breeding of Forage and Turf meeting in Dallas, TX. He and Kevin Smith of Hamilton, Victoria, Australia, presented a poster paper on 'Prospects for Alleviating Grass Tetany Through the Molecular Breeding of Grasses.' Hank met Dr. Steven Larson, Research Geneticist, ARS, Logan, UT, who has mapped Leymus wildrye grass. This will be the first attempt to study mineral or forage quality and QTL's in grasses and may provide information for other species.
Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory soil scientist Bob Sojka visited the Riverside campus of the University of California Thursday and Friday, May 15 and 16, at the invitation of the Department of Environmental Science. Sojka presented the seminar "Polyacrylamide (PAM) and Biopolymers to Reduce Erosion from Irrigation" to approximately forty faculty and students and ARS Salinity Lab personnel. The visit also provided an opportunity for several individual and group discussions among faculty and students about polymer research topics, current soil and environmental management issues and career insights. (KIM2003.0521N1)
On May 14, Dave Bjorneberg, Mike Humphries and Hank Mayland participated in the annual Water Awareness Week Festival in Twin Falls, ID. They demonstrated some basic principals of irrigation and soils to over 200 students. Approximately 650 sixth grade students attended the Water Festival this year. (KIM2003.0521N2)
On April 21, representatives from the Idaho beef, dairy and swine organizations met with scientists at the Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory, Kimberly, ID, to discuss the gaseous emissions research to be conducted at Kimberly. This new research thrust was funded by the FY2003 agricultural appropriations bill and directs the Kimberly location to conduct research to develop and evaluate management practices to reduce air emissions from animal feeding operations. This research is part of a national research effort by ARS at several locations to address growing concerns on gaseous emissions from agricultural activities. (KIM2003.0423N1)
On May 18-23, 2003, Hank Mayland participated in the Molecular Breeding of Forage and Turf meeting in Dallas, TX. He and Kevin Smith of Hamilton, Victoria, Australia, presented a poster paper on 'Prospects for Alleviating Grass Tetany Through the Molecular Breeding of Grasses.' Hank met Dr. Steven Larson, Research Geneticist, ARS, Logan, UT, who has mapped Leymus wildrye grass. This will be the first attempt to study mineral or forage quality and QTL's in grasses and may provide information for other species.
Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory scientist Bob Sojka was invited by the University of California Riverside Department of Environmental Sciences to be a guest speaker for their 2003 spring seminar series. On May 15 he will present the seminar "Polyacrylamide (PAM) and Biopolymers to Reduce Erosion From Irrigation." Dr. Sojka will also spend time during the visit interacting with students about career paths and a variety of topics in soil and environmental sciences, including a roundtable discussion about pros and cons of the soil quality concept. (KIM2003.0326N1)
On March 19, Dr. M. Shannon, ARS-PWA, Associate Director, and Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory (NWISRL) scientists Dave Bjorneberg, Dale Westermann and Jim Wright met with representatives of the U.S. sugarbeet industry to discuss ongoing and future sugarbeet research activities needed by the industry. This meeting was in response to recent Congressional funding to increase the sugarbeet research program at the NWISRL. Tom Schwartz, Beet Sugar Development Foundation; J.R. Stander, Plant Breeder/Geneticist, Betaseed, Inc.; Vic Jaro, Vice-President of TASCO Operations; and Lonn Thaete, Grower, Secretary/Treasurer, Idaho Sugarbeet Growers, attended as industry representatives. (KIM2003.0326N2)
On January 30, Dave Bjorneberg, Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Lab, Kimberly, ID, was interviewed by Jon LaRose, publisher of MidAmerica Farmer Grower, a regional farm magazine for Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee. Mr. LaRose asked about Dr. Bjorneberg's presentation on using polyacrylamide (PAM) with irrigation that was given at the Arkansas Agricultural Exposition in Forrest City, AR, because Mr. LaRose was unable to attend the presentation. (KIM2003.0319.N1)
On March 3, it was announced that ARS scientists Rick Lentz and Bob Sojka of the Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory, Kimberly, ID, were selected by the American Society of Agricultural Engineers to receive their 2003 Award for the Advancement of Surface Irrigation at their annual international meeting in Las Vegas, NV, July 30, 2003. This award seeks to annually recognize an individual, group or project that successfully demonstrates and publicizes the effective use of surface irrigation. Drs. Lentz and Sojka received this award for their studies documenting the use of polyacrylamide to control surface irrigation induced soil erosion. (KIM2003.0313N1)
