scholarly journals A Qualitative Investigation of Farmer and Rancher Perceptions of Trees and Woody Biomass Production on Marginal Agricultural Land

Forests ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 724 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley Hand ◽  
John Tyndall
Keyword(s):  
Biomass Production ◽  
Great Plains ◽  
Financial Incentives ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Public Investment ◽  
Crop Protection ◽  
Woody Biomass ◽  
Tree Planting ◽  
Northern Great Plains

Bioenergy produced from perennial feedstocks such as woody biomass could serve as an opportunity to strengthen local and regional economies and also jointly produce various environmental services. In order to assess the potential for biomass-based bioenergy, it’s essential to characterize the interest that potential biomass suppliers have in such an endeavor. In the U.S. Great Plains region, this largely means assessing relevant perceptions of farmers and ranchers. We conducted a series of farmer and rancher oriented focus groups in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas to qualitatively explore opinions about the role that trees can play in agriculture and interest in woody biomass systems within existing Northern Great Plains (NGP) farms and ranches. Our findings suggest that farmer and ranchers generally value the role that trees, or tree-based practices like windbreaks can play in agriculture particularly on marginal farmland in terms of conservation or crop protection. Yet relative to the potential of trees as a biomass crop there is a distinct lack of knowledge and skepticism. Farmers and ranchers also noted variable degrees of risk concern and uncertainty regarding investing in tree-based systems, as well as a number of perceived external market related constraints to integrating trees within their managed systems. Most of the participants recognized that if biomass production or an increase in tree planting and management in general were to expand in the NGP region, government programs would likely be required to provide much needed technical guidance and financial incentives. As the NGP regional bioeconomy continues to emerge and expand, private and public investment relative to niche bioenergy feedstocks such as woody biomass should address the type of information needs that farmers and ranchers have relative to integrating biomass production into existing farm and ranch systems.

scholarly journals A Qualitative Investigation of Farmer and Rancher Perceptions of Trees and Woody Biomass Production on Marginal Agricultural Land

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley Hand ◽  
John C. Tyndall
Keyword(s):  
Biomass Production ◽  
Great Plains ◽  
Financial Incentives ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Public Investment ◽  
Crop Protection ◽  
Woody Biomass ◽  
Tree Planting ◽  
Northern Great Plains

Bioenergy produced from perennial feedstocks such as woody biomass could serve as an opportunity to strengthen local and regional economies and also jointly produce various environmental services. In order to assess the potential for biomass- based bioenergy, it’s essential to characterize the interest that potential biomass suppliers have in such an endeavor. In the U.S. Great Plains region, this largely means assessing relevant perceptions of farmers and ranchers. We conducted a series of farmer and rancher oriented focus groups in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas to qualitatively explore opinions about the role that trees can play in agriculture and interest in woody biomass systems within existing Northern Great Plains (NGP) farms and ranches. Our findings suggest that farmer and ranchers generally value the role that trees, or tree-based practices like windbreaks can play in agriculture particularly on marginal farmland in terms of conservation or crop protection. Yet relative to the potential of trees as a biomass crop there is a distinct lack of knowledge and skepticism. Farmers and ranchers also noted variable degrees of risk concern and uncertainty regarding investing in tree-based systems, as well as a number of perceived external market related constraints to integrating trees within their managed systems. Most of the participants recognized that if biomass production or an increase in tree planting and management in general were to expand in the NGP region, government programs would likely be required to provide much needed technical guidance and financial incentives. As the NGP regional bioeconomy continues to emerge and expand, private and public investment relative to niche bioenergy feedstocks such as woody biomass should address the type of information needs that farmers and ranchers have relative to integrating biomass production into existing farm and ranch systems.

