Summer 2002 1

UtahScience

Volume 61 Number 3 Summer 2002

2 Utah Science

UTAH SCIENCE will be sent free on request in the United States. Subscriptions mailed to individuals and institutions in other countries cost $35.00 annuallywhich includes shipping and handling. Please include a mailing label from a recent issue of UTAH SCIENCE with any request for change of address.To avoid overuse of technical terms, sometimes trade names of products or equipment are used. No endorsement of specific products or firms named is intended,nor is criticism implied of those not mentioned.Articles and information appearing in UTAH SCIENCE become public property upon publication. They may be reprinted provided that no endorsement of aspecific commercial product or firm is stated or implied in so doing. Please credit the authors, Utah State University, and UTAH SCIENCE.

Equal Opportunity in employment and education is an essential priority for Utah State University, and one to which the University is deeply committed. Inaccordance with established laws, discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, gender, age, disability, or veteran’s status is prohibited foremployees in all aspects of employment and for students in academic programs and activities. Utah State University is dedicated to providing a healthy equalopportunity climate and an environment free from discrimination and harassment.

KERMIT L. HALL, PRESIDENT, UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY

H. PAUL RASMUSSEN, DIRECTOR, UTAH AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION

NOELLE E. COCKETT, DEAN, COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE

“. . . makesMillville siltloam amongthe bestcharacterizedand understoodsoils in the world . . .”

Cultivating plants on the same piece of land for 100years is no small accomplishment in a society where

most people are more familiar with corn chips than cornstalks and many mail more change of address cards thanChristmas cards. So 100 years of research at the UtahAgricultural Experiment Station’s Greenville Farm is ananniversary worth commemorating. But the feature thatmakes the place an outstanding outdoor laboratory gotits start so long ago that 100 years seems like no time atall.

Between 10 and 32 thousand years ago, LakeBonneville covered much of Northern Utah. When thelake receded, water flowed out of the canyons aroundCache Valley shaping the landscape and depositing anumber of geological gifts, including the soft, fertile soilat what is now the Greenville Farm.

Millville silt loam may not be a liltingly beautifulname, but merely mention it to soils scientist JanisBoettinger and she enthusiastically describes its trulybeautiful characteristics, beginning with the sort ofunqualified endorsement scientists rarely utter, “It’s thebest soil in Cache Valley.”

Boettinger says very little sand, 17 percent clay, lowsalinity, no rocks down to five feet, a “champion”nitrifier population, high water holding capacity andmore than 40 percent calcium carbonate combine tomake Millville silt loam prime agricultural soil. But youdon’t find this soil just anywhere. In fact, after searchingseveral soil surveys, Boettinger finds this particular soilonly at the Greenville farm and in a small area in nearby

Box Elder County. If the climate allowed a

slightly longer growing season the Greenville farm wouldbe rated class one agricultural land, but with about 120days in the average growing season it gets rated class two.Researchers can’t afford to lose many of those preciousgrowing days which makes the soil even more valuable.

“We can work the soil at Greenville just two daysafter a spring rain,” says Ray Cartee, director of UAESfarms. “Other places in the valley have heavier, clay soilsand we have to wait for them to dry out which meansyou’re losing days for doing field work.”

Having 100 years of data about the soil, climate,chemicals, water and plants on the site and Utah State’slongstanding program in soil physics make Millville siltloam among the best characterized and understood soils inthe world and the foundation for good science.

“When a scientist does research they want to controlall the variables that can be controlled,” Cartee says.“Field work isn’t tidy and exact like working in a lab.There are so many variables you cannot control thathaving all the data on the soil, water and nutrients iscritical.”

Cartee is among the many researchers who haveinvested countless days in the Greenville soil. Visit thefarm nearly any day from spring through fall and you’llfind faculty, undergraduates and graduate students atwork on an amalgam of experiments all aimed atunderstanding irrigated agriculture and meeting thechanging needs of people in the Intermountain West.

You may even find new generations of students in asoil pit learning to read the soil profile, repeatingBoettinger’s mantra, “Life on Earth would not existwithout soil,” and taking home some history under theirfingernails.

story

Summer 2002 3

Wheat grown in space may feed travelers of the future,but growing wheat with space age technology can feedmillions of people now.

UtahScience

2 GROWING WHEAT FROM SPACE

14 SEEDS -new people, grants and contracts in science

17 SYNTHESIS -science at Utah State

24 SEEK -students in science

Volume 61 Number 3 Summer 2002

UTAH SCIENCE is a publication devotedprimarily to Experiment Station research inagriculture and related areas. Published by theUtah Agricultural Experiment Station, UtahState University, Logan, Utah 84322-4845.

