Two studies were conducted to optimize use of alkaline-treated corn stover and wheat straw and distillers grains as partial corn replacements. In Exp. 1, a finishing experiment used 30 pens (12 steers/pen) of calf-fed steers (initial BW = 374 ± 23.9 kg) with a 2 × 2 + 1 factorial arrangement of treatments with 6 replications per treatment. Factors were grind size, where corn stover was processe...

abstract soil microbial activity and biochemical processes are often limited by carbon availability in arid- and semi-arid regions, probably due to the low organic matter content. consequently, return of plant residues to soil is a convenient and effortless practice for increasing microbial activities and biochemical reactions. the primary objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of v...

Purpose: Intercropping of baby corn (Zea mays L.) with pulse legumes might improve production efficiency and increase profitability. The objectives this study were to compare growth, yield nitrogen uptake in intercropping systems determine income from the systems.Research Method: Four treatments consisting alone, mungbean (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek), soybean (Glycine max) crawling cowpea unqui...

Averaged across crop, year and season , residue cover reduction was significantly less for coulter-type applicators than for disk-type applica-tors (P<0.001), disk-type applicators reduced residue cover significantly less than chisel and sweep injectors (P<0.001), and chisel and sweep injec-tors reduced residue cover similar to a tandem disk (P=0.398). Ranges of values to estimate the percentag...

The study was designed to determine whether products of fermentation in corn silage could limit its voluntary intake. Six rumen-cannulated Hereford steers were assigned randomly to diets of corn silage (CS) and dried corn forage reconstituted either with water (DC + W) or with extracts from corn silage (DC + CSE) according to a crossover design with three experimental periods. During each perio...

Corn (Zea mays L.) fiber, which is the seed coat and residual endosperm left after grain processing, is a low-value residue that contains carbohydrates and aromatic compounds that could provide value-added coproducts. Treatment of corn fiber with NaOH and assessment by gas chromatography indicated a prevalence of ferulic acid, with about 90% ester-linked in the cell walls. p-coumaric acid was m...

carbon (c) and organic nitrogen (n) mineralization processes play key roles in supplying nutrient elements essential for plant growth. on the other hand, since the low organic matter content of agricultural soils of arid and semi-arid areas, microbial activities are often limited by carbon in these types of soils. enhancement of microbial activities and populations could be achieved by returnin...

Global warming accelerates decomposition of soil organic carbon (SOC) pools with varying rates and temperature sensitivities. Black carbon (BC) materials are among the slowest decomposing components of the SOC pool. Although BC is a large component of SOC in many systems, the influence of temperature on decomposition of BC bearing different chemical and physical structures remains poorly unders...

BACKGROUND As the supply of starch grain and sugar cane, currently the main feedstocks for bioethanol production, become limited, lignocelluloses will be sought as alternative materials for bioethanol production. Production of cellulosic ethanol is still cost-inefficient because of the low final ethanol concentration and the addition of nutrients. We report the use of simultaneous saccharificat...

Worldwide occurrences of honey bee colony losses have raised concerns about bee health and the sustainability of pollination-dependent crops. While multiple causal factors have been identified, seed coating with insecticides of the neonicotinoid family has been the focus of much discussion and research. Nonetheless, few studies have investigated the impacts of these insecticides under field con...