Indebtedness on 48 Potter County Farms, 1930

A study of farm operations and farm management was made on 48 farms in Potter County, South Dakota during 1930, through the method of accounts kept by the farm operators, assisted at regular monthly intervals by a resident field man. The study was made by the Department of Agricultural Economics of the South Dakota Agricultural Experiment station. The results of the study will be published first as preliminary reports, each dealing with only one or a few phases of the study. Data supporting certain statements is omitted in this report for want of space, but in most cases will be published in later reports. This, the first report, deals with indebtedness, one of the most important problems in farm management at present. Its chief objective is to make available information that will aid farmers in financing their business in the best manner

An Economic Study of Farms in the Spring Wheat Area of South Dakota

This is the first of a series of three circulars being published as progress reports of a five year study which was begun in 1930, on the economics of agriculture in the Spring Wheat Area of South Dakota. The study was started as a modified cost route in Potter County with 48 farmer cooperators keeping records, some of which were quite complete in that labor and feed records were also kept. During the first year a representative of the college lived at Gettysburg and visited the cooperators at least once each month to check on the completeness of the records and to secure additional information concerning crop and livestock practices. After the first year the project was made cooperative with the Division of Farm Management and Costs of the Bureau of Agricultural Economics, United States Department of Agriculture, and was enlarged to include 150 farmer cooperators living in seven counties of the Spring Wheat Area. Figure 1. Since 1930 the cooperators have been visited three or four times each year. The statements of this publication are based on data collected from a total of 283 records. Satisfactory records were secured from 44 cooperators in 1930, 29 in 1931, 112 in 1932, and 98 in 1933

Estimated Returns from Farms of Large, Medium and Small Size of Business in the Spring Wheat Areas of South Dakota

Size of farm business is recognized by all farm management investigators and by many farmers as one of the most important factors making for success or failure in farming. A moderately large size of business, doubtless is more profitable in so-called normal times than is a small sized business. Size of business in this circular is not measured in acres only, as is common in certain sections where most of the land is fertile and tillable, and most of the farms are of the same type. Size of business cannot be measured accurately, nor by a single descriptive term such as acres. It includes the area farmed the area in crop land, the amount of productive labor employed, the amount of capital used, the rate of turnover of capital, the total production and the quality of production. Size of business may be increased by employing a laborer for productive work, by increasing the numbers of livestock, by increasing yields per acre, by doing work for hire outside the farm, etc. The purpose of this circular is to discuss the relative profitableness of a selected type of farm when operated as a business of different sizes. In the discussion six hypothetical farms are used for illustration. In the first group of three, a diversified farm, which is farmed rather intensively, is shown as a business of large size, of medium size, and of small size. The same plan is used for presenting the second group, a diversified farm which is farmed rather extensively

Estimated Returns from Operating 800 acres in the Spring Wheat Area Under Four Different Plans - A Method of Determining What to Produce

The relatively low prices farmers receive for their products, and the continued high costs of interest, taxes, and the products farmers buy, increase the need of study of factors which tend to give the best possible net returns from a farm business. The purpose of this circular is to discuss the relative profitableness of different enterprises on diversified farms in the Spring Wheat Area of South Dakota. The plan of the circular is to show the organization and to give the estimated returns of four farms, on each of which the enterprises are of different relative importance. Three of the farms are assumed to be 800 acres in area. The fourth farm is assumed to be 800 acres in area but the size of business is increased by placing cattle out on pasture during the summer, a practice common to the area. Each of the hypothetical farms is very similar to someone actual farm from which records were secured. These similarities include acres of crops, numbers of livestock, amounts of power and equipment used, labor used, receipts and expenses, and income. The farms selected as patterns are common types within the area

Tractor and Horse Power in the Wheat Area of South Dakota

A study of farm operations and farm management was made on 48 farms in Potter county during 1930, through the method of accounts kept daily by farm operators, assisted at regular monthly intervals by a resident field agent. During 1931 thirty other farmers within the spring wheat area of the state kept records of their tractors; and a survey by visits to farmers in the same area was made in 1931 and 1932, in which additional information about tractor and horse uses, performances, and costs was secured. The results of the Potter county study are being published as preliminary reports, of which this is the second. A part of the information secured during 1931 and 1932 is included in this report for the purpose of giving more reliable standards of performance of horses and tractors. The purpose of the report is to make available information which will aid farmers in deciding under what circumstances it is the more economical to use tractors or horses or a combination of both

Unraveling the Influence of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Colonization on Arsenic Tolerance in Medicago: Glomus mosseae is More Effective than G. intraradices, Associated with Lower Expression of Root Epidermal Pi Transporter Genes