Lynnette Harris, Editor,lynnette@agx.usu.edu

Dennis Hinkamp, Research Writer,dennish@ext.usu.edu

Mary Donahue, Graphic Artist,mdonahue@cc.usu.edu

Gary Neuenswander, Media Specialist,gary@agx.usu.edu

Michael Smith, Webmaster,mike.smith@usu.edu

25 SEARCH -science on the web

The technologies and crops have changed butresearch at the Greenville Farm is still allabout irrigated agriculture.

ON THE COVER: Near infrared and visible composite satellite image(IKONOS) of irrigated farm plots in Minidoka, Idaho.

This crop reaches high overhead,but the real action is in the roots.

10 100 YEARS OF SCIENCE AND RESEARCH AT THE GREENVILLE FARM

20 MAKING POPLARS POPULAR

4 Utah Science

GROWING

WHEAT

FROM

SPACE

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Above, Dennis Wright

gathers wheat to check

nitrogen levels. Left,an infrared satellite

image of irrigated crops.

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Summer 2002 5

While growing wheat in space may feed spacetravelers of the future, growing wheat

from space can help feed millions of peoplenow. One of the greatest dividends of thecold war has been all the GPS (Global Posi-tioning System) technology that is nowavailable to the public. Only recently hasthis technology been applied to agriculture.

Phil Rasmussen and Bruce Bugbee, UtahAgricultural Experiment Station researchersreceived a $650,000 grant from NASA and theUSDA Initiative for Future Agriculture andFood Systems Program (IFAFS) to supportresearch into remote sensing, as well asallow them to train county extension agentsin this technology.

Rasmussen, the first geospatial extensionspecialist in the nation, has spent manyyears researching how remote sensingtechniques can help farmers. Remote, orgeospatial, sensing is the use of aerial andsatellite images to survey an area, such as afarmer’s field. It can be used in farming todetect a lack of nitrogen or water, weedinfestations or other areas of poor yield.Rasmussen and Bugbee, ultimately, want tohelp farmers increase their profits. Bugbeesupervises the USU greenhouses that aredeveloping better crops for space travel and

Bruce Bugbee,

left, and Phil

Rasmussen work

together on a

grant from NASAand the USDA

Initiative for

Future Agricul-

ture and Food

Systems Program

to apply GPStechnology to

agriculture.

Hand-held GPS equipment puts this

new technology in farmers' reach.

Summer 2002 3Summer 2002 3

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6 Utah Science

“What funds me istrying to feed peoplein space,” Bugbee said.“What funds Phil’sprojects is feedingpeople here on Earth.”

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4 Utah Science4 Utah Science

Summer 2002 7

space stations. He is expert at developingcrops in experiment chambers under predeter-mined conditions. The project will combineboth of their talents.

“What funds me is trying to feed people inspace, Bugbee said. “What funds Phil’sprojects is feeding people here on Earth.”

The power of this project is linking thesetwo skills. The title of their project is,“Validation and Application of GeospatialInformation for Early Identification ofStress in Wheat,” but the bottom line istrying to determine if remote sensing fromsatellites can increase farm productivity.The project is an effort to determine theeffectiveness of using remote sensing tomonitor wheat and then to transfer what theresearchers learn to extension agents andfarmers. One facet of the project involvesusing remote sensing to determine if a wheatresearch plot near Minidoka, Idaho suffersfrom a lack of nitrogen or water and then tocorrect the problem to optimize yield andquality. Other wheat plots at the UAESGreenville Farm are subjects of flyovers by

An infrared

satelliteimage of

irrigated

crops. Black

stripe down

the middle

of the

center pivotindicates no

applied

nitrogen.

Trouble spots can belocated in the field by

downloading data and

satellite imagery.

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Summer 2002 5

Summer 2002 5

8 Utah Science

airplanes equipped with infrared cameras.There is also plenty of work to do on theground as another component of the projectincludes researchers in the field usinghandheld infrared sensors and GPS monitorsto test wheat growing subjected to water andnitrogen stress.

Clearly, if a simple method can berefined to simultaneously detect nitrogenand moisture stress, farmers would readilyadopt this new technology, Rasmussen said.Environmental benefits would include lessgroundwater pollution or offsite contamina-tion, as well as decreased energy, nutrientand irrigation inputs. In other words, amore profitable bottom line.

Nitrogen is one of the key limiting factorsto the growth of wheat but testing for thisdeficiency has always been part art, scienceand economics. A trained eye can see the

Phil Rasmussen demonstrates the

new GPS technology to Utahfarmers at a recent field day.

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6 Utah Science6 Utah Science

Summer 2002 9

slight variations in color that indicatelower levels of nitrogen. Observation issimple and inexpensive but accuracy variesfrom farmer to farmer plus it is difficultto see the entire wheatfield at groundlevel. Plant tissue analysis is highlyaccurate, but expensive and must berepeated throughout the growing season.

