Nebraska Pastures - Seeding and Management

Pastures are an important source of feed in the livestock industry. Approximately 70 per cent of the income from Nebraska farms is from the sale of livestock and livestock products, and for this reason consideration should be given to the maintenance of good pastures. Poor pastures, like other poor crops, are expensive. Good grass cover is also an effective means of conserving the soil resources

Buffalo Grass for Lawns

During the years since 1934 many bluegrass lawns in Nebraska have suffered serious deterioration as a result of drouth and high summer temperature. As a substitute the native buffalo grass has been used increasingly for lawn purposes. Results of experiments and observations indicate definitely that for certain locations buffalo grass has sufficient advantage over bluegrass to recommend it as a permanent lawn grass

1966 Beef Cattle Progress Report of Research Activities

Many beef cattle breeders in the United States and other countries are following the progress of the selection experiment at the Fort Robinson Beef Cattle Research Station, Crawford, Nebraska. Three lines of Hereford cattle from the same genetic foundation are under selection. Line 21 is selected for 200-day weight. Line 22 is selected for yearling weight. Line 23 is selected for an index combining yearling weight and a score for muscling and fat thickness. Each line is operated as a closed herd so it will be possible to determine how much improvement in economic traits can be made by selecting all replacement stock from within the same herd. Starting in 1966 there will be 150 calving cows in each line. Six herd sires are used each year. Two bulls and 25 heifers are selected to add to each line each year. Heifers are bred to calve first as two year olds. Cow numbers will be maintained at 150 by culling the oldest cows and those that fail to conceive or have a major physical unsoundness. Bulls are replaced after their third breeding season

1967 Beef Cattle Progress Report of Research Activities

Oral feeding of stilbestrol or implanting with stilbestrol or Synovex has resulted in increased weight gain and efficiency of gain for cattle fed finishing rations. Combining oral feeding or stilbestrol with implanting did not give increased performance above that obtained from oral stilbestrol alone in two tests. Implanting cattle fed oral stilbestrol at the start of the feeding program with either stilbestrol or Synovex gave a similar pattern of performance to that obtained from oral stilbestrol alone

Nebraska Pastures: Seeding and Management

Pastures are an important source of feed in the livestock industry. Approximately 70 per cent of the income from Nebraska farms is from the sale of livestock and livestock products, and for this reason consideration should be given to the maintenance of good pastures. Poor pastures, like other poor crops, are expensive. Good grass cover is also an effective means of conserving the soil resources

The Effects of Irradiating Dormant Maize Seeds with Xrays and Thermal Neutrons

In 1951 a research program was started at the University of Nebraska to compare the developmental effects of thermal neutrons and X rays on different crop seeds. Three crops, barley, tomato and maize, were chosen for additional information involving induced chromosomal aberrations and seedling mutations. The maize investigations are presented in this bulletin, along with a comparison among the three crops with respect to irradiation effects

Buffalo Grass for Lawns

During the years since 1934 many bluegrass lawns in Nebraska have suffered serious deterioration as a result of drouth and high summer temperature. As a substitute the native buffalo grass has been used increasingly for lawn purposes. Results of experiments and observations indicate definitely that for certain locations buffalo grass has sufficient advantage over bluegrass to recommend it as a permanent lawn grass

The Effects of Thermal-Neutron Irradiation of Maize and Barley Kernels

It is the purpose of this paper to report the effects of thermal-neutron irradiation of maize and barley kernels on subsequent germination, plant establishment, and early plant development. Comparisons are made with equivalent neutron treatments of maize pollen, results of which have been reported in part in previous publications

Influence of Various Factors on Aggregation of Peorian Loess by Microorganisms

Soil structure is important in the attainment of adequate aeration for the aerobic microorganisms whose activities maintain such higher plant nutrients as sulfur, phosphorus, and nitrogen in a highly oxidized and thus readily available state. Good soil structure is also necessary for soil and water conservation, Under Nebraska conditions microorganisms and their decomposition products constitute a major source of soil-aggregating agents. The decomposition of crop residues and plant roots is important in the nutrition of these aggregating microorganisms. Other microorganisms, however, also utilize crop residues and plant roots, and they may decompose the aggregating agents as well, so that the aggregation produced may be only temporary. Thus the net effect of the entire soil microflora on soil structure is difficult if not impossible to predict. As a first step in gaining some understanding of the influence of the microflora on soil structure and ultimately in attempting some control of structure, it was deemed necessary to extend previous work dealing with the effects of pure cultures on structure. This paper presents the results of studies in which a number of different microorganisms, which were isolated at random from Nebraska soils, have been compared with respect to their ability to aggregate Peorian loess. In addition, for the better aggregators it presents the results of studies which sought to determine the conditions of time, temperature, moisture level, and the nature and concentration of energy source necessary for maximum aggregation. The results of a similar study dealing with a group of cellulose-decomposing fungi have been reported elsewhere (2)