Establishment and management of switchgrass for forage and biofuel under irrigation

Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) is a warm-season perennial grass that has been grown for seed for more than 30 years in the Columbia Basin. Switchgrass and other selected perennial warm-season grasses (WSG) can also be successfully grown in the hotter, irrigated regions of the Pacific Northwest (PNW) as feedstock for cellulosic biofuel or forage for livestock. Research studies were first established with switchgrass and other WSG at Washington State University Prosser in 2002. More than a decade later, this initial planting of switchgrass remained productive. After the establishment year, sprinkler-irrigated WSG fields were harvested twice per season for biofuel and as many as five times for pasture. By understanding and following the guidelines in this publication, we have maintained relatively dense, productive stands (specific to the species and variety) for years. We recognize switchgrass and many perennial WSG to be "sustainable" when properly managed. To accomplish the goal of long-term sustainable forage and feedstock production, the crop must be established properly, which is the focus of this publication. Variety differences for number of seeds per pound, optimum planting time, weed control practices, growth and development above- and belowground, and establishment year yields of switchgrass under irrigation in the PNW are compared. This publication encapsulates many of our experiences, research results, and recommendations with pre- and post-seeding management and early switchgrass seedling development under irrigation. Guidelines are provided so growers and researchers may avoid critical errors when establishing switchgrass in the irrigated Inland PNW. The goal is to have each planted acre of switchgrass result in a successful stand that overwinters to produce high biomass yields for many years. The principles discussed apply to either forage or biofuel feedstock production when grown under irrigation

Marked disability and high use of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs associated with knee osteoarthritis in rural China: a cross-sectional population-based survey

Introduction: The burden of disability, analgesia, and health services use associated with knee pain and osteoarthritis (OA) in developing countries is relatively unknown, despite a high proportion of these populations required to be engaged in heavy occupational physical activity throughout their life span. The aim of this survey was to estimate the burden of disability, analgesia, and health services use associated with knee pain in rural China. Methods: This was a population-based cross-sectional survey among residents, aged 50 years and older, of Wuchuan County, Inner Mongolia. Participants completed an interviewer-based questionnaire, evaluating knee pain and associated disability, analgesia, and health services use, and obtained bilateral standardized weight-bearing knee radiographs. Results: Of the 1,027 participants, 513 (50%) reported knee pain on most days of at least 1 month in the past year, with 109 (21%) also demonstrating radiographic OA (Kellgren-Lawrence grade >= 2) in the symptomatic knee. Adjusting for age, gender, body mass index (BMI), education, and back pain, the presence of knee pain was associated with significantly greater difficulty in walking, climbing 10 steps, stooping, completing cleaning chores, and preparing meals. Among the 513 subjects with knee pain, the additional presence of radiographic evidence of OA was significantly associated with more occasions of "unbearable" pain (59% versus 36%) and restricted activity (64% versus 39%), as well as increased use of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) (88% versus 78%) and the reported number of doctor visits (59% versus 33%) in the past year. The use of paracetamol for knee pain was rare (6% versus 2%). Conclusions: Knee pain is highly prevalent in rural northern China. The associated significant disability and marked preferential use of NSAIDs as analgesia should be of concern in these communities reliant on heavy occupational physical activity for their livelihood. The findings will be useful to guide the distribution of future health care resources and preventive strategies. A similar article has been published in the Chinese language journal, National Medical Journal of China.RheumatologySCI(E)PubMed0ARTICLE6R2251

Genome-Wide Association Studies Identifying Multiple Loci Associated With Alfalfa Forage Quality

Autotetraploid alfalfa is a major hay crop planted all over the world due to its adaptation in different environments and high quality for animal feed. However, the genetic basis of alfalfa quality is not fully understood. In this study, a diverse panel of 200 alfalfa accessions were planted in field trials using augmented experimental design at three locations in 2018 and 2019. Thirty-four quality traits were evaluated by Near Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy (NIRS). The plants were genotyped using a genotyping by sequencing (GBS) approach and over 46,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were obtained after variant calling and filtering. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) identified 28 SNP markers associated with 16 quality traits. Among them, most of the markers were associated with fiber digestibility and protein content. Phenotypic variations were analyzed from three locations and different sets of markers were identified by GWAS when using phenotypic data from different locations, indicating that alfalfa quality traits were also affected by environmental factors. Among different sets of markers identified by location, two markers were associated with nine traits of fiber digestibility. One marker associated with lignin content was identified consistently in multiple environments. Putative candidate genes underlying fiber-related loci were identified and they are involved in the lignin and cell wall biosynthesis. The DNA markers and associated genes identified in this study will be useful for the genetic improvement of forage quality in alfalfa after the validation of the markers

Inland Pacific Northwest pasture calendar

The Inland Pacific Northwest (PNW) region, historically referred to as the 'Inland Empire', extends from the Cascade Mountains in the west to former Glacial Lake Missoula in the Rockies in the east and from the Canadian border in the north past the Snake River Canyon in the south. The greatest agricultural enterprises are hay (from various forage species), irrigated and non-irrigated grassland pastures, rangelands, and livestock production. It is also home to numerous wildlife species and flyways for migrating birds. The Inland PNW Pasture Calendar is designed to be a comprehensive guide for improved grassland management in support of forage-livestock systems. Applying the principles described will lead to improved regional economic, ecological, and social sustainability. This publication describes the opportunities and challenges of sustainably raising harvested and grazed forages and developing forage-livestock systems in this incredibly diverse environment. Appendix Chapters provide key information on grass / legume / forb species, how pasture species grow and regrow, soil nutrient management and organic matter, grazing philosophies and systems, matching grazing needs for pasture production, and forage-related animal health issues. Learning these key principles and following best management practices described will lead to improved sustainability of forage-livestock systems

Orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata L.)

Orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata L.) is native to western and central Europe, but has been grown in North America for more than 200 years. In the 1830s, settlers in western Virginia recognized the forage value of shade tolerant D. glomerata plants growing in an orchard.Facts and recommendations in this publication may no longer be valid. Please look for up-to-date information in the OSU Extension Catalog: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalo

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

Wsjcam0: A British English Speech Corpus For Large Vocabulary Continuous Speech Recognition

A significant new speech corpus of British English has been recorded at Cambridge University. Derived from the Wall Street Journal text corpus, WSJCAM0 constitutes one of the largest corpora of spoken British English currently in existence. It has been specifically designed for the construction and evaluation of speakerindependent speech recognition systems. The database consists of 140 speakers each speaking about 110 utterances. This paper describes the motivation for the corpus, the processes undertaken in its construction and the utilities needed as support tools. All utterance transcriptions have been verified and a phonetic dictionary has been developed to cover the training data and evaluation tasks. Two evaluation tasks have been defined using standard 5,000 word bigram and 20,000 word trigram language models. The paper concludes with comparative results on these tasks for British and American English. 1. INTRODUCTION Appropriate databases are a fundamental necessity in the de..

WSJCAM0 Corpus and Recording Description

this document is the UK English equivalent of a subset of the US American English WSJ0 database [1