Satellite imagery is potentially moreefficient because there are a lot of thingsyou just can’t at detect at ground level,especially on larger operations Rasmussensays. For instance, a single sprinklerhead that is clogged or broken could goundetected for the whole growing season,but a quick look at a satellite image canshow areas of a field that aren’t gettingenough water. There has been a limitedamount of crop analysis from airplanes,but the cost is, at times, prohibitive.

Infrared photo showing

effects of irrigation,

fertility and soil type.

Blue shows very high

yields,green - high yields,

yellow - medium yields, and

red - low yields.

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Summer 2002 7

Summer 2002 7

10 Utah Science

Precision agriculturepromises farmers theinformation they need toapply fertilizers,waterand other inputs at theright time, the rightamount and the right place.

Infrared satellite image of

Cache Valley, northern Utah.Red denotes healthy vegetation.

8 Utah Science8 Utah Science

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Summer 2002 11Winter 2002 9Winter 2002 9

While it may be initially frightening that youcan quickly download a photo with a highenough resolution to count the lawn chairs inyour back yard, you have to consider what thiscan do for agriculture. These photos areavailable from government satellites but sat-ellite imagery is also becoming a commercialventure.

IKONOS, launched September 24, 1999, is thefirst commercial high-resolution satellite,collecting 1-meter panchromatic and4-meter multi-spectral imagery. Althoughde-classified military high-resolutionpanchromatic data has been available fromRussian sources for some years, IKONOS is awholly commercial venture, providing data toan expanding remote sensing market.

Satellite sensing will increase the use ofprecision agriculture, says Rasmussen. Thoughmost crops are fertilized evenly across theacres, there are usually areas of the fieldthat need more or less nutrients than others.The practice of uniform fertilizer applicationhas been partially fueled by the lack ofaccurate information. Spreading fertilizeruniformly insures that there are no missedspots but it also means that some areas aregetting more fertilizer than they need whichcan lead to run off or leaching into thewater supply.

Precision agriculture promises farmers theinformation they need to apply fertilizers,water and other inputs at the right time,the right amount and the right place, hesays. The results from the first year‘s fielddata support the accuracy of the IKONOS satel-lite data. What remains to be determined isthe cost effectiveness of this system atdetecting other nutrient deficiencies incrops and at what size operation this becomesmore cost effective.

In the early days of research plots at theGreenville Farm the latest designs in weirsfor measuring water in the canals was state-of-the-art and farmers probably consideredcrop dusting airplanes to be high technologyat one time also. And now remote sensing helpsfarmers manage their crops at ground levelwith a little help from outer space.

— Dennis Hinkamp

Contact Info:Bruce BugbeeProfessor of Crop Physiology,Plants, Soils & BiometeorologyDept., College of Agriculture(435) 797-2765bugbee@cc.usu.edu

Philip RasmussenProfessor & Extension NASASpecialist, Plants, Soils &Biometeorology Dept.,College of AgricultureDirector, Western Region SAREProgram(435) 797-3394soilcomp@cc.usu.edu

Aerial view of Cache Valley farmland.

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Summer 2002 9Summer 2002 9

Mary D

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Satellite and infrared image photographs courtesy of Philip Rasmussen.

12 Utah Science

100 Years of Research and Scienceat the Greenville Farm

EXPERIMENT STATION

—OF—

THE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGEOF UTAH

BULLETIN NO. 2002

AUGUST 2002.

LOGAN, UTAH.

Photo from the Experiment Station of the Agricultural College of Utah, Bulletin No. 86,“The Right Way to Irrigate,” (Results of 1901) published December, 1903. Logan, Utah

A part of the irrigation system. (Looking north-east.)

Summer 2002 13

There are plenty of things John A. Widtsoe would not recognize todayabout the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station’s Greenville Farm, aplace he helped establish during his tenure as UAES director from 1900-1905.

The wheat at Greenville would appear familiar, though the varieties growing there nowreflect 100-plus years of careful genetic selection and improvement. He would understandthe need to carefully examine plants being subjected to water and nitrogen stress, but thehandheld infrared sensors, Global Positioning System technology and satellite imagery usedin those experiments would be a bit mind boggling. And because Widtsoe was by all accountsa gifted scientist and intellectually curious man, he would certainly have questions about theornamental plants, artichokes, asparagus and turfgrass growing on spots where he oncestudied alfalfa.

But one thing hasn’t changed at Greenville since Widtsoe outlined the farm’s mission.The research done there is still all about irrigated agriculture and making the best use of thestate’s limited water resources.

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Among the experiments at the Greenville Farm are several providing new informationabout the irrigation and propagation of turf varieties and native plants.

14 Utah Science

“The fact that the ancient and, to arid countries, indispensible art of irrigation lacks ascientific basis, is the justification of the decision taken two years ago by the officers of theUtah Experiment Station, to make irrigation the central subject of their investigations,”Widtsoe wrote in 1903. “It seemed also eminently proper that Utah, the pioneer irrigationstate, should lead out in such work.”

