"The Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station . . . address[es] the research needs of the public . . . on the farm and ranch . . . and also in urban and industry arenas."
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That is why OSU, OAES, and state agricultural leaders are excited about the new Food and Agricultural Products Research and Technology Center (FAPRTC) coming online this year. It will serve the public in all of its various phases. The FAPRTC has already begun its role as a source of information for the value-added industry, helping to keep state dollars in Oklahoma and to help food and fiber producers and processors be more profitable while remaining environmentally friendly at the same time.
The expertise of OAES researchers and the facilities located in this new building will also help produce new products made from plants and animals grown in Oklahoma. Research projects conducted in the new building will augment studies being carried on in other Division facilities.
Groundbreaking has been held for the new Beef Cattle Environmental Stress Research Facility, to be located west of the main campus. This facility will extend and expand cattle stress studies that were conducted at the Pawhuska Research Station, and will complement and extend the FAPRTC research capability.
In addition, it will augment present and past cattle feeding research studies, as it has the capability to house large numbers of cattle at a time. These cattle will be consigned to the facility by state producers, enabling scientists to conduct research with many head of animals of the exact types making up state herds.
At a total cost of more than $1 million, this facility is being funded by USDA, OAES, and OSU College of Veterinary Medicine moneys, as well as by private donations from beef producers through the Oklahoma Livestock Industry Foundation.
In a dynamic system such as is American agriculture, opportunities for improving a crop or livestock breed, adding value to farm products, improving profitability and expanding markets worldwide abound. A good example is the work of OSU horticulturists, agricultural economists, agricultural engineers, and entomologists who are joining their expertise to develop cost-effective production of new and re-introduced crops in the United States.
Examples of such crops being studied in Oklahoma are paprika peppers, sesame, herbs, cut flowers, and many others. Working with a special research grant from USDA's Cooperative States Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES), OAES scientists remain committed to crops that benefit Oklahoma while keeping a regional, even national, focus in some cases on alternatives that may offer potential to our state.
OAES scientists from the disciplines of horticulture, biosystems and agricultural engineering, and agricultural economics at OSU are studying marigolds to see if they offer potential as an alternative crop for state growers and learning to add value to the product at the farm level as well. Xanthophyll is the compound that gives marigolds their rich color, and as an additive to chicken feed, it increases color in chicken beaks, legs, and egg yolks. This gives the chicken a much healthier look, and perhaps with good reason: researchers believe the additive may also offer some natural antibiotic propensities. In addition, marigolds have shown some nematocide tendencies, which would make them a good rotation crop.
Oklahoma is capable of producing an array of horticultural crops. Currently, the quality and diversity of horticultural commodities delivered to market are limited by harvest, handling and storage systems. To offset these limitations, the trend has been to increase imports, thus it becomes a national problem as well. OAES researchers have implemented preservation and processing studies which address the most critical of these problems facing the industry at this time.
Another constraint to successful vegetable production in Oklahoma, and in other areas as well, is a variety of infectious diseases and infestations of parasitic fungi, bacteria, viruses, and nematodes. These can lead to the loss of an entire crop when severe. The frequent application of chemicals can reduce many of these problems, but that is both expensive, and in some cases, environmentally sensitive.
OAES plant pathologists, entomologists, biochemists, and horticulturists are developing integrated management control schemes to reduce the number and costs of chemical applications, while holding the line on production losses through better management.
For example, there are about 20,000 acres of watermelon planted annually in Oklahoma. Applications of the pesticide Bravo will control foliar diseases at a cost of about $10 an acre. The reduction of one spray application means a savings of $200,000 to producers--if disease losses do not increase. Research results must be in place in an integrated system to help Cooperative Extension personnel and growers with the best management possible as chemical use is decreased.
Long-term benefits of reducing pesticide use can mean that a particular pest will not evolve a biotype that is resistant to the chemical used. When a biotype adapts, crop losses increase and further expensive research is required to find a new protectant. Overall competitiveness of state agricultural producers is increased when integrated systems of management occur simultaneously on insect pests, weed control, diseases, and at the same time, keeping a watchful eye on soil fertility.
