2006 Graduate Student Projects

Proposal reviewers use the call for proposals to guide them in their evaluations of all the proposals submitted to the program. The more closely a project follows the guidelines, the better chance it has of being funded. While no project is perfect ; every project has its own strengths and every project can be made a little bit better. But there were certain things that the reviewers noted that stood out in this year's crop of funded projects. Summaries of the proposals with their project numbers and titles can be found below.

In the past few years Southern SARE has encouraged more projects that include elements of social science. GS06-055 caught the attention of reviewers, in part, because it includes looking at social and cultural issues in the topic being addressed (green payments) with an eye toward eventually impacting policy change. GS06-052 also hit on a topical subject: energy, which was noted by the reviewers. It also was pointed out as being a high-quality technology project well-organized as a research project. Sometimes a project just hits solidly enough on being well-thought out and relevant such as GS06-053. Other proposals address a crucial need such as GS06-054 which was pointed out as focusing on a well-defined problem for small farmers in a fast growing segment of agriculture and GS06-051, which addresses a problem common to all farmers---weed control.

So, the reviewers don't simply look for projects dealing with particular crops or animals. They look for projects that best meet the goals for sustainable agriculture that are in the call for proposals.

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GS06-051 Effects of management practices and plant growth regulators on the allelopathic potential of rye, $9,780

Cover crops are valuable tools for farmers in improving the agricultural sustainability of their management plans. They have a variety of functions including weed control, nitrate retention, preventing soil erosion, and improving soil organic matter. An allelopathic cover crop, such as rye (Secale cereale), can significantly contribute to weed suppression in an agricultural field. However, weed control provided by rye cover crops varies significantly within the growing season, as well as from year to year. This variation is due to the plant's inherent patterns of allelochemical biosynthesis during its lifecycle, in addition to the plant's response to adverse environmental conditions in the field.

Cover crop suppression of weed growth is achieved by competition, due to both physical and chemical interference. Studying the balance between allelopathy and physical suppression is crucial in determining what constitutes an ideal cover crop management plan that maximizes weed control. We want to examine several different cultural methods such as variable planting dates, mowing, and using plant growth regulators to see if we can influence DIBOA availability and allelopathic potential of rye. Our ultimate goal with this project is to develop a viable management plan for farmers to provide maximal weed control in their cropping system.

James Burton (professor)
North Carolina State University
232 Kilgore Hall, Box 77609
Raleigh , NC 27695-7609
Ph: 919-515-1211 Fax: 919-515-2505
Em: jim_burton@ncsu.edu

Christine Sickler (student)
North Carolina State University
227Kilgore Hall, Box 77609
Raleigh , NC 27695-7609

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GS06-052 Testing technologies for affordable bioshelters, $9,914

There are energy costs and pollution problems with the propane heated hoop houses that dominate the agricultural greenhouse industry. Farmers dependent on greenhouses seek alternatives to the risks of fossil fuel dependence but have few practical alternatives. Solar greenhouses or bioshelters have been repeatedly demonstrated to virtually eliminate heating bills. The ability to produce food locally without fossil fuel input during winter reduces emissions associated with transport and strengthen producer competitiveness. However, the capital cost of bioshelters continues to impede their adoption. There is a need to identify technologies that can provide lower-cost conditioned growing spaces than either the propane-dependent hoop houses or the expensive-to-build solar greenhouses. As fuel costs rise, and farmers face difficult choices, this need will become imperative.

The affordable bioshelter project seeks to address the need for lower-cost conditioned grow-spaces by experimentally measuring, and setting within a business context, two emerging technologies, Soap-Foam Insulation (SFI) and Underground Heating and Cooling System (UHCS). These technologies have the potential to make solar greenhouses competitive with hoop houses. An SFI is a moveable foam insulation that can be blown between two layers of glazing as needed. UHCS replaces water-barrel heat storage with an especially effective and economical sub-soil heat storage. The systems have both worked in demonstration projects since 2000, and have been shown to be technically feasible and economical to install.

However, while both systems are reported to performance exellently, scientific verification is lacking because neither has been experimentally quantified. Despite their potential, and despite the pressures of rising fuels costs, without an objective performance evaluation and economic analysis these systems represent an unacceptable risk to farmers. By working to make affordable bioshelters a viable option, this project seeks to enable greenhouse farmers to overcome the looming energy crisis and move towards more ecologically and economically sound greenhouse agriculture.

Preliminary cost analysis suggests that an affordable bioshelter can be built for approximately $15,000. A state-of-the-art solar greenhouse, demonstrated to require no heating, costs $30,000. The key to this difference is that the latter is a building while SFI allows similar performance with hoop house construction. The standard hoop costs $7,000 to build, and thousands a year to heat, depending on the climate. If it performs as expected, the payback period for an affordable bioshelter over a conventional hoop is projected to be five years using current propane prices, but excluding the 30% federal solar tax credit.