The farm’s original six acres in North Logan, a spot formerly known as Greenville, werepurchased in 1901 and results from the some of the first experiments were published thefollowing year. At various times since then, adjacent plots were purchased so that today theGreenville Farm includes 31 acres at the original site, plus 34 acres of cereals plots across theroad and 10 nearby acres used for weed control experiments.

Since the time the first irrigation experiments were done at Greenville, records havebeen carefully kept of soil and air temperatures, precipitation, the location and kind of plantsgrown, irrigation regimes, chemicals used, making it one of the best characterized researchsites anywhere. Historic records of the farm are critical to scientists today who need as muchinformation as possible about a site in order to understand the results of their experimentsamid all the difficult-to-control variables that accompany field research.

Photo from the Experiment Station of the Agricultural College of Utah, Bulletin No. 75,“Arid Farming or Dry Farming,” published January, 1902. Logan, Utah

Weighing pots, to determine the amount of water required by plants.

From the Prefatory Note, Bulletin No. 86, “The Right Way to Irrigate,”(Results of 1901) published December, 1903. Logan, Utah

“This bulletin has been written by John A. Widstoe and W.W. McLaughlin. It is a popular expostition of some of the resultsfound in Bulletin 80 of this station entitled “Irrigation Investigations on the College Farm in 1901,” by John A. Widstoe, Geo.

L. Swendsen, L.A. Merrill, W.W. McLaughlin, W.D. Beers and Osborne Widstoe.

The irrigation investigations of the Utah Experiment Station were instituted in 1901; and have been continued since that year.The results promise to be of the highest importance in the establishment of correct practices in the use of water on farms. In

studying the diagrams and statements of the following pages it must be borne in mind that the experiments were performed onshallow, gravelly bench land, and that, therefore, in many cases, the results on the predominating, deep valley lands will be

somewhat different. Since 1901, the experiments have been conducted on an especially provided farm, the soil of which is deepand uniform in texture.”

Summer 2002 15

Currently, Greenville is home to rows of poplar trees being grown in an agroforestryexperiment to determine how they can best be used to take excessive nutrients from soil, actas windbreaks and provide lumber and other wood products. There are corn and wheatfertility studies, and experiments aimed at understanding nitrogen cycling in crops treatedwith dairy manure. Tall, tangles of wispy ferns mark the location of asparagus variety trialsthat provide important information to growers working with this relatively small but highlyprofitable vegetable. Turf grass variety trials make one section of the farm look like acheckerboard putting green without the cups and flags, while other areas are covered withornamental plants and trees, a reflection of the state’s growing urban population andshrinking water supply.

While the technology in use has progressed from wooden weirs placed in canals toinfrared instruments that detect plant stress, scientists remain committed to learning moreabout irrigated agriculture in Utah and building on the tradition of 100 years of research atthe Greenville Farm.

— Lynnette Harris

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Guy Serbin, a PhD candidate and research assistant, uses a laser to studythe movement of moisture through various soil types.

16 Utah Science

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Don Jensen, director of the Utah Climate Center, createsevapotranspiration maps of the state with funding from theUtah Department of Agriculture and Food. The center alsocollects and analyzes weather data for the Great Salt LakeDesert with support from the U.S. Department of theInterior.

Child Care Resource and Referral provides training andsupport for daycare providers and assists parents in locatingcare for their children. Ann Austin leads the programwhich is funded by the Utah Department of WorkforceServices. In addition, Austin also works with the agency’s“Earn While You Learn” program.

Economist Arthur Caplan studies use of used oil recyclingblock grants with funding from the Utah Department ofEnvironmental Quality.

“Biological Weed Control: Education and Implementation”is a project directed by Philip Rasmussen with fundingfrom the Environmental Protection Agency.

Robert Newhall is working to develop and monitorimproved plants for revegetation of areas disturbed by fireand US Army activity. His research is supported by theUSDA- Agricultural Research Service.

The USDA’s Cooperative State Research, Education andExtension Service (CSREES) supports the Consortium forApplication of Behavioral Principles to Management, ananimal behavior research effort led by Fred Provenza.

Helen Berry studies the factors that impact rural migrationfor young and mid-age adults with support from theUSDA/CSREES.

Value-added options for small dairy producers in thenorthern Rocky Mountains are investigated by DonSnyder with support from Rocky Mountain Farmers UnionCooperative.

Researchers in Bruce Bugbee’s lab study the effects ofethylene on the development of salad crops that might begrown aboard the International Space Station. The re-search is supported by NASA. The lab is also investigatingthe abilities of crested wheatgrass to extract toxins fromsoils in cooperation with Bechtel/Idaho National Engineer-ing and Environmental Laboratory.

