Economics and Other Factors Affecting the Adoption of Novel Endophyte Technology

Endophyte infected tall fescue impacts cattle and other livestock across vast regions of the world. Toxicosis from wild type endophyte is widespread in regions where toxic tall fescue is the base perennial forage. The Alliance for Grassland Renewal was founded to address this complex issue and to facilitate appropriate adoption of Novel Endophyte Tall Fescue, the only potentially 100% effective remedy for fescue toxicosis. A poor understanding of the Cost/Benefit ratio of renovating pasture is one of the main reason farmers give for not renovating tall fescue pastures. An Excel-based spreadsheet tool was developed by University of Missouri Extension to analyze costs and benefits of tall fescue pasture renovation. A team from the Alliance for Grassland Renewal worked with the tool and the developer to set default values for both costs and benefits. This tool will be made available in the future to extension agents and other advisors that are trained on the basics of Tall Fescue Toxicosis Management

Experimental control in software reliability certification

There is growing interest in software 'certification', i.e., confirmation that software has performed satisfactorily under a defined certification protocol. Regulatory agencies, customers, and prospective reusers all want assurance that a defined product standard has been met. In other industries, products are typically certified under protocols in which random samples of the product are drawn, tests characteristic of operational use are applied, analytical or statistical inferences are made, and products meeting a standard are 'certified' as fit for use. A warranty statement is often issued upon satisfactory completion of a certification protocol. This paper outlines specific engineering practices that must be used to preserve the validity of the statistical certification testing protocol. The assumptions associated with a statistical experiment are given, and their implications for statistical testing of software are described

An axiom system for sequence-based specification

AbstractThis paper establishes an axiomatic foundation and a representation theorem for the rigorous, constructive process, called sequence-based specification, of deriving precise specifications from ordinary (informal) statements of functional requirements. The representation theorem targets a special class of Mealy state machines, and algorithms are presented for converting from the set of sequences that define the specification to the equivalent Mealy machine, and vice versa. Since its inception, sequence-based specification has been effectively used in a variety of real applications, with gains reported in quality and productivity. This paper establishes the mathematical foundation independently of the process itself

Surface-Soil Aggregation and Organic C and N Fractions Under Paired Grassland and Cropland Sites in the Southeastern USA

Grasslands are expected to deliver ecosystem services by sequestering soil organic C, improving soil health and water quality, and minimizing soil erosion. Data to support these ecosystem services from contemporary managed grasslands are relatively scant, and so on-farm measurements would help bolster assessment across more diverse environmental settings. This study was conducted to compare soil properties from paired landuse of croplands and grasslands in a diversity of Major Land Resource Areas – the Piedmont, Blue Ridge, and Blackland Prairie of the southeastern USA. Four separate pastures on three collaborating farms were sampled at depth of 0-10 cm. Four samples from a neighboring cropland field were paired with these pastures. A variety of soil chemical, physical, and biological properties were determined. Soil chemical properties were occasionally different between land management systems on one of the three farms, but few consistent differences occurred across farms. Dry-stable mean-weight diameter (MWD) was not different between paired land management systems, but water-stable MWD was dramatically reduced at all three locations with cropland compared with pasture. Soil stability index (water-stable MWD divided by dry-stable MWD) averaged 0.64 mm mm-1 under cropland and 0.91 mm mm-1 under pasture, suggesting that pastures had a highly stable soil surface that was resistant to erosion and likely contributed to high water infiltration. Soil organic C and N fractions (i.e., total, particulate, and mineralizable) were all significantly greater under pasture than under cropland, indicating that these pastures were indeed storing more C and N, and contributing to greater soil biological activity. This study provides evidence that well-managed grasslands can sequester soil organic C and N, improve soil surface stability conditions to foster water infiltration and reduced runoff, and may have important implications for habit development for soil-dwelling organisms

On Farm Riparian Grazing Demonstration

Two farm demonstrations were designed to show effects of periodic grazing of riparian areas. Sites were monitored for vegetative cover, degree of treading or hoof prints and dung deposition within three m of stream edge following grazing by beef cattle. A fenced enclosure was established along a 350 m stream reach on Farm-1, and eleven permanent stations were monitored following six graze periods over 12-months. Farm-2 involved grazing of two 0.13 ha paddocks, each of which contained a 22 m stream reach. On Farm-1 the cover improved following riparian exclusion, and evidence of treading in the 11 stations declined following each graze period. On Farm-2, vegetation was dense in the beginning, and one day graze periods with high stock density did not result in significant soil exposure, even though hoof prints were evident at more than 30% of the transect points. Having access to a drinking water tank 45 m up slope did not influence cover nor dung deposition in the riparian zone. The number of dung patties found within 3 m of the stream edge ranged from 15 to 28/100 m (Farm-1) and from 41 to 96/100 m (Farm-2). Estimates of potential dung N deposited within three m of the entire reach of the respective streams was 565 g and 83 g. This project showed ways to use riparian areas with minimal impact on its function

Goats to Control the Encroachment of Undesirable Brush and Woody Species in Cattle Pastures

Field studies were initiated in an abandoned, overgrown 8.4 ha orchard left untouched for 15 years to evaluate the effectiveness of using goats (Capra hircus hircus) to manage undesirable vegetation. Goats alone (G: 30 does/ha) or cattle (Bos taurus) with goats (GC:17 does/ha and 3 steers/ha) were mob-grazed twice a year during four grazing seasons. Multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora Thunb.) canopy area decreased from 12 to 2.5 m2 in grazed pastures and multiflora rose live canes were 100% in the control, 0% in G, and only 8% in GC at the completion of the study. Following two years of rest, cattle alone (C: 6 steers) or goats + cattle (GC: 9 goats and 6 steers) were rotationally grazed on the same site. Over four grazing seasons, brambles (Rubus spp.) and honeysuckle (Locifera japonica) vines were practically eliminated from grazed pastures. Multiflora rose bushes grew to a height of 1.8 m in C, but were kept low (avg .6 m) in GC (P \u3c 0.01). Similarly, multiflora rose canopy area was well controlled in GC (avg .5 m2), but increased to 7 m2 in C (P \u3c 0.03). Black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) trees were browsed by goats and cattle and were practically eliminated from grazed pastures. Integrating goats into mountain grazing systems is a useful and environmentally-friendly management tool to keep these pastures in production

Startup and Operation of a Metal Hydride Based Isotope Separation Process

Production scale separation of tritium from other hydrogen isotopes at the Savannah River Site (SRS) in Aiken, SC, has been accomplished by several methods. These methods include thermal diffusion (1957--1986), fractional absorption (1964--1968), and cryogenic distillation (1967-present). Most recently, the Thermal Cycling Absorption Process (TCAP), a metal hydride based hydrogen isotope separation system, began production in the Replacement Tritium Facility (RTF) on April 9, 1994. TCAP has been in development at the Savannah River Technology Center since 1980. The production startup of this semi-continuous gas chromatographic separation process is a significant accomplishment for the Savannah River Site and was achieved after years of design, development, and testing