Farm Service Agency

Climate change may both exacerbate the vulnerabilities and open up new opportunities for farming in the Northeastern USA. Among the opportunities are double-cropping and new crop options that may come with warmer temperatures and a longer frost-free period. However, prolonged periods of spring rains in recent years have delayed planting and offset the potentially beneficial longer frost-free period. Water management will be a serious challenge for Northeast farmers in the future, with projections for increased frequency of heavy rainfall events, as well as projections for more frequent summer water deficits than this historically humid region has experienced in the past. Adaptations to increase resilience to such changes include expanded irrigation capacity, modernized water monitoring and irrigation scheduling, farm drainage systems that collect excess rain into ponds for use as a water source during dry periods, and improved soil water holding capacity and drainage. Among the greatest vulnerabilities over the next several decades for the economically important perennial fruit crop industry of the region is an extended period of spring frost risk associated with warmer winter and early spring temperatures. Improved real-time frost warning systems, careful site selection for new plantings, and use of misting, wind machine, or other frost protection measures will be important adaptation strategies. Increased weed and pest pressure associated with longer growing seasons and warmer winters is another increasingly important challenge. Pro-active development of non-chemical control strategies, improved regional monitoring, and rapid-response plans for targeted control of invasive weeds and pests will be necessary.

Determining specific N fertilization rates to achieve optimal return is difficult. Crop N stress sensing uses the plant as an indicator of N fertilization need and has potential to improve N management. However, for making N rate decisions, a calibrated relationship between measured N stress and optimum N rate is required. Corn ( Zea mays L.) plant N stress was determined with a chlorophyll meter (CM) at 102 site‐years of N rate trials conducted from 1999–2005 with corn following soybean [ Glycine max (L.) Merr.] (SC) and continuous corn (CC). Normalizing CM readings to relative chlorophyll meter (RCM) values reduced variation and improved the calibration of N stress with the nitrogen rate difference (ND) from the economic optimum nitrogen rate (EONR). With SC the adjusted R 2 (adj R 2 ) was 0.53 for CM readings and 0.73 for RCM values, and with CC the adj R 2 was 0.57 for CM readings and 0.76 for RCM values. The same statistically significant ( P < 0.001) relationship between RCM values and ND was found for both SC and CC, indicating RCM critical values of 0.97 and 0.98, respectively. This indicates the same calibration for N rate determination based on RCM values can be used for both rotations. Evaluation of RCM values at multiple corn growth stages indicated the same relationship to ND at the fifteenth leaf and silking growth stages, suggesting a period of time during mid‐to‐late vegetative growth to collect CM readings, and make in‐season N rate decisions and applications. The calibration of RCM values to the rate differential from optimum N can be used by producers to determine in‐season N applications for corn across varying production conditions.

The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is the largest agricultural land-retirement program in the United States, providing many environmental benefits, including wildlife habitat and improved air, water, and soil quality. Since 2007, however, CRP area has declined by over 25% nationally with much of this land returning to agriculture. Despite this trend, it is unclear what types of CRP land are being converted, to what crops, and where. All of these specific factors greatly affect environmental impacts. To answer these questions, we quantified shifts in expiring CRP parcels to five major crop-types (corn, soy, winter and spring wheat, and sorghum) in a 12-state, Midwestern region of the United States using a US Department of Agriculture (USDA), field-level CRP database and USDA’s Cropland Data Layer. For the years 2010 through 2013, we estimate almost 30%, or more than 530 000 ha, of expiring CRP land returned to the production of these five crops in our study area, with soy and corn accounting for the vast majority of these shifts. Grasslands were the largest type of CRP land converted (360 000 ha), followed by specifically designated wildlife habitat (76 000 ha), and wetland areas (53 000 ha). These wetland areas were not just wetlands themselves, but also a mix of land covers enhancing or protecting wetland ecosystem services (e.g., wetland buffers). Areas in the Dakotas, Nebraska, and southern Iowa were hotspots of change, with the highest areas of CRP land moving back to agriculture. By contrast, we estimate only a small amount (∼3%) of the expiring land shifted into similar, non-CRP land-retirement or easement programs. Reconciling needs for food, feed, fuel, and healthy ecosystems is an immense challenge for farmers, conservationists, and state and federal agencies. Reduced enrollment and the turnover of CRP land from conservation to agriculture raises questions about sustaining ecosystem services in this region.