A control and two experimental 7' x 14' mini-greenhouses will be built on ASU's Sustainable Development Teaching and Research Farm. They will be constructed of donated bamboo, glazed with polyethylene film, and monitored through a data acquisition system. The study will compare SFI and UHCS performance to theoretical performance calculations and the performance of existing technologies. The findings will be fed into the business analysis and a commercial size SFI/UHCS greenhouse will be designed with a detailed construction estimate. In its final phase the project will focus on outreach.

Marie Hoepfl (professor)
Dept of Technology
Appalachian State University
Kerr Scott Hall
Boone , NC 28608
Ph: 828-262-3122 Fax: 828-265-8696
Em: hoepflmc@appstate.edu

Yonatan Strauch (student)
Dept of Technology
Appalachian State University
200 Park Street , Apt. A
Boone , NC 28608

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GS06-053 How many organically-grown cabbageworms can a northern cardinal eat?, $10,000

Kathryn Sieving (professor)
Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
University of Florida
110 Newins-Ziegler Hall
Gainesville , FL 32611-0430
Ph: 352-846-0569 Fax: None
Em: chucao@ufl.edu

John DeLuca (student)
Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
University of Florida
110 Newins-Ziegler Hall
Gainesville , FL 32611-0430

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GS06-054 Novel methods for sustainable control of gastrointestinal nematodes in llamas and alpacas, $10,000

South American camelid (llama and alpaca) farming is a growing industry in the United States (US), and infection with gastrointestinal nematodes is a source of significant economic loss to camelid producers. Most llama and alpaca farmers in the southeastern US are dependent upon use of chemical anthelmintics, which has been shown to be a non-sustainable practice in sheep and goat herds in this region because of widespread prevalence of anthelmintic resistance. Novel, sustainable parasite control technologies, including the use of the FAMACHA system of anemia detection and the use of anthelmintic plants, particularly sericea lespedeza, have been successfully tested in small ruminants, but have not been tested in llamas and alpacas. Sericea lespedeza hay will be fed to parasitized llamas and alpacas on pasture to test anthelmintic effects as measured by fecal egg counts (FEC) and blood packed cell volume (PCV). To validate the use of FAMACHA, animals on 15 alpaca and 15 llama farms in Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina or Tennessee will be tested. FAMACHA scores will be correlated with FEC and PCV from individual animals in a separate data set for each species. Data from these studies will be published as a Master's thesis and in scientific and producer-oriented journals.

Thomas Terrill (professor)
Fort Valley State University AES
1005 State University Drive
Fort Valley , GA 31030
Ph: 478-825-6814 Fax: 478-825-6376
Em: terrillt@fvsu.edu

Rose-Ann Gillespie (student)
Fort Valley State University
1005 State University Drive
Fort Valley , GA 31030

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GS06-055 Combining socioeconomic and ecological analysis to determine the optimal distribution of green payments in the Albermarie Sound region of North Carolina, $9,999

My research will look at the market for green payments in the Albemarle Sound region of North Carolina to determine whether these programs can meet long-term environmental and rural economic sustainability goals. Green payments are defined by the United States Department of Agriculture as "farm payment programs that would, if enacted, merge farm income payments and conservation payments" (Claasen et. al. 2006). I will identify the important socioeconomic and ecological factors that influence whether or not farmers participate in conservation practices, how these variables are spatially distributed according to terrain-based indices, how they correspond to income support currently distributed in the study area, and I will make policy recommendations based on my findings. This multi-faceted approach attempts to answer the question of how green payments would impact current recipients of farm income support and how green payments could achieve maximum social, economic, and environmental goals. My research will include multivariate analysis of survey data collected from regional farms (using variables such as commodity type, farm size, tenure, farming practices) in 10 focal counties in northeastern North Carolina to determine which factors influence participation in conservation practices. I will use geospatial analysis to determine how the market for green payments corresponds to environmentally valuable landscape attributes. I will also conduct qualitative analysis of farmer opinions about green payments in the form of case studies to further illustrate farmer limitations and potential. Based on this comprehensive qualitative and quantitative analysis, I will make policy recommendations about how green payments could be used to maximize the human and ecological needs of the region's agricultural community and how these recommendations carry over to other agricultural landscapes.

Dean Urban (professor)
Duke University ,
Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences
Box 90328
Durham , NC 27708
Ph: 919-613-8741 Fax: None
Em: deanu@duke.edu

Lucy Henri (student)
Duke University
Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences
105B Mulberry Street
Carrboro , NC 27510

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