The Economics of Hay Quality

Hay quality is often discussed when one considers the viability of cash hay operations. A great deal is known about how production impacts quality and how quality impacts animal performance. This knowledge certainly has economic implications, but the economics of hay quality has primarily been evaluated from the animal performance perspective. Analyzing the economics of hay quality from the cash hay producer’s prospective becomes more difficult due to data limitations. There are approximately 2.5 million acres of hay produced in Kentucky annually. The vast majority of this hay is grass type hay that is produced and fed on beef cattle operations. Higher quality hay production represents a much smaller portion of Kentucky’s hay industry, yet yields much greater value on a per acre basis. While a much larger share of this “upper end” hay production is sold off the farm, most is sold through private treaty, which means sale data is not available. Auction markets are becoming more commonly used in hay marketing and provide greater opportunity to analyze factors that impact hay value

Making Round Bale Silage – Lessons Learned From an On-Farm Survey of Baleage in Kentucky

The ability to make silage in round bale packages allows producers to avoid rain damage and produce high quality stored forage. The proliferation of bale wrappers (both individual and inline types) has made this technology more available to producers. Although the process for making baleage is well documented, producers have experienced poor fermentation and in some cases botulism toxicity from baleage. The parameters of good silage are well known and include pH below 5.0 and lactic acid concentrations above 3% on a DM basis. However, tests of farmer- produced baleage reveals that often these target values are not achieved. To better understand the fermentation characteristics of Kentucky baleage, a survey was conducted of round bale silage samples from several Kentucky counties in 2017, 2018 and 2019. Moisture content (MC) at baling was the greatest determinant of fermentation success as measured by pH and lactic acid concentration. Moisture contents were highly variable, with more outside the recommended range of MC (40 to 60%) than within. Farmer practices including wilting time and equipment used were recorded for the 2019 samples. All the well-accepted practices for making baleage were confirmed in this survey (cutting on time, wilting to proper MC, dense bales, achieving and maintaining anaerobic storage conditions). Baleage samples exceeding 65% MC had elevated butyric acid concentrations, indicating secondary fermentation by clostridial bacteria

Round Bale Silage – Farmer Results in Kentucky

The ability to make silage in round bale packages allows producers to avoid rain damage and produce high quality stored forage. The proliferation of bale wrappers (both individual and inline types) has made this technology more available to producers. Although the process for making baleage is well documented, producers have experienced poor fermentation and in some cases botulism toxicity from baleage. The parameters of good silage are well known and include pH below 5.0 and lactic acid concentrations above 3% on a DM basis. However, tests of farmer produced baleage reveals that often these target values are not achieved. To better understand the fermentation characteristics of Kentucky baleage, a survey was conducted of round bale silage samples from several Kentucky counties in 2017, 2018 and 2019. Moisture content (MC) at baling was the greatest determinant of fermentation success as measured by pH and lactic acid concentration. Moisture contents were highly variable, with more outside the recommended range of MC (40 to 60%) than within. Farmer practices including wilting time and equipment used were recorded for the 2019 samples. All of the well‐accepted practices for making baleage were confirmed in this survey (cutting on time, wilting to proper MC, dense bales, achieving and maintaining anaerobic storage conditions). Baleage samples exceeding 65% MC had elevated butyric acid concentrations, indicating secondary fermentation by clostridial bacteria

Isopods Failed to Acclimate Their Thermal Sensitivity of Locomotor Performance During Predictable or Stochastic Cooling