Ponderosa Pine Provenance Test for Windbreaks in Eastern South Dakota

1985 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 105-107
Author(s):  
Peter R. Schaefer ◽  
Norman W. Baer
Keyword(s):  
South Dakota ◽  
Great Plains ◽  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Height Growth ◽  
Tree Planting ◽  
Northern Great Plains ◽  
South Central ◽  
Average Survival ◽  
Provenance Test ◽  
Genetically Improved

Abstract Ponderosa pine has been planted extensively in the northern Great Plains. Many of the plantings, however, have performed poorly or failed because of poor early survival and slow growth. A regional provenance test of 73 ponderosa pine sources was established in 1968 as one means of improving the performance of this species throughout the Great Plains. Results after 15 years indicated that three sources located in north central Nebraska and south central South Dakota were taller than all other sources. The three sources exhibited a height growth 30% above the plantation mean and an average survival 20% higher than that of the plantation as a whole. These sources have also been among the tallest and best survivors in similar tests throughout the Great Plains. Juvenile-mature correlations were strong for 5-year and 15-year height growth. The identification of a relatively small area from which to collect genetically improved ponderosa pine should greatly facilitate the incorporation of these seedlings into tree-planting efforts in the northern Plains. North. J. Appl. For. 2:105-107, Dec. 1985.

scholarly journals Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana B.) yield in the case of different production technologies

2017 ◽  
pp. 71-77
Author(s):  
Annamária Kiss ◽  
Mária Takácsné Hájos
Keyword(s):  
Great Plains ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Crop Protection ◽  
Stevia Rebaudiana ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Daily Minimum Temperature ◽  
Northern Great Plains ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Potential Health

Stevia rebaudiana B. offers a natural alternative of sweetening, potential health promotion plant, and our country shows increased interest about cultivation in Hungary in addition to the neighboring European countries. The agricultural production system installation necessaryunderstanding of the needs of the plant, as well as exploring the agronomic potential. Field experiments were conducted in 2015 with the aim to highlight some of the technological production parameters and correlations between them. We have reviewed the most important agronomic factors, the spacing (50×50 cm and 33×33 cm), ground covering (agro-cloth covered and uncovered/ control), their vegetative growth (first-,second-order branch), herb yield and quality in effect.Based on empirical evidence, that the Hungarian climates also have the opportunity of 3 cuttings during a growing season, besides of early planting, optimal climatic conditions (in October didn’t reduce the daily minimum temperature below 0 °C, after cuttings the maximum interval values remain below 40 °C), and adequate water supply and crop protection facility. The 33×33 cm spacing evaporates more than 50×50 cm spacing, because of the dense population, the continuous canopy less able to breathe, so there are serious chances to the pathogen colonization.Based on the results of our research to the wider 50×50 cm spacing favorable appreciate the stevia optimal progress in terms of qualitative and quantitative parameters of the yield. The stevia yields produced in the Northern Great Plains field cultivation can produce similar results as stevia crop yields in warmer climates, where the primary crops. Our research experience suggest that there is a viable domestic stevia cultivation, developing the necessary technology is still growing further investigation justifies.

scholarly journals Do the Quality and Quantity of Honey Bee-Collected Pollen Vary Across an Agricultural Land-Use Gradient?

2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 189-196
Author(s):  
Michael P Simanonok ◽  
Clint R V Otto ◽  
Matthew D Smart
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Protein Content ◽  
Great Plains ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
The United States ◽  
Northern Great Plains ◽  
Row Crops ◽  
Growing Seasons ◽  
Flowering Season

Abstract Pollen is the source of protein for most bee species, yet the quality and quantity of pollen is variable across landscapes and growing seasons. Understanding the role of landscapes in providing nutritious forage to bees is important for pollinator health, particularly in areas undergoing significant land-use change such as in the Northern Great Plains (NGP) region of the United States where grasslands are being converted to row crops. We investigated how the quality and quantity of pollen collected by honey bees (Apis mellifera L. [Hymenoptera: Apidae]) changed with land use and across the growing season by sampling bee-collected pollen from apiaries in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota, USA, throughout the flowering season in 2015–2016. We quantified protein content and quantity of pollen to investigate how they varied temporally and across a land-use gradient of grasslands to row crops. Neither pollen weight nor crude protein content varied linearly across the land-use gradient; however, there were significant interactions between land use and sampling date across the season, particularly in grasslands. Generally, pollen protein peaked mid-July while pollen weight had two maxima in late-June and late-August. Results suggest that while land use itself may not correlate with the quality or quantity of pollen resources collected by honey bees among our study apiaries, the nutritional landscape of the NGP is seasonally dynamic, especially in certain land covers, and may impose seasonal resource limitations for both managed and native bee species. Furthermore, results indicate periods of qualitative and quantitative pollen dearth may not coincide.

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