Seeds

Summer 2002 17

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Noelle Cockett works to characterize the causitive mutationof callipyge, a form of muscle hypertrophy in sheep. Herresearch is supported by the USDA/CSREES.

Turf specialist Paul Johnson investigates the gene flow fromPoa Pratensis to other Poa species under field conditions withfunding from Scotts Company.

Demonstrating hydro-zones as a tool to reduce overall wateruse in Intermountain landscapes is the focus of work con-ducted by Bill Varga. The project is supported by UDSA/CSREES.

Bruce Godfrey conducts risk management programs for dairyoperators in the western region in cooperation with Washing-ton State University, and for specialty crop producers withsupport from the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food.He also leads a study of infrastructure and services costs forSan Pete County, Utah.

Jeff Broadbent studies the genetics and biochemistry ofcapsule production in streptococcus thermophilus MR-1C withfunding from the USDA/CSREES.

The Utah State Office of Education funds efforts to electroni-cally enhance the agricultural science and technology curricu-lum for secondary schools, a project lead by Dan Hubert.

John Harrison leads a project investigating use of integratedfacultative ponds as an alternative wastewater treatmentsystem for dairy farms. The research is supported by theUSDA/CSREES.

Jointed goatgrass is the subject of research by John Evans, incooperation with Washington State University. Evans studiesthe influence of fallow tillage on jointed goatgrass emergenceand competition in winter wheat and the best managementpractices to control the grass in wheat in the intermountainarea.

The flow and distribution of water and other fluids throughporous media (such as clay chips) in microgravity is the subjectof investigations led by Dani Or and supported by NASA.

Dan Drost’s asparagus research is part of the CaliforniaAsparagus Information Support System, supported by theCalifornia Asparagus Growers.

The National Cattleman’s Assocation funds research byCharles Carpenter regarding the influence of case-readypackaging on browning of ground beef patties.

Christopher Neale studies the impact of fieldscape heteroge-neity in surface moisture and vegetation cover on a regionalscale with support from NASA.

18 Utah Science

NewFaculty& Staff

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16 Utah Science

Yajun Wu comes to the Department of Plants, Soils andBiometeorology (PSB) from his former position as apostdoctoral associate at Syngenta’s Torrey Mesa ResearchInstitute in La Jolla, CA. His lab at USU uses the combinedapproaches of plant physiology, molecular biology, genomicsand proteomics to identify genes that are important forplants to respond to drought stress. Wu earned his PhD inagronomy at Univeristy of Missouri-Columbia, a BS degreein biology at Nanjing Normal University, P.R.China, and MSdegrees from Southern Illinois University at Edwardville andNanjing Normal University. He can be reached at (435) 797-8125, yajunwu@mendel.usu.edu.

Teresa Cerny joins the PSB department as an Extensionhorticulturist after completing her PhD at Clemson Univer-sity in plant physiology. Her focus at USU will be productionand water use efficiency of herbaceous plants for Utahlandscapes. Cerny has several years of experience in commer-cial plant production and earned a BS degree in horticultureat Southern Illinois University and an MS degree at Univer-sity of Tennessee in ornamental horticulture and landscapedesign. She can be reached at (435) 797-8124,teresac@ext.usu.edu.

Ramona Skirpstunas brings years of experience as aveterinarian and animal disease diagnostician to USU’sDepartment of Animal, Dairy and Veterinary Sciences. Herwork at USU will have a dual focus: pathology at the UtahVeterinary Diagnostic Laboratory and research involvinginfectious diseases in farmed fish. The new research assistantprofessor earned a PhD at Washington State University inveterinary science and completed a residency in pathology.She practiced veterinary medicine in Phoenix and Salt LakeCity after receiving her DVM from Mississippi State Univer-sity. She earned BS degrees in biology and chemistry fromNorthern Illinois University. Skirpstunas can be reached at(435) 797-8007, rskirps@cc.usu.edu.

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ScienceSeeds

Summer 2002 19

ScienceSynthesis

Utah State University’s College of Agricultureopened a new chapter in its history on July 1 under

the leadership of its new dean, Noelle E. Cockett,professor in the department of Animal, Dairy andVeterinary Sciences and former vice provost for academicaffairs.

Cockett has deep roots in agriculture that began duringher childhood on a ranch in Montana and that continueto grow in her professional life as a leading researcher insheep genomics.

“I’ve been at Utah State for 12 years, and I’ve seen howour expertise in the college helps the people of thisstate,” she said. “Our people in the college— across alldisciplines — provide invaluable service, whether it’steaching, training students for careers in agriculture,offering research solutions to problems, or providingimmediate help through our Extension efforts.”