The following paragraphs detail other endeavors and accomplishments of OAES scientists over the past year, particularly where they affect subjects such as management, marketing, and profitability.
OAES agricultural economists are studying the changing structure of the grain marketing and oilseed industry. The goal is to gain increased efficiency in marketing channels, which may lead to increased profit margins for producers and others.
OSU scientists are looking at truck, rail, water, and combinations of transportations, as well as at export demands and how they change in different countries as they gain in buying power. Because they are oil-producing grain crops, the researchers are studying soybean, corn, and canola, looking particularly at mergers of some of the old industry companies and cooperatives and how such mergers effect market structure and resulting profit margins.
They are trying to learn if efficiency has been inhibited. Data show that some of the dominant leaders are becoming stronger, although they don't yet know what effect that will have on market structure. This is a USDA-CSREES regional research project involving about 23 states.
The researchers are also looking at channels through which products would flow from Canada into the U.S. and into Mexico, which will primarily be Interstate 35. Their results will include the identification of transportation vehicles, their location, etc., with discussion of the need for electronic tracking to keep up with them.
Costs associated with forward contracting is another marketing challenge for some OAES researchers. The data shows that farmers who participate in forward contracting receive less money than those who just sell at harvest, primarily because it is costly to the elevator to do it.
So why do farmers do it?
The researchers say it is because farmers are trying to reduce production risks. The farther from harvest that a contract is made, the more costly it becomes. These findings run contrary to popular knowledge, because many producers think it isn't really that costly.
OSU horticulturists and agronomists are conducting weed control studies on sesame for the first time. A viable prospect as an alternative crop, some 30,000 acres of sesame was planted under contract in Oklahoma in 1995, and about 60,000 this year.
OAES researchers have learned that no herbicides have been cleared for use on sesame, so they are currently looking at some 15 different herbicides for that purpose. Although their results are yet incomplete, they expect to have four or five potential herbicides narrowed down for next season. They hope to have sufficient data for a labeled herbicide by the following year.
Alfalfa research currently being conducted at the Eastern Research Station near Haskell is culminating in several findings useful to producers--that is, producers who grow alfalfa for cattle and horse hay as well as for grazing purposes. Integrated research studies on alfalfa weevil control, late fall and winter grazing, varietal selection, and soil considerations have shown: *Alfagraze and other varieties selected for tolerance to continuous stocking persist longer than hay-type varieties when grazed during the growing season. High-yielding hay-type varieties should be used when rotational stocking is employed, or when alfalfa is only occasionally grazed.
*Early results show that present soil test calibrations may result in lower phosphorus recommendations than required for high forage yields, and application of up to 50 lb. per acre of nitrogen from 18-46-0 (as a phosphorus source) does not enhance weed interference in alfalfa.
*Inadequate liming and fertilizing practices may be the most important limitation to alfalfa production in the state. Between 75 and 90 percent of state alfalfa fields are below pH 6.4 and have inadequate amounts of phosphorus or potassium. These problems result in some 375,000 tons of lost hay per year, or about $25 million in lost revenue.
OAES researchers and Cooperative Extension cotton specialists have begun the second five-year period of a long-term dryland cotton study located at the South Central Research Station at Chickasha and the Southwest Research and Extension Center at Altus.
Funded by the OAES, Cooperative Extension, and through check-off funds from Cotton, Inc., the scientists are looking at weed management inputs and nitrogen inputs, trying to optimize each. The researchers are focusing on profitability as the end result.
The agronomists and agricultural economists involved looked at weed numbers, as well as weed populations and changes according to inputs. With minimum weed control, Johnson grass can take over a field. However, if put more herbicide is used to take out the Johnson grass, the action basically releases other weeds such as devil's claw and morning-glory, which then become the weeds to control.
