A Gravel Envelope for a Tile Drain in a Coarse Silt Base Material

In recent years, drainage has been recognized as essential to the development of a large-scale irrigation project. South Dakota is now planning for the irrigation of approximately one-half million acres of land through the proposed Oahe Irrigation Unit located in the northeastern part of the state. There are two main bodies of land in the Oahe Unit – the Lake Plain area which is the postglacial “Lake Dakota” and the larger portion of the project, and the Missouri Slope Area which is part of the Great Plains province lying east of the Missouri River. A large percentage of this project’s total developmental cost will be for tile drainage. The principal function of tile drainage is to control water table levels. The Bureau of Reclamation in the 1965 Oahe Unit Report (21) recommends that tile drains be placed from 6 to 12 feet in depth with spacings from 400 to 900 feet in the Lake Plain Area to control water table levels. These tile drains will range from 4 to 6 inches in diameter. The soil textures prevailing at the 6 to 12 feet depth in the Lake Plain Area are silt loam, silty clay loam, sandy loam and silt. Silt is the most predominate base material for the tile drains. To ensure a longer life for the tile-drainage system, it is often necessary to place a more permeable backfill material than the base material around the tile drain. This material, placed on either the top, bottom or sides of the drain, singularly or in combination, is called an envelope. The three-fold purpose of an envelope is a follows: 1. To exclude fine soil particles from moving into the drain and resulting in clogging. 2. To increase the effective drain diameter by providing a highly permeable zone around the drain. 3. To serve as a stabilizing foundation for the drain

Assessing the Benefits of Public Research Within an Economic Framework: The Case of USDA's Agricultural Research Service

Evaluation of publicly funded research can help provide accountability and prioritize programs. In addition, Federal intramural research planning generally involves an institutional assessment of the appropriate Federal role, if any, and whether the research should be left to others, such as universities or the private sector. Many methods of evaluation are available, peer review—used primarily for establishing scientific merit—being the most common. Economic analysis focuses on quantifying ultimate research outcomes, whether measured in goods with market prices or in nonmarket goods such as environmental quality or human health. However, standard economic techniques may not be amenable for evaluating some important public research priorities or for institutional assessments. This report reviews quantitative methods and applies qualitative economic reasoning and stakeholder interviewing methods to the evaluation of economic benefits of Federal intramural research using three case studies of research conducted by USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS). Differences among the case studies highlight the need to select suitable assessment techniques from available methodologies, the limited scope for comparing assessment results across programs, and the inherent difficulty in quantifying benefits in some research areas. When measurement and attribution issues make it difficult to quantify these benefits, the report discusses how qualitative insights based on economic concepts can help research prioritization.Agricultural Research Service, Federal intramural research, publicly funded research, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Livestock Production/Industries, Productivity Analysis,

Frozen Soils: A Perspective On Past And Future Research For Promoting Sustainable Agricultural Systems

Frozen soils impact many industries which rely· on soil, water, and .air resources in developing and manufacturing products. Most noteworthy is the agricultural industry in the northern United States where soils, which sustain food and fiber production, are subjected to frequent freezing and thawing. Soil freezing and thawing influences soil erodibility, surface and ground water quality, air quality, and biological activity. Many strides toward understanding frozen soil processes and managing lands to minimize the adverse effects of freezing and thawing have been made over the last two decades. Yet, further efforts to identify frozen soil processes which influence wind and water erosion, soil faunal adaptation, soil quality, movement of agricultural chemicals,· and rural and urban water supplies will aid industry and society in meeting future needs for food and water

Trickle Irrigation on Cotton

This item is part of the Arizona Land and People (formerly Progressive Agriculture in Arizona) archive. It was digitized from a physical copy provided by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at The University of Arizona. For more information about this periodical, please email CALS Publications at [email protected]

Consumptive Use & Irrigation Management for High-Yielding Wheats in Central Arizona

This item is part of the Arizona Land and People (formerly Progressive Agriculture in Arizona) archive. It was digitized from a physical copy provided by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at The University of Arizona. For more information about this periodical, please email CALS Publications at [email protected]

Assessing the Benefits of Public Research Within an Economic Framework: The Case of USDA's Agricultural Research Service

Evaluation of publicly funded research can help provide accountability and prioritize programs. In addition, Federal intramural research planning generally involves an institutional assessment of the appropriate Federal role, if any, and whether the research should be left to others, such as universities or the private sector. Many methods of evaluation are available, peer review—used primarily for establishing scientific merit—being the most common. Economic analysis focuses on quantifying ultimate research outcomes, whether measured in goods with market prices or in nonmarket goods such as environmental quality or human health. However, standard economic techniques may not be amenable for evaluating some important public research priorities or for institutional assessments. This report reviews quantitative methods and applies qualitative economic reasoning and stakeholder interviewing methods to the evaluation of economic benefits of Federal intramural research using three case studies of research conducted by USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS). Differences among the case studies highlight the need to select suitable assessment techniques from available methodologies, the limited scope for comparing assessment results across programs, and the inherent difficulty in quantifying benefits in some research areas. When measurement and attribution issues make it difficult to quantify these benefits, the report discusses how qualitative insights based on economic concepts can help research prioritization

The first five years of the Conservation Effects Assessment Project

The Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) was initiated by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Agricultural Research Service (ARS), and Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) in response to a general call for better accountability of how society would benefit from the 2002 farm bill’s substantial increase in conservation program funding (Mausbach and Dedrick 2004). The original goals of CEAP were to establish the scientific understanding of the effects of conservation practices at the watershed scale and to estimate conservation impacts and benefits for reporting at the national and regional levels. Other federal agencies and nongovernmental organizations with conservation and natural resource interests are currently partners in various CEAP activities, often through jointly funded research projects