Abstract This article uses a unique data set provided by the Census Bureau and a translog cost function to empirically examine technological change in the U.S. poultry industry. Results reveal substantial scale economies that show no evidence of diminishing with plant size and that are much greater than those realized in cattle and hog slaughter. Findings suggest that consolidation is likely to continue, particularly if demand growth diminishes, and that controlling for plant product mix is critical to accurate cost estimates.

) refuge, has undergone rapid land-cover change due to cropland expansion and weakened land conservation programs. We conducted a trend analysis and estimated conversion rates of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) enrollments around bee apiaries from 2006 to 2016 and developed models to identify areas of habitat loss. Our analysis revealed that NGP apiaries lost over 53% of lands enrolled in the CRP, and the rate of loss was highest in areas of high apiary density. We estimated over 163,000 ha of CRP lands in 2006 within 1.6 km of apiaries was converted to row crops by 2012. We also evaluated how alternative scenarios of future CRP acreage caps may affect habitat suitability for supporting honey bee colonies. Our scenario revealed that a further reduction in CRP lands to 7.7 million ha nationally would reduce the number of apiaries in the NGP that meet defined forage criteria by 28% on average. Alternatively, increasing the national cap to 15 million ha would increase the number of NGP apiaries that meet defined forage criteria by 155%. Our scenarios also show that strategic placement of CRP lands near existing apiaries increased the number of apiaries that meet forage criteria by 182%. Our research will be useful for informing the potential consequences of future US farm bill policy and land management in the epicenter of the US beekeeping industry.

Social work is rich in ideologies and traditions. One of our defining characteristics has been that we struggle with dichotomies. The focus of this article relates to our practice dichotomy: the struggle between service to the individual and change of the environment. This article uses critical theory as an ideological foundation to bridge the dichotomous approach between micro and macro social work practice. Applying critical theory to social work practice fits well with the professional values of enhancement of people's well-being, promotion of social justice, and empowerment of oppressed populations, while blending micro and macro practice. The article concludes with guidelines for critical social work practice.

Current uncertainties in our understanding of ecosystems require shifting from optimization-based management to an adaptive management paradigm. Risk managers routinely make suboptimal decisions because they are forced to predict environmental response to different management policies in the face of complex environmental challenges, changing environmental conditions, and even changing social priorities. Rather than force risk managers to make single suboptimal management choices, adaptive management explicitly acknowledges the uncertainties at the time of the decision, providing mechanisms to design and institute a set of more flexible alternatives that can be monitored to gain information and reduce the uncertainties associated with future management decisions. Although adaptive management concepts were introduced more than 20 y ago, their implementation has often been limited or piecemeal, especially in remedial decision making. We believe that viable tools exist for using adaptive management more fully. In this commentary, we propose that an adaptive management approach combined with multicriteria decision analysis techniques would result in a more efficient management decision-making process as well as more effective environmental management strategies. A preliminary framework combining the 2 concepts is proposed for future testing and discussion.

Nonindigenous invasive weed species can have substantial negative impacts on the quantity and quality of outdoor recreational activities such as fishing, hunting, hiking, wildlife viewing, and water-based recreation. Despite the significance of impacts on recreation, very little research has been performed to estimate the corresponding economic losses at spatial scales such as regions, states, and watersheds. This is true primarily because in most jurisdictions the data necessary to estimate recreational impacts are scarce and incomplete. Because of the challenges involved in measuring recreational losses precisely, we illustrate a method that can provide indications of the ranges in which the true economic losses likely lie. To reflect underlying uncertainty in parameters such as the number of acres infested in a jurisdiction and the rate at which wildlife-related recreation decreases as a function of increasing weed infestation, we developed a range of estimates using lower, medium, and higher scenario combinations of parameter and variable values. Our case study jurisdiction is a western state (Nevada) in which nonindigenous weed infestations on public lands have expanded rapidly in recent years. Under conservative assumptions, the negative economic impacts stemming from the adverse influence of nonindigenous weeds on wildlife-related recreation in Nevada likely range from 40 million in Nevada, depending on actual future expansion rates of weeds.