Most organisms experience environments that vary continuously over time, yet researchers generally study phenotypic responses to abrupt and sustained changes in environmental conditions. Gradual environmental changes, whether predictable or stochastic, might affect organisms differently than do abrupt changes. To explore this possibility, we exposed terrestrial isopods (Porcellio scaber) collected from a highly seasonal environment to four thermal treatments: (1) a constant 20 degrees C; (2) a constant 10 degrees C; (3) a steady decline from 20 degrees to 10 degrees C; and (4) a stochastic decline from 20 degrees to 10 degrees C that mimicked natural conditions during autumn. After 45 days, we measured thermal sensitivities of running speed and thermal tolerances (critical thermal maximum and chill-coma recovery time). Contrary to our expectation, thermal treatments did not affect the thermal sensitivity of locomotion; isopods from all treatments ran fastest at 33 degrees to 34 degrees C and achieved more than 80% of their maximal speed over a range of 10 degrees to 11 degrees C. Isopods exposed to a stochastic decline in temperature tolerated cold the best, and isopods exposed to a constant temperature of 20 degrees C tolerated cold the worst. No significant variation in heat tolerance was observed among groups. Therefore, thermal sensitivity and heat tolerance failed to acclimate to any type of thermal change, whereas cold tolerance acclimated more during stochastic change than it did during abrupt change

Difficulty Accessing Syringes Mediates the Relationship Between Methamphetamine Use and Syringe Sharing Among Young Injection Drug Users

Injection drug users (IDU) who use methamphetamine (MA) are at an increased risk of HIV infection due to engagement in injection-related risk behavior including syringe sharing. In this cohort study of young IDU aged 18-30, we investigated the relationship between injection MA use and syringe sharing, and whether difficulty accessing sterile syringes mediated this association. Behavioral questionnaires were completed by 384 IDU in Vancouver, Canada between October 2005 and May 2008. Generalized estimating equations were used to estimate direct and indirect effects. The median age of participants was 24 (IQR: 22–27) and 214 (55.7%) were male. Injecting MA was independently associated with syringe sharing. Mediation analyses revealed that difficulty accessing sterile syringes partially mediated the association between injecting MA and syringe sharing. Interventions to reduce syringe sharing among young methamphetamine injectors must address social and structural barriers to accessing HIV prevention programs

Main effects as a by-product in a fixed effect 2 × 2 design, analyzed with ANOVA

statistical analysis, ANOVA, research design, interaction effect, interpretational problems,

Equine alveolar macrophages and monocyte-derived macrophages respond differently to an inflammatory stimulus

Alveolar macrophages (AMs) are the predominant innate immune cell in the distal respiratory tract. During inflammatory responses, AMs may be supplemented by blood monocytes, which differentiate into monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs). Macrophages play important roles in a variety of common equine lower airway diseases, including severe equine asthma (SEA). In an experimental model, an inhaled mixture of Aspergillus fumigatus spores, lipopolysaccharide, and silica microspheres (FLS), induced SEA exacerbation in susceptible horses. However, whether equine AMs and MDMs have differing immunophenotypes and cytokine responses to FLS stimulation is unknown. To address these questions, alveolar macrophages/monocytes (AMMs) were isolated from bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and MDMs derived from blood of six healthy horses. Separately, AMMs and MDMs were cultured with and without FLS for six hours after which cell surface marker expression and cytokine production were analyzed by flow cytometry and a bead-based multiplex assay, respectively. Results showed that regardless of exposure conditions, AMMs had significantly higher surface expression of CD163 and CD206 than MDMs. Incubation with FLS induced secretion of IL-1β, IL-8, TNF-α and IFN-γ in AMMs, and IL-8, IL-10 and TNF-α in MDMs. These results suggest that AMMs have a greater proinflammatory response to in vitro FLS stimulation than MDMs, inferring differing roles in equine lung inflammation. Variability in recruitment and function of monocyte-macrophage populations warrant more detailed in vivo investigation in both homeostatic and diseased states

Performance curves were similar among isopod exposed to different thermal treatments.

<p>Labels for thermal treatments correspond to those used in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0020905#pone-0020905-g001" target="_blank">Figure 1</a>. No significant differences were observed among thermal optima or performance breadths for the four treatment groups (see <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0020905#pone-0020905-t002" target="_blank">Table 2</a>). Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals.</p

A comparison of plausible models of the relationship between body temperature and running speed in isopods from four thermal treatments.

<p>For all treatments, the beta model provided the best fit to the data. For each model, we report not only the AIC but also the differential AIC (Δ<i>_i</i>), which is the difference between a given model's AIC and the lowest AIC. We also report the Akaike weight (<i>w_i</i>), which is the normalized likelihood that the model is the best one in the set.</p