Fir engraver damage in western Washington

The fir engraver beetle (Scolytus ventralis) can cause significant damage and mortality to conifers in the Abies genus in western Washington. This small insect bores below the bark of trees and feeds on the sugar-rich phloem. In the process, they also cause severe damage to the cambium, the tissue responsible for annual diameter growth. If enough beetles feed on the tree, they will eventually girdle its circumference, cutting off nutrient flow and causing the tree to die. While this beetle is capable of killing trees, in western Washington it behaves as a secondary agent. This means it typically can only establish itself in trees dealing with a preexisting stressor, such as drought or a root disease. When trees are under significant stress, they are less able to defend themselves. Because of this, severe drought conditions in western Washington often correlate with a spike in fir engraver beetle populations. Since climate models predict hotter, drier summers in the coastal northwest, fir engraver damage and mortality may become more commonplace in the years to come

2019 cost estimates of establishing, producing, and packing Gala apples in Washington

The results presented in this WSU publication serve as a general guide for evaluating the feasibility of producing Gala apples in Washington as of 2019. This publication is not intended to be a definitive guide to production practices, but it is helpful in estimating the physical and financial requirements of comparable plantings. To avoid drawing unwarranted conclusions for any particular orchard, readers must closely examine the assumptions made in this guide, and then adjust the costs, returns, or both as appropriate for their own orchard operation

Washington State University 2021 Catalog.

Compiles course descriptions for the Washington State University. Individual issues were published either yearly or every other year. Many issues were published as Bulletins of the State College (or University).School catalog delineating classes offered, credits, requirements, and other academic information believed to be necessary for incoming students

Jointed goatgrass best management practices (BMP) Intermountain region

Jointed goatgrass (Aegilops cylindrica) is an annual invasive grass weed that infests winter wheat fields in the western United States, resulting in reduced wheat yield and quality. Native to southern Europe and Russia, jointed goatgrass is believed to have been introduced into the United States in contaminated wheat in the late 1800s. Most recent estimates place the number of infested acres in the U.S. at five million, across several western and mid-western states. Research has shown that jointed goatgrass infestations can reduce wheat yields up to 30%. In 2003, yield losses due to jointed goatgrass infestations for the Intermountain region, including Utah, southern Idaho, and parts of Nevada, were approximately 139,000 bushels of winter wheat. Spikelets of jointed goatgrass cannot be completely removed from contaminated wheat grain with conventional sieve-type, or special length-grading seed cleaners. This results in increased dockage and a lower market price when marketing the wheat grain. Jointed goatgrass identification and management are complex issues. Similarity to wheat in appearance and life cycle make jointed goatgrass difficult to accurately identify in the field. Additionally, genetic similarities to wheat make it difficult to selectively control with herbicides. Under conditions of adequate precipitation, wheat is more competitive for resources than jointed goatgrass. However, this relationship reverses once moisture becomes limiting. This is of particular concern in the Intermountain region because of severely limited moisture available for dryland cropping systems. In areas where annual precipitation is less than approximately 15 inches per year, producers generally use a winter wheat-fallow rotation to ensure sufficient moisture for maximum crop yields

Jointed Goatgrass ecology

Jointed goatgrass management in winter wheat has been difficult because the genetics and growth patterns of these two species are similar. Knowledge of jointed goatgrass growth characteristics can help producers select effective management strategies, as some attributes of jointed goatgrass respond to control practices. In this Extension bulletin, we describe the ecology of jointed goatgrass at various stages of its life cycle, and then relate these characteristics to the effectiveness of cultural practices used for managing jointed goatgrass

4-H treasurer's handbook leader guide

Fund development is crucial to WSU Extension programming and, especially, to the 4-H Youth Development club delivery model. Lack of an effective and efficient approach to educating members on proper methods of accruing, spending, and recording funds could result in noncompliance with the IRS and state requirements, inappropriate spending of public funds, and, ultimately, legal implications. The 4-H Treasurer’s Handbook Leader Guide is intended as a reference for 4-H Club leaders to use while coaching youth in managing 4-H Club funds. This publication and the 4-H Treasurer’s Handbook direct the spending and accounting of 4-H funds

Jointed goatgrass : best management practices southern Great Plains

Jointed Goatgrass is an invasive weed that is closely related to wheat and can have a negative impact on wheat profitability. This publication details the best management practices in a multi-practice approach, specific to the Southern Great Plains region, for successful control of jointed goatgrass

Optimal Overlays for Preservation of Concrete Slabs in Cold Climate: Multi-Criteria Decision Making by the Method of Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation Combined with AHP

Excel data fileOverlays have been extensively employed as an effective preservation or rehabilitation tool to extend the service life of concrete bridges and pavements, especially these deteriorated concrete slabs suffering from salt scaling and abrasion. However, limited attention has been paid to the durability and performance of these overlays which can be jeopardized when they are exposed to freeze/thaw-wet/dry cycles, deicer applications, studded tires, and their coupled effects as well. Various overlays feature different engineering properties, and they might be only effective in specific service environments but not others, and research is lacking to examine the adaptation of various overlays in different environments. This study subjected five overlay products on concrete slabs to the combined action of freeze/thaw (F/T) and wet/dry (W/D) cycles with periodical exposure to either 15 wt.% NaCl solution or 15 wt.% MgCl2 solutions, to simulate the typical field scenarios in an accelerated manner. The bond strength, splitting tensile strength, and abrasion resistance of the overlaid concrete slabs were tested to evaluate the effectiveness of various overlays against the deicer scaling and the abrasion by studded tires. Based on the experimental data, this study demonstrated a multi-criteria decision-making method, fuzzy comprehensive evaluation (FCE) combined with analytic hierarchy process (AHP), for the selection of optimal overlays in three different service scenarios (e.g., states of Washington and Oregon [USA] and British Columbia [Canada]). The analysis results indicated that one epoxy overlay exhibited the comprehensively best performance and could be a promising candidate in all three given scenarios, another polymer overlay took second place, while the adaptability of the three cement-based overlays varied in different environments

Increasing value of corn silage in corn-triticale system by intercropping with forage soybean

Intercropping is an old and commonly used agricultural practice of cultivating two or more crops in the same space at the same time. Double cropping is when two crops are planted sequentially in one year. Double cropping corn–triticale rotation for silage is a common practice in the Columbia Basin and in the Treasure Valley of Idaho and Oregon as it increases the amount of feed that can be grown for dairy cows. Double cropping provides protection of the soil from wind and water erosion during the winter months and additional organic matter to the soil via root degradation. Double cropping will also enhance intercropping of corn and soybean as the later planting will increase soybean competition in the intercrop mixture with corn. The most common advantage of intercropping is the greater yield on a given piece of land by making efficient use of the available resources. Moreover, intercropping with legumes improves soil fertility through biological nitrogen fixation, increases soil conservation, and provides better lodging resistance for crops susceptible to lodging. Intercropping provides financial stability, especially during extreme weather conditions such as drought, and makes the system particularly suitable for labor-intensive small farms. In addition, intercropping minimizes agriculture’s environmental influences and reduces fertilizer and pesticide application requirements. However, there are some disadvantages with intercropping, such as the selection of the appropriate crop species, sowing densities, crop management, and harvest

Fruit pie fillings for home canning

Home canned fruit pie fillings make it easy to prepare delicious pies and dessert all year long. The recipes in this publication have been specifically developed for home canning and, when followed, will produce a product that tastes good and is shelf-stable and safe. In this publication, you will find instructions for making apple, blueberry, cherry, and peach pie fillings