In addition to the emotional, physical, and economic issues that all abused women face, battered women from fundamentalist churches have religious issues that need to be addressed. While therapists usually leave discussion of such matters to the clergy, in the case of domestic violence, the fundamentalist clergy is likely to be unsupportive or to even unknowingly endanger battered women because of their legalistic attitudes about marriage and sex roles. It is, thus, imperative that the professional counselor understand these issues and be willing to discuss them. This article explains five teachings of fundamentalist churches, explores how they help perpetuate violent relationships, and offers suggestions to therapists on how to speak with clients about these issues.

Increasing the resilience of agricultural landscapes requires fundamental changes to the dominant commodity production model, including incorporating practices such as reduced tillage, cover cropping, and extended rotations that reduce soil disturbance while increasing biological diversity. Increasing farmer adoption of these conservation systems offers the potential to transform agriculture to a more vibrant, resilient system that protects soil, air, and water quality. Adoption of these resilience practices is not without significant challenges. This paper presents findings from a participatory effort to better understand these challenges and to develop solutions to help producers overcome them. Through repeated, facilitated discussions with farmers and agricultural and conservation professionals across the U.S. state of Michigan, we confronted the policy, economic, and structural barriers that are inhibiting broader adoption of conservation systems, as well as identified policies, programs, and markets that can support their adoption. What emerged was a complex picture and dynamic set of challenges at multiple spatial scales and across multiple domains. The primary themes emerging from these discussions were barriers and opportunities, including markets, social networks, human capital, and conservation programs. Exacerbating the technical, agronomic, and economic challenges farmers face at the farm level, there are a host of community constraints, market access and availability problems, climatic and environmental changes, and policies (governmental and corporate) that cross-pressure farmers when it comes to making conservation decisions. Understanding these constraints is critical to developing programs, policies, and state and national investments that can drive adoption of conservation agriculture.

We evaluated associations between the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and Ring-necked Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) populations by modeling Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) counts of Ring-necked Pheasants during 1987–2005 along 388 routes in nine states. Ring-necked Pheasant counts were analyzed as overdispersed Poisson counts in a Bayesian hierarchical model estimated with Markov-chain Monte Carlo methods. This approach allowed for simultaneous estimation of the relationships between BBS counts and various habitat types, including CRP habitat types, for multiple regions and across the entire study area. The predictor variables included a time trend and percentages of major National Land Cover Dataset 1992 and CRP habitat types within a 1,000-m buffer around each route, along with other patch metrics. The deviance information criterion was used as a guide to help identify the most parsimonious model. We estimated that, on average, there was a positive association of Ring-necked Pheasant counts with the amount of CRP herbaceous vegetation within a 1,000-m buffer around a route. The analysis can be repeated periodically to model changes in Ring-necked Pheasant populations associated with new CRP enrollments and expiration of existing CRP contracts on a large scale. Our methodology can also be extended to other species and to other states and regions.

Abstract The transfer of organic pollutants into the atmosphere is discussed from the standpoint of mechanisms involved, factors influencing rates of volatilization, and progress in developing models for predicting transfer rates. The volatilization rate of soil-incorporated chemicals is controlled by vapor pressure of the chemical in soil and by its rate of movement to the soil surface by diffusion or by a combination of diffusion and convection in evaporating water. Vapor pressures of organic chemicals are greatly decreased by their interaction with soil mainly due to adsorption. The magnitude of the adsorption effect depends upon the nature of the chemical, its concentration, the soil water content and soil properties, such as organic matter and clay content. Vaporization of chemicals in soil or from disposal sites covered with soil can be estimated from considerations of the physical and chemical factors controlling concentrations at the soil surface and most models developed to estimate volatilization rates are based upon equations describing the rate of movement of the chemical to the soil surface by diffusion and/or convection. Considerable progress has been made in developing laboratory based models for predicting volatilization from soil. Since volatilization of soil-incorporated chemicals is controlled mainly by factors within the soil, predictions from laboratory based mathematical models should be sufficiently accurate for many purposes.