On March 6, Dr. Hank Mayland, Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory, Kimberly, ID, was one of two judges evaluating 18 projects submitted by students of a local high school. Among the entries was one measuring soil losses by wind erosion. Soil treatments included a polyacrylamide (PAM) application which reduced soil particle loss. (KIM2003.0313N2)
On March 6-7, ARS scientists, April Leytem and Dale Westermann, Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory, Kimberly, ID, attended the fifth biannual meeting of the Western Nutrient Management Conference in Salt Lake City, UT, sponsored by the WCC-103 Committee. While at this meeting of about 80 professional nutrient management practitioners, they presented research results on the relative availability of organic phosphorus sources and on soil factors affecting soil test phosphorus interpretations in western calcareous soils. (KIM2003.0313N3)
On March 12, Hank Mayland participated in the Eastern Idaho Hay Growers meeting held at Rexburg, ID. He discussed mineral management of alfalfa for plant growth and animal nutrition, forage traits that serve as cues to herbivores, and the benefits of cutting hay in the afternoon vs. morning. Emphasis was placed on the $3-5 per ton value for each percentage of acid detergent fiber. Afternoon harvesting can lower the ADF by 1-2 percent. (KIM2003.0313N4)
On February 21, Dave Bjorneberg, Ag Engineer at Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory (NWISRL), Kimberly, ID, gave a presentation about controlling sprinkler irrigation runoff at a sprinkler irrigation workshop in Richfield, ID. The focus of the meeting was to give information to farmers who plan to install new sprinkler irrigation systems, primarily center pivots. During the farmer panel discussion, three of the five panelists mentioned using polyacrylamide (PAM) with sprinkler irrigation, a technology developed at the NWISRL. Thirty farmers attended the meeting that was sponsored by the Wood River Soil Conservation District. (KIM2003.0227N1)
Dale Westermann attended the 2003 Fluid Fertilizer Foundation meeting in Scottsdale, AZ, February 16-18, and presented an invited paper on the physiological links of growth stage and nutrient needs for potatoes. This paper was part of a half-day symposium on this topic for corn, cotton, alfalfa and trees. Aproximately 150 representatives from the agricultural research, fertilizer, consulting and laboratory communities in the U.S. and Canada attended this educational workshop. (KIM2003.0219N1)
Seminar Presentation by Dr. Glenn Shewmaker: On February 10, Dr. Glenn Shewmaker, University of Idaho Extension Specialist, Twin Falls, ID, gave a seminar about his invited trip to critique the 'Agriculture in the Ningxi Province of Peoples Republic of China.' This province is in North Central China. Noteworthy is the edict to increase alfalfa production by 500,000 hectares. Glenn discussed issues of people, erodible silt soils, precipitation, irrigation, manual labor, education, and extension. (KIM2003.0212N1)
ARS and State of Idaho to Cooperate on Nitrogen Isotope Research: On February 10, Gary Lehrsch, Soil Scientist, Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory, Kimberly, ID, met with Mr. Joe Baldwin, Engineer, Department of Environmental Quality, State of Idaho. They discussed the use of different naturally occurring nitrogen isotopes to identify the source of nitrogen in groundwater. If the N source can be identified, control measures can be better targeted to protect groundwater quality. (KIM2003.0212N2)
Kimberly, ID, Scientist presents PAM seminar: Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory Soil Scientist, Bob Sojka, presented a seminar to ARS polymer chemists, engineers, and resource specialists and representatives of the biopolymer industry on February 12 in Albany, CA. The seminar was titled "Background and Prospects for Use of Polyacrylamide and Biopolymers in Irrigated Agriculture." Sojka presented information and participated in two days of discussions with biopolymer chemists and interested industry representatives interested in developing specialized polymer uses and new chemical analogues for environmental and agricultural benefit. (KIM2003.0212N3)
ARS Scientist Gives Deposition in Supreme Court Case: On January 3, Dr. James L. Wright, in response to a Subpoena Duces Tecum, gave a deposition for the Supreme Court of the United States case of the State of Kansas, Plaintiff, versus the State of Colorado, Defendant, and United States of America, Defendant-Intervenor. Attorneys and expert witnesses for Kansas and for Colorado, an attorney from the United States Department of Justice and a court reporter were present at the deposition. Dr. Wright provided some requested data and answered questions about his publications relevant to research in the development of the procedure for estimating reference evapotranspiration, which has come to be known as the "Kimberly-Penman 82" equation, and crop ET coefficients for use with the equation in estimating crop water use. This equation and associated crop coefficients were used by both parties in the court case for estimating water use by crops irrigated from rivers common to Colorado and Kansas. (KIM2003.0108N1)