Cockett received her master’s and doctorate degreesin animal breeding and genetics from Oregon StateUniversity. Her research centers on identifying geneticmarkers associated with economically important traits inlivestock. Her current projects include characterization ofthe callipyge gene which causes muscle hypertrophy insheep and identification of genetic markers for parasiteresistance in sheep. Her laboratory identified the genethat causes Spider Lamb Syndrome and developed ablood test to detect the gene. In recognition of herresearch accomplishments, Cockett received the 1998Young Scientist Award for the Western Section of theAmerican Society of Animal Science. She was nameda Fellow of the American Association for the Advance-ment of Science in 2000 and received the D. WynneThorne Research Award, the university’s highestrecognition for research, in 2002.

Noelle E. CockettNamed Dean of

the College of Agriculture

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Steven Aust, professor of chemistry andbiochemistry, was among the eight

scientists and educators selected this yearto receive the Utah Governor’s Medal forScience and Technology. The award, thestate’s highest recognition for scientists,recognizes individuals who have significantcareer achievements and/or provideddistinguished service in science andtechnology.

Aust is internationally recognized and citedfor his fundamental studies on the role ofiron in the harmful oxidation ofbiomolecules and the degradation of ligninand harmful pollutants by white rot fungi.

“We are in the middle of a biotechnologicalrevolution,” he says. “A few years ago, ifsomeone had told me what we’d be doingin the lab now, I’d have said, ‘It can’t bedone.’”

Aust’s work on white rot fungi centers onthe organism’s ability to biodegradeharmful substances such as pesticides,poisons and explosives.

“White rot fungi is the only fungi that candegrade wood,” says Aust. “Our job atUtah State was to ask, ‘How does it dothat?’ And, when we figured that out,other ideas spun off. We learned it coulddegrade all kinds of chemicals.”

Aust is also working to understand therelationship between iron in the body andailments such as cancer, diabetes and heartdisease, Alzheimer’s disease andParkinson’s disease.

“People can be intimidated by science,”Aust says. “That’s because the easy thingshave already been done. It’s tough, but therewards are incredible.”

Steven Aust Receives Utah Governor’s Medal forScience and Technology

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Soils scientist and Extension specialistRich Koenig recently received an

Award of Merit from the United StatesDepartment of Agriculture’s NaturalResources Conservation Service. Theaward honors Koenig’s ongoing researchand Extension work with farmers toimprove methods of managing soils andmanure. Koenig helped update the state’sstandards for managing nutrients inmanure, such as phosphorus and nitrogen,that can adversely affect groundwatersupplies. He also developed soil andmanure test guidelines and materials tohelp educate beef and dairy producersabout meeting the state’s standards.

NRCS Honors Rich Koenig

U tah State associate professor Jeffrey Broadbent and professor emeritus Gary Richardson werehonored for their contributions to dairy microbiology research by the American Dairy Science

Association (ADSA) during the organization’s annual meeting in Quebec, Ontario.

Dairy Microbiologists Honored

Richardson was elected a fellow ofthe ADSA, an honor given to selectassociation members recognizing atleast 20 years of professionalaccomplishments in dairy science.Richardson was a leading researcherin Utah State’s Department ofNutrition and Food Sciences formore than 20 years and supervisedthe research programs of 45master’s and doctoral degreestudents. His research helpedrevolutionize the way the cheeseindustry prepares and uses bacterialstarter cultures.

Broadbent received the DSM FoodSpecialties Award for research incheese and cultured products. Theaward recognizes his use of molecularbiology and genomics to betterunderstand and use several of the maintypes of bacteria used to producecheese. Broadbent is part of the LacticAcid Bacteria Genome Consortium,the largest effort in the U.S. tosequence the genome of bacteriaimportant to the food industry. Hiswork on the genome of Lactobacillushelveticus is helping scientistsunderstand the contributions ofspecific enzymes to the development offlavor in cheese. In addition to hisextensive research activities,Broadbent teaches food microbiologyand a graduate class on thebiotechnology of lactic acid cultures.

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Making Poplars300 pounds of nitrogen per acreand 150 pounds of phosphorousper acre, considered the standardin the agroforestry industry. ButNewhall has applied more thanthree times that amount ofnitrogen and the trees continuedto perform well, without anynutrients leaching below theirrigation zone.

“I wanted to test what wouldhappen with very high nitrogenlevels and I really expected burntleaves and dead trees,” Newhallsays. “Instead, they just gotbigger and taller.”

Agroforestry is well-suited tomany parts of Utah and would bea good fit with existing farmingand ranching operations as wellas useful for communities lookingfor new ways to managemunicipal waste, Newhall says.Good targets for agroforestryinclude highly erodible, flood-prone, economically marginal andenvironmentally sensitive landswhere the goal is not to restore anatural ecosystem, but toimprove sustainability and thehealth of the ecosystem.

Newhall says, effectiveagroforestry practices considercombinations of trees, crops and/or animals as a single unit. Theymanipulate the biological andphysical interactions of thosecomponents and enhanceproduction of more than oneproduct at a time.