Number of wells used in this report to estimate water-

Multimorbidity increases the risk of all-cause mortality, and along with age, is an independent risk factor for severe disease and mortality from COVID-19. Inequities in the social determinants of health contributed to increased mortality from COVID-19 among disadvantaged populations. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of multimorbid conditions and associations with the social determinants of health in the US prior to the pandemic.Methods Data from the 2017-18 cycle of NHANES were used to determine the prevalence of 13 chronic conditions, and the prevalence of having 0, 1, or 2 or more of those conditions, among the US adult population aged ≥ 20 years. Multimorbidity was defined as having 2 or more of these conditions. Data were stratified according to demographic, socioeconomic and indicators of health access, and analyses including logistic regression, performed to determine the factors associated with multimorbidity.Results The prevalence of multimorbidity was 58.4% (95% CI 55.2 to 61.7). Multimorbidity was strongly associated with age and was highly prevalent among those aged 20-29 years at 22.2% (95% CI 16.9 to 27.6) and continued to increase with older age. The prevalence of multimorbidity was highest in those defined as Other or multiple races (66.9%), followed in decreasing frequency by rates among non-Hispanic Whites (61.2%), non-Hispanic Blacks (57.4%), Hispanic (52.0%) and Asian (41.3%) groups.Logistic regression showed a statistically significant relationship between multimorbidity and age, as expected. Asian race was associated with a reduced likelihood of 2 or more chronic conditions (OR 0.4; 95% CI 0.35 to 0.57; P < 0.0001). Socioeconomic factors were related to multimorbidity. Being above the poverty level (OR 0.64; 95% CI 0.46 to 0.91, p = 0.013); and a lack of regular access to health care (OR 0.61 (95% CI 0.42 to 0.88, p = 0.008) were both associated with a reduced likelihood of multimorbidity. Furthermore, there was a borderline association between not having health insurance and reduced likelihood of multimorbidity (OR 0.63; 95% CI 0.40 to 1.0; p = 0.053).Conclusions There are high levels of multimorbidity in the US adult population, evident from young adulthood and increasing with age. Cardiometabolic causes of multimorbidity were highly prevalent, especially obesity, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and diabetes; conditions subsequently found to be associated with severe disease and death from COVID-19. A lack of access to care was paradoxically associated with reduced likelihood of comorbidity, likely linked to underdiagnosis of chronic conditions. Obesity, poverty, and lack of access to healthcare are factors related to multimorbidity and were also relevant to the health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, that must be addressed through comprehensive social and public policy measures. More research is needed on the etiology and determinants of multimorbidity, on those affected, patterns of co-morbidity, and implications for individual health and impact on health systems and society to promote optimal outcomes. Comprehensive public health policies are needed to tackle multimorbidity and reduce disparities in the social determinants of health, as well as to provide universal access to healthcare.

Winter Movements and Winter Foods of White-Tailed Deer in Central Wisconsin Get access F. N. Hamerstrom, Jr., F. N. Hamerstrom, Jr. Division of Wildlife Management, University of Wisconsin Madison, WisconsinFarm Security Administration, Necedah, Wisconsin Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar James Blake James Blake Division of Wildlife Management, University of Wisconsin Madison, WisconsinFarm Security Administration, Necedah, Wisconsin Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of Mammalogy, Volume 20, Issue 2, 14 May 1939, Pages 206–215, https://doi.org/10.2307/1374379 Published: 14 May 1939

Soil acidification is a global issue that often results in increased aluminum (Al) toxicity. While no-till (NT) management has many benefits regarding sustainability, a discrete zone of acidification often occurs when ammoniacal fertilizers are banded below the seed. The full agroecological consequences of NT stratification and impacts on bacterial communities are largely unknown. Using next-generation sequencing (NGS) and Phylogenetic Investigation of Communities by Reconstruction of Unobserved States (PICRUSt), we characterized the influence of liming amendment and soil stratification on bacterial community composition and predicted function in 2-cm depth increments. Soil depth, pH, DTPA extractable aluminum (DTPA-Al), and KCl extractable Al (KCl-Al) were all significantly correlated with bacterial community structure and function. In soils with the lowest pH and greatest extractable Al, bacterial community was distinct, with highest relative abundance of the Koribacteraceae family, an indicator of soil degradation. Additionally, aspects of bacterial metabolism and nutrient turnover were impacted in the lowest pH zones, including secondary metabolite, carbohydrate, and energy metabolism. These results suggest that soil stratification (Al and pH) in NT systems has direct impacts on microbial community structure and function, potentially influencing ecosystem services at a highly resolved spatial scale within surface depths relevant to seed germination and emergence.