With a host range of more than 550 species of plants, tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) can be of real concern to just about any agricultural producer. Looking for weak links in the life cycle of this disease, researchers have learned that the virus is exclusively transmitted by several species of thrips, a tiny insect.
OAES plant pathologists and entomologists are working to determine the percentage of virus-carrying thrips that may be present in a given population before the crop is planted, and using that as a predictor of post-plant TSWV incidence. The researchers developed monoclonal antibodies to use in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to detect the virus while it is still in the thrips.
This method of determining the transmission potential by individual thrips has produced results similar to more costly, labor-intensive feeding assays. This work has the potential to result in more efficient, cost-effective control strategies for this economically important disease.
In studies to control Cercospora leafspot, OAES and USDA-ARS researchers located at OSU have established the parameter known as an “infection hour.” An infection hour is one accumulated hour when humidity is 95 percent or more, combined with a temperature range of 61 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit. Studies show that for runner-type peanuts, 48 such infection hours were required to trigger the onset of Cercospora leafspot. Spraying at this point provided good disease control with a minimum of chemical application.
OAES weed scientists are studying the efficacy of three transgenic (genetically engineered) crops for resistance to herbicides under Oklahoma farming conditions: Roundup Ready Soybeans, Roundup Ready Cotton, and Liberty Link corn. Roundup Ready and Liberty Link are trademarks which indicate you can use the product on these varieties without significant damage to the crop. Although the company releasing the products knew they were tolerant, testing still has to be done under Oklahoma conditions to protect state farmer’s investments.
The researchers found they could control weeds adequately on corn using the herbicide Liberty. The Roundup Ready Soybeans also withstood the effect of Roundup with good weed control provided. Researchers also have found Roundup Ready Cotton to be another useful early-season tool that basically kills most trouble weeds.
Weed control work at the Southwest Research and Extension Center at Altus was focused on how Johnson grass affects the picking and stripping of cotton. OAES agronomists and agricultural engineers are trying to determine how this rapid-growing grass can reduce the efficiency of harvest machinery, as well as how the weed reduces the grade of the crop in terms of trash and debris--and from green stains on the lint. Grade reductions mean dollars lost to the producer.
OAES research in biotechnology has shown that a chromosome known as 1B/1R (wheat/rye) increases grain yield by almost 10 percent without decline in protein. Also, progeny derived from hard red and soft red winter wheat crosses can produce an average yield advantage that is 24 percent higher than progeny with no soft red winter wheat parentage.
Germplasms also have been identified with resistance to the Russian wheat aphid. By transferring a gene from an aluminum-tolerant wheat variety using biotechnology, the researchers have developed tolerant sister lines of the popular hard red winter wheat varieties Chisholm and Century. Studies will continue to eventually produce and release a variety that is capable of withstanding Russian wheat aphid attack and possesses aluminum tolerance. A unique 25-year study looking at the significance of pecan rootstock has been initiated at the Perkins Research Station pecan research site. With 11 rootstock cultivars already established, the study is now in its third year, and is providing data for study. Although the study lasts 25 years--because trees take so long to grow--the scientists involved say many significant findings will be gleaned from this trial long before its completion.
Pecan trees can be greatly stressed by the production of excess fruit during their "on" cycle years. Because of the demands placed on them by the excess production, early hard freezes in late fall and early winter have been known to kill many otherwise healthy pecan trees during these heavy production years. OAES studies show that mechanical thinning of this heavy production means larger and better pecans, more pecans on the “off” year, and increased hardiness to withstand early freezes.
OAES horticulturists and entomologists have teamed up to gauge the beneficial effect of interplanting legumes in pecan orchards. Now in its fifth year, this study began with researchers screening 11 cool-season legume species for interplanting purposes. Familiar legumes used include arrowleaf clover, crimson clover, hairy vetch, red clover, and white clover. The purpose of the legumes is to lure beneficial insects into the orchard early in the pecan growing season. As a bonus, the legumes selected are good at fixing nitrogen in the soil, supplying as much as 100 pounds of actual nitrogen per acre, which is adequate for native pecan groves. A disease forecasting system using the Oklahoma Mesonet weather monitoring system is being developed that will allow the state's more than 2,000 pecan growers to have more information prior to making fungicide applications to control pecan scab, which affects many Oklahoma orchards annually.