“In the case of the poplars,you can have a usable wood cropin five-to-eight years,” Newhallsays. “It is clean wood, though itdoesn’t have the heat energy ofoak, but it is very benign anduseful for things like pallets andcrates. With 15 year’s growth you

Stands of hybrid poplar andcottonwood trees seem a bit outof place growing in neat rows,their branches reaching 20-plusfeet above the soil, on researchfarms otherwise covered withgrasses, small grains andassorted vegetables. Rapidgrowth rate is one reason RobertNewhall, USU Extension researchassociate, is experimenting withthis particular species of tree. Butthe most important work the treesdo isn’t high overhead, it’s in theroots where they rapidly take upnutrients like nitrogen andphosphorous supplied by pigmanure and commercial fertilizer.

In addition to provingthemselves capable of utilizingexcess nutrients from the soil thatmight otherwise build up andthreaten water quality, the treesprovide growers with amarketable crop, createwindbreaks, green-screens, stirthe air to potentially limitdownwind odor problems andhold soil in place.

Newhall began experimentswith the trees in 1997, withsupport from Circle Four Farms, alarge pork production facility inBeaver & Iron counties. Facedwith the sort of ongoing wastemanagement problems animalproducers encounter, multipliedby thousands of pigs, thecompany needed data on howeffective the trees might be. WhatNewhall has found is encouraging,and suggests that poplars couldbe used effectively to treatmunicipal and animal waste inmost places in Utah.

The trees at the UAESGreenville Farm typically receive

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Robert Newhall,USU ExtensionResearch Associate,and his plot ofgrowing popolars.

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24 Utah Science

Contact Info:Robert NewhallExtension Specialist,College of AgricultureExtension/ResearchAssociate, Plants, Soils, &Biometeorology Dept.(435) 797-2183bobn@ext.usu.edu

sticks and bare root material heplanted in 1999 didn’t appeardestined to become a smallforest.

“I’m an agronomist,”Newhall told participants at lastsummer’s Greenville Farm fieldday. “If I can grow these, anyonecan. We started with some bareroot material and a lot of eight-inch cuttings of one-year-oldwood. They were just a bunch ofsticks we planted and hoped wehad the right end up and theright end in the ground. Look atthem now. We’re growing a cropof trees.”

— Lynnette Harris

have trees large enough to beused as veneer logs.”

Another nice habit of poplarsis that they resprout aftercutting. One objective ofNewhall’s experiment is todetermine how many times thetrees will grow back after beingharvested.

“I expect there will be a lotof interest in how these treesperform,” he says. “They wouldbe very useful in a ripariancorridor planted 150 feet on bothsides of a stream, mixed withwillows (the subject of anotherof his experiments along theSevier River at the UAESPanguitch Farm).”

The poplars are provingquite robust, although they havehad a few problems. Newhalllost several trees at the UAESEvans Farm in Nibley, Utah, whenerratic spring temperatures in2002 caused one variety to leafout and freeze repeatedly,eventually killing many of them.Pests are also present—as theyare in many native poplar stands—but even without any pestmanagement practices, the treescontinue to thrive.

Newhall assures potentialgrowers that they need not haveany special silvaculture skills tosuccessfully grow poplars. The

“They were justa bunch of sticks weplanted and hopedwe had the right endup and the right endin the ground.”

Robert Newhall’s poplar treeresearch plot from July 1999 toJuly 2002.

Summer 2002 25

Tree height (feet) Tree girth (inches)

Planted as bare root ‘99 ‘00 ‘01 ‘99 ‘00 ‘01

Simon Poplar 3.5 10.2 17.6 0.40 1.78 3.15

Imperial Carolina Poplar 6.5 13.4 21.2 1.27 3.07 4.07

Siouxland Cottonwood 6.2 15.0 22.0 1.22 2.89 4.31

Narrowleaf Cottonwood 7.3 12.2 16.6 1.14 2.39 3.51

Hybrid poplar clones

(planted as “sticks”)

OP-367 - short season 6.8 16.6 22.1 0.96 3.05 4.44

1529 mid-season 4.5 14.4 20.1 0.56 2.25 3.52

50-197 mid-season 5.1 15.0 21.6 0.84 2.74 3.41

184-411 long season 6.2 15.5 23.6 0.99 2.74 3.97

52-225 short season 5.0 13.5 21.8 0.76 2.36 3.52

Eridano short season (new) – – 5.05 – – 0.51

Many of the trees in Robert Newhall’s agroforestry plant trials are calledhybrid clones and are true hybrids, produced by crossing native species,

rather than the result of in vitro gene manipulation. The demonstration isscheduled to run at least eight years to determine the trees’ ability to take upnutrients and to allow researchers to assess the quality of timber, pulp, firewoodand other wood products that might be marketed.