Quantifying the effectiveness of conservation practices at the watershed scale throughout the nation has been identified as a critical need. Our objective was to determine the effectiveness of these conservation practices for reducing sediment yield. The Topashaw Canal watershed (TCW), an 11,000-ha (27,181-ac) area in northcentral Mississippi, exhibits flashy stream response to storms with mean sediment concentrations (117 mg L^-1 [117 ppm]) almost double the median sediment concentration (60 mg L^-1). The most prevalent conservation practice imposed by acreage, since 1985, is enrollment in the Conservation Reserve Program (e.g., planting of pine trees). Grade-stabilization structures (e.g., drop pipes) are the most common conservation practice used to control gully erosion within the TCW. These structures are estimated by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service to reduce annual sediment yield from 11.5 to 0.1 Mg ha^-1 yr^-1 (5.13 to 0.05 tn ac^-1 yr^-1), but measurements have not been made to determine the accuracy of these estimates. Nonetheless, an average of 58 drop pipes have been installed annually within the TCW using Environmental Quality Incentives Program funds, and an additional 5.4 large drop pipes have been installed each year using US Corps of Engineers funds. Annual gully erosion accounted for 54% of the total sediment yield of over 73,000 Mg (80,445 tn) from TCW. The shift in land use to Conservation Reserve Program, combined with channel incision, has resulted in streambank failure and gully erosion being the primary sources of sediment currently leaving the watershed.

Forests provide potentially important bee habitat, but little research has been done on forest bee diversity and the relative effectiveness of bee sampling methods in this environment. Bee diversity and sampling methodology were studied in an Illinois, USA upland oak-hickory forest using elevated and ground-level pan traps, malaise traps, and vane traps. 854 bees and 55 bee species were collected. Elevated pan traps collected the greatest number of bees (473), but ground-level pan traps collected greater species diversity (based on Simpson's diversity index) than did elevated pan traps. Elevated and ground-level pan traps collected the greatest bee species richness, with 43 and 39 species, respectively. An estimated sample size increase of over 18-fold would be required to approach minimum asymptotic richness using ground-level pan traps. Among pan trap colors/elevations, elevated yellow pan traps collected the greatest number of bees (266) but the lowest diversity. Malaise traps were relatively ineffective, collecting only 17 bees. Vane traps collected relatively low species richness (14 species), and Chao1 and abundance coverage estimators suggested that minimum asymptotic species richness was approached for that method. Bee species composition differed significantly between elevated pan traps, ground-level pan traps, and vane traps. Indicator species were significantly associated with each of these trap types, as well as with particular pan trap colors/elevations. These results indicate that Midwestern deciduous forests provide important bee habitat, and that the performance of common bee sampling methods varies substantially in this environment.

Analysis of CBS coverage of 1968 campaign finds coverage of each candidate was positive and sees no advantage for any one presidential candidate.

Nitrogen is an important and costly input for corn ( Zea mays L.) production. With rising prices and environmental concerns, producers are looking for ways to better manage N fertilization. A project designed to evaluate in‐season N management strategies for adjusting N rate was conducted in 30 Iowa cornfields from 2004 to 2006. Nitrogen rates applied preplant or early sidedress (PRE‐N) and corn plant sensing with a chlorophyll meter (CM) to detect N stress was used to determine as‐needed in‐season post sensing nitrogen application (POST‐N). Field‐length strips were replicated three times with six N treatments: zero‐N control, 67 kg N ha −1 (reduced PRE‐N rate), 67+ (reduced PRE‐N rate plus POST‐N), 134 kg N ha −1 (agronomic PRE‐N rate), 134+ (agronomic PRE‐N rate plus POST‐N), and 268 kg N ha −1 (PRE‐N non‐N limiting reference rate). Nitrogen deficiency stress sensing was partially successful, with 70 to 80% correct N deficiency detection. Mean yield increased 0.5 Mg ha −1 across all sites with the POST‐N applied to the 67 kg N ha −1 PRE‐N rate. The 67+ POST‐N strategy had a similar total N applied as the agronomic 134 kg N ha −1 PRE‐N rate, but the yield was 0.5 Mg ha −1 lower. This indicates yield potential loss and poor recovery from the POST‐N applications. Economic return comparisons indicated that the agronomic 134 PRE‐N rate and 134+ POST‐N in‐season strategy were similar and had higher return than the 67+ POST‐N strategy. The agronomic PRE‐N rate, with confirmation of N stress and determination of additional N need through plant sensing, was a more cost effective in‐season strategy than starting with the reduced PRE‐N rate.