Comprehensive field studies involving OSU plant pathologists, agricultural engineers, and horticulturists have provided the basis for implementing a forecasting system for pecan scab. Using this system, growers will be able to schedule fungicide applications more effectively and reduce the number of applications during periods when weather conditions are unfavorable for development of the disease.
Special genetic markers are being used by OAES foresters and agronomists to identify genes in tree materials associated with water use efficiency. Known as restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), scientists use restriction enzymes to cut lengths of DNA into smaller pieces called nucleotides.
Part of USDA's National Research Initiatives Program, this study measures the efficiency of carbon dioxide and water exchange in plants. If successful, plant breeders could use the RFLP markers to test for desirable genes and improve plant water use efficiency.
Mother nature presented OAES wheat pasture researchers with a unique opportunity to look at emergency feeding strategies for growing cattle when wheat pasture was extremely short due to drought stress during 1995 and 1996. Animal scientists, agronomists, and agricultural economists were especially limited by drought conditions at the Wheat Pasture Research Unit near Marshall this past season.
Normally, the program focuses on increasing profitability in the wheat/grain stocker cattle enterprise, operating on funding from USDA-CSREES and the OAES. Depending on wheat variety and stocking density, net returns can vary as much as $61 an acre in this agricultural enterprise, denoting the need for continued research on production and management.
Annual income in Oklahoma could be increased by $131 million by improving the technical efficiency of production of the 1.5 million stocker cattle that are grown to heavier weights on wheat pasture prior to being finished in feedlots. Animal science studies are looking at reproductive performance of cows, and at calf performance and cow weight for cows sired by bulls of both high and low milk expected progeny difference (EPD).
Using cows sired by bulls with high and low milk EPD's, OAES and other scientists across the Southern Region saw that, as expected, calves from higher milk producing mothers do better. The goal is to learn if higher milk production can cause a loss in body condition in the mother significant enough to result in poor reproductive performance.
Calf performance also is better, which would seem to be preferable, but the question becomes, "at what price to the mother?" That is the question OSU researchers are now trying to answer.
OAES biochemists have been on the front line of bioluminescence research for a number of years. They are using the enzyme luciferase, which causes the emission of light when confronted with adenosine triphosphate (ATP) from bacterial cells. The result is a way to measure for the presence of germs on a very small scale.
The researchers actually capture fireflies and dissect their “lanterns” to obtain the luciferase needed for their research. They grind the firefly material and isolate the messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA). The mRNA is like a blueprint the cell uses to construct the enzyme which results in the flashing. OSU scientists have sequenced the mRNA nucleotides and figured out the amino acids in its gene code. The enzyme has various medical applications, such as finding bacteria in blood or urine, and health applications such as making rapid and accurate measurements of bacteria in foods.
OAES and Cooperative Extension personnel have initiated a study entitled, "The Food and Fiber Systems Literacy Project." This is an ambitious project aimed at nothing less than raising the overall knowledge on the part of the general public about things agricultural.
With each succeeding generation, the general U.S. population is more and more removed from agriculture and an understanding of its importance to daily life. Initiated by support from the Hershey Institute, and now funded by a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, goals for this program include, "defining what an agriculturally literate person is, and to provide educational programs to help students in grades K-12 to learn about agriculture." OSU's program will take the lead at a regional and even national level to coordinate and train other institutions across the country to "infuse" agricultural training into daily classwork. Pilot test sites have already been established in grades K-8 in Oklahoma, California, Montana, and Pennsylvania.
Like so many OSU and OAES research projects, this one is designed to add value to the nation's most important product: its people.