Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the nutritional quality of 2 varieties of Purdue high-digestible sorghum (PHD1 and PHD2) and a normal sorghum, compared with corn, in diets of pigs and broiler chicks. In Exp. 1, 12 pigs (average BW, 55 kg) fitted with ileal T-cannula were fed 4 diets containing 946 g of corn or sorghum (PHD1, PHD2, and normal) per kg in a 2-period crossover design (i....

This study analyzes the potential impacts of expanded ethanol production on southern agriculture. Results of regression analysis suggest that acreage planted for field crops (corn, cotton, soybeans, and wheat) is inelastic with respect to relative prices. The results provide statistical evidence of potential significant acreage shifts favoring corn over cotton, soybeans, and wheat. Simulations ...

The entomogenous nematodes Steinerema feltiae and S. bibionis did not penetrate the roots of corn, Zea mays, to infect larval northern corn rootworm (NCR), Diabrotica barberi, feeding within. Laboratory bioassays against first instar NCR indicated that S. feltiae, Mexican strain (LD = 49 nematodes/insect) is more virulent than S. bibionis (LD = 100). Numbers of NCR larvae in a grain corn crop w...

A 3-yr, multi-state survey of farmers who had planted transgenic Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) corn was conducted to evaluate perceptions of Bt corn performance and its utility as a management option for European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis (Hübner). A questionnaire was sent to farmers in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Pennsylvania who had grown Bt corn during the growing sea...

Nebraska’s Central Platte River Valley (CPRV) is a major spring-staging area for migratory birds. Over 6 million ducks, geese, and sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis) stage there en route to tundra, boreal forest, and prairie breeding habitats, storing nutrients for migration and reproduction by consuming primarily corn remaining in fields after harvest (hereafter residual corn). In springs 2005–...

The effect of crop sequence on parasitism of second-stage juveniles (J2) of Heterodera glycines by Hirsutella rhossiliensis was investigated. Data were collected from plots of a long-term crop rotation experiment established in 1982. Crop sequences included (i) continuous monoculture of corn and soybean; (ii) annual rotation of the two crops; and (iii) 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 years of each crop follow...

Lactating dairy cow diets with more than 24% starch (DM basis) are common, but recent high corn prices have fueled a desire to feed lower-starch diets. The potential for using digestible neutral detergent fiber or pectin from byproduct feeds or sugars to partially replace starch from corn grain in diets fed to lactating dairy cows was reviewed. Potential modifying effects of corn silage, starch...

A modified true metabolizable energy bioassay was used to determine the nitrogen-corrected apparent (AMEn) and true (TMEn) metabolizable energy of various feed ingredients for ducks. In each of two experiments, which lasted 102 h with a 54-h excreta collection period following a 48-h period of feed withdrawal, six male White Pekin ducks were assigned to each of three test feed ingredients and d...