The western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte, continues to be a significant pest of corn (Zea mays L.) in the United States. Because of recent changes in their distribution (now in Europe; Kiss et al. 2005) the impact of this pest is growing. While a variety of management tools are still available for growers, some of the current options including crop rotation (Gray et al....

Mississippi Delta cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) production in rotation with corn (Zea mays L.) was evaluated in field experiments from 2000 to 2005 at Stoneville, Mississippi. Plots maintained under minimum tillage were established in 2000 on a Dundee silt loam with treatments including continuous cotton or corn and alternate cotton-corn rotations. Mineralization and dissipation of 14C [ring]-...

The effects of no-tillage (NT), conventional tillage (CT), and crop rotation on soybean yield and population dynamics of Heterodera glycines were compared during a 7-year study in a silty clay loam soil with 6% organic matter. Either H. glycines-resistant 'Linford' soybean or susceptible 'Williams 82' soybean was rotated with corn and grown on 76-cm-wide rows in both tillage systems. Soybean wa...

Conservation practices are implemented on farm fields in the USA through Farm Bill programs; however, there is a need for greater verification that these practices provide environmental benefits (e.g., water quality). This study was conducted to assess the impact of Farm Bill eligible conservation practices on soluble P (SP) and total P (TP) losses from four fields that were monitored between 2...

Intensive use of N fertilizers in modern agriculture is motivated by the economic value of high grain yields and is generally perceived to sequester soil organic C by increasing the input of crop residues. This perception is at odds with a century of soil organic C data reported herein for the Morrow Plots, the world's oldest experimental site under continuous corn (Zea mays L.). After 40 to 50...

Nine growing barrows were equipped with a T-cannula in the distal ileum and used to determine apparent ileal (AID) and apparent total-tract digestibility (ATTD) coefficients of Ca and P in low-phytate corn, normal corn, soybean meal, and in diets where soybean meal was mixed with low-phytate corn or normal corn. The AID and the standardized ileal digestibility coefficients (SID) of CP and AA al...

This study estimated the fermentation characteristics and nutrient value of corn-lablab bean mixture silages relative to corn silages. The effects of feeding corn-lablab bean mixture silages on nutrient apparent digestibility and milk production of dairy cows in northern China were also investigated. Three ruminally cannulated Holstein cows were used to determine the ruminal digestion kinetics ...

As pest species may evolve resistance to chemical controls, they may also evolve resistance to cultural control methods. Yearly rotation of corn (Zea mays) with another crop interrupts the life cycle of the western corn rootworm beetle (Diabrotica virgifera virgifera, Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), but behavioral resistance to crop rotation is now a major problem in the Midwest of the USA. Resista...

Intensive agriculture and increased N-fertilizer use have contributed to elevated emissions of the greenhouse gases, CO2, CH4, and N2O. In this study, the exchange of the greenhouse gases, CO2, N2O, and CH4, between a Quincy fine sand (mixed, mesic Xeric Torripsamments) soil and atmosphere was measured in a sweet corn (Zea mays L.) sweet corn potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) rotation during the 20...

Measurements of the average growth rates of soil bacteria from a soil under three treatments; a conventional high input corn soybean rotation, a reversion to a native successional community (4 years) and a never ploughed grassland, were made by two methods. The specific rates of synthesis of bacterial DNA were determined from the specific activities of the DNA precursor, deoxythymidine triphosp...