We used medic (Medicago truncatula) to investigate effects of inoculation with two arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and application of arsenate (AsV) and phosphate (Pi) on mechanisms underlying increased tolerance (in terms of growth) of AM plants to AsV. We tested the hypotheses that (1) inoculation with AM fungi results in down-regulation of MtPht1;1 and MtPht1;2 genes (encoding high-affinity Pi and AsV uptake systems in the direct root epidermal pathway) and up-regulation of the AM-induced MtPht1;4 (responsible for transfer of Pi from the arbuscular interface to cortical cells), and (2) these changes are involved in decreased As uptake relative to P uptake and hence increased As tolerance. We also measured expression of MtMT4, a Pi starvation-inducible gene, other genes encoding Pi uptake systems (MtPht 1;5 and MtPht1;6) and arsenate reductase (MtACR) and phytochelatin synthase (MtPCS), to gain insights into broader aspects of P transfers in AM plants and possible detoxification mechanisms. Medic responded slightly to AM colonization in terms of growth in the absence of As, but positively in terms of P uptake. Both growth and P responses in AM plants were positive when As was applied, indicating As tolerance relative to non-mycorrhizal (NM) plants. All AM plants showed high expression of MtPT4 and those inoculated with Glomus mosseae showed higher selectivity against As (shown by P/As molar ratios) and much lower expression of MtPht1;1 (and to some extent MtPht1;2) than Glomus intraradices-inoculated or NM plants. Results are consistent with increased P/As selectivity in AM plants (particularly those inoculated with G. mosseae) as a consequence of high P uptake but little or no As uptake via the AM pathway. However, the extent to which selectivity is dependent on down-regulation of direct Pi and AsV uptake through epidermal cells is still not clear. Marked up-regulation of a PCS gene and an ACR gene in AM plants may also be involved and requires further investigation

Resistant starch as a dietary intervention to limit the progression of diabetic kidney disease

Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney disease, and as the number of individuals with diabetes increases there is a concomitant increase in the prevalence of diabetic kidney disease (DKD). Diabetes contributes to the development of DKD through a number of pathways, including inflammation, oxidative stress, and the gut-kidney axis, which may be amenable to dietary therapy. Resistant starch (RS) is a dietary fibre that alters the gut microbial consortium, leading to an increase in the microbial production of short chain fatty acids. Evidence from animal and human studies indicate that short chain fatty acids are able to attenuate inflammatory and oxidative stress pathways, which may mitigate the progression of DKD. In this review, we evaluate and summarise the evidence from both preclinical models of DKD and clinical trials that have utilised RS as a dietary therapy to limit the progression of DKD

Setting up an earthquake forecast experiment in Italy

We describe the setting up of the first earthquake forecasting experiment for Italy within the Collaboratory for the Study of Earthquake Predictability (CSEP). CSEP conducts rigorous and truly prospective forecast experiments for different tectonic environments in several forecast testing centers around the globe; forecasts are issued for a future period and also tested only against future observations to avoid any possible bias. As such, experiments need to be completely defined. This includes exact definitions of the testing area, of learning data for the forecast models, and of observation data against which forecasts will be tested to evaluate their performance. Here we present the rules, as taken from the Regional Earthquake Likelihood Models experiment and extended or changed for the Italian experiment. We also present characterizations of learning and observational catalogs that describe the completeness of these catalogs and illuminate inhomogeneities of magnitudes between these catalogs. A particular focus lies on the stability of earthquake recordings of the observational network. These catalog investigations provide guidance for CSEP modelers for developing earthquakes forecasts for submission to the forecast experiment in Italy

Effect of live-storage period and temperature on oxygen consumption rate in the cold-water sea cucumber Parastichopus tremulus

Sea cucumbers are of great significance in marine ecosystems all over the world. The red sea cucumber Parastichopus tremulus is also considered commercially interesting but very little information is available on its ecology and physiology. This study aimed at investigating this North Atlantic species` oxygen demand in relation to live-storage period and temperature in an attempt to deliver some physiological puzzle pieces useful in a potential aquacultural context. Oxygen consumption rate (OCR) was measured in P. tremulus stored in a flow-through system for up to one year, and in recirculation systems at different temperatures (4, 8 and 12°C) for up to four weeks. Throughout the experimental period, biometric data were collected from the different treatment groups and a condition index (CI) calculated. The results showed that long-term storage affected OCR and CI, which increased and decreased with time, respectively. Storage at 4°C resulted in significantly lower OCR and higher CI compared to 8 and 12°C after four weeks, suggesting that 4°C may be best for maintaining body mass during short-term storage, whereas storage at 8 and 12°C may require supplementary feeding to avoid biomass loss. Data presented in this study may be useful for a range of applications, for example in a prospective aquaculture setting, for optimizing live seafood storage, but also for impact assessment and management of wild stocks