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“. . .it’s exciting to“. . .it’s exciting to“. . .it’s exciting totry and craft mytry and craft mytry and craft my

research toward theresearch toward theresearch toward theneeds of farmersneeds of farmersneeds of farmers

and other end-users.”and other end-users.”and other end-users.”

tah State students Glen Ritchie, left, and DennisWright are helping make farming easier and more precise,with the use of a tool that is, if not light-years, at leastseveral wavelengths, ahead of most conventional farmequipment.

The device uses a portable spectrometer (worn like abackpack with a few attachments) to measurewavelengths of light reflected by plants and determiningwhether they are nitrogen or water stressed before theyexhibit visible signs of trouble. Spectrometers measurewavelengths of light, including many we cannot see withthe unaided eye. A plant getting too little nitrogen orwater eventually looks different from a healthy plant, butits health and productivity suffer long before it showsoutward signs of stress.

The research focused on gathering data to ground-truth data gathered using satellite images and NASAaerial, infrared photographs—methods that allow growersto closely monitor the condition of crops in every part ofa vast field.

Wright says the project was very important in helpinghim learn more about plants, understanding what theyneed in order to thrive, and enriched his education bygiving him an opportunity to be part of a research team.“I learned how to collect and analyze data, how to writereports for different audiences (farmers, researchers, andthe general public), and how projects for NASA work,”he says.

The project also allowed him to talk with farmers andto put himself in their shoes. He was motivated by theidea that research he did might be valuable to farmersand help them produce the food on which we all rely.A chlorophyll meter was used to test winter wheat plantsand satellite images tested the same plots. The teamfound that satellite images and the chlorophyll meterwere both accurate in detecting levels of nitrogen stress.

The satellite images predicted yield with betteraccuracy than did the chlorophyll meter, but cost is adrawback. Overall, the satellite can test a larger areathan the chlorophyll meter, but the meter can testindividual plants and provide quantified amounts ofnitrogen deficiency. As a result of his project, Wrightwas offered a job at Utah State as the programcoordinator with the university’s NASA ResearchCenter.

Ritchie focused on using the spectrometer todetect stress levels in plants, providing moreinformation to farmers and preparing them to changethe ways they look at crops.

His studies were aimed at determining the spectraldifferences between nitrogen-stressed, water-stressed,and healthy winter wheat. Nitrogen-stressed plantsdevelop a particular color, more yellow than its healthycounterparts. A water-stressed plant may remaingreen, but has stunted growth. The spectrometermeasures the color of the plants, and—based on whatis reflected—farmers can determine what correctiveaction to take before yields and profits suffer.Spectrometers also provide data to ground-truthsatellite or aerial images of large fields that helpgrowers see everything “up close” from a vantage pointhigh overhead.

“The work on reflectance measurements hasexpanded my knowledge base by forcing me to learn alittle bit more about subjects that I would not haveotherwise explored, such as electronics, computertrouble-shooting, and experiment design,” Ritchie says.“And it’s exciting to try to craft my research toward theneeds of farmers and other end-users.”

Perhaps the biggest boost to his academic careerhas been learning how to take a subject that he knowslittle about, research it, troubleshoot it, and finally feellike he can use it correctly and effectively to obtainuseful and repeatable results. He credits the projectwith helping him increase his creativity and hisunderstanding of how the equipment works. It alsomakes him feel more confident knowing that he canbring these acquired skills with him as he searches foremployment after graduate school.

— Nathan Plott

Summer 2002 27

search -science on the web

Find Utah Science andother information aboutthe people and projects ofthe Utah AgriculturalExperiment Station onlineat www.agx.usu.edu

The researchers featuredin this issue recommendthe following Web sitesfor more information ontheir research topics.

Remote sensing images

http://extension.usu.edu/nasaThe Utah State University/NASA Space GrantExtension site.

www.digitalglobe.comDigitalGlobe, a commercial website with the highestresolution geospatial images currently available fromthe QuickBird satellite with resolution to.6 meters.

Images with 1.0 meter resolution from the IKONOSsatellite are available at www.spaceimaging.com,including a gallery of photographs from around theglobe that have been featured as the site’s Image ofthe Week. http://www.spaceimaging.com/gallery/ioweek/iow.htm

www.agri-vision.netAgri-Vision provides aerial images to growers. TheWebsite includes sample images made with cameraslike those used by the USU research group.

www.earthobservatory.nasa.govThis portion of NASA’s vast web offerings includessamples of Landsat and other images andinformation about various NASA-supported projectsaimed at helping us understand our planet.

Trees as crops

www.sac.ac.uk/envsci/External/WillowPower/GrowCrop.htmThe Scottish Agricultural College tips on growingtrees including site selection, plantation layout, soilpreparation and pest control.

wsare.usu.eduWestern Regional Sustainable Agriculture Researchand Education is a USDA program focused onexpanding knowledge and adoption of sustainableagriculture practices that are economically viable,environmentally sound and socially acceptable.