Research Updates

roller-crimper
Figure 1. Crimping rye at a mild angle using a newly designed roller-crimper with two 10-foot barrels. (Photos by Rich Little)

A Roller-Crimper for Cover Crop Termination and Weed Suppression

March 7, 2019
Following unsatisfactory crimping results with a commercial crimper, in 2016 researchers built a crimper with a unique design with two gangs that pull at an angle to the direction of travel. View research results from field tests with the new crimper.

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Visual representation of gene sequences
Nebraska's James Schnable has helped sequence nearly the entire genetic catalog of proso millet. The resulting genetic insights could help raise yields of the drought-resistant crop in the Nebraska Panhandle and infertile regions likely to face food shortages in coming decades. (Nature Communications / James Schnable / Scott Schrage)

Sequencing of Proso Millet Genome Could Raise Yields, Expand Production Range

March 4, 2019
Researchers have now sequenced and mapped the genome of proso millet – a feat essential to raising yields of the drought-resistant crop in the Nebraska Panhandle and semiarid regions where population booms foreshadow food shortages.

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Figure 1. Nebraska's Joe Louis with a collection of leaves infested by corn-leaf aphids. Louis and his colleagues have found that spraying a corn plant with one of its own defensive compounds might reduce aphid colonization by as much as 30%. (Photo by Craig Chandler, University Communication)
Figure 1. Nebraska's Joe Louis with a collection of leaves infested by corn-leaf aphids. Louis and his colleagues have found that spraying a corn plant with one of its own defensive compounds might reduce aphid colonization by as much as 30%. (Photo by Craig Chandler, University Communication)

Experiments Underscore Overlooked Aspect of Defending Corn from Pest

March 4, 2019
Spraying a corn plant with one of its own compounds — 12-oxo-phytodienoic acid, or OPDA — can help deter the virus-carrying, pollination-disrupting insect known as the corn-leaf aphid.

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Plots of field peas and chick peas studied as possible alternatives to fallow in more arid production areas.

Research Examines Water Balance of Field Peas, Chickpeas and Soybeans vs Fallow

February 21, 2019
This research compared fallow to field peas, chickpeas, and soybeans in terms of water balance, impact on next year’s wheat crop, and profitability. It was conducted near Grant in western Nebraska.

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David Holding and Leandra Marshall analyzing corn
Nebraska's David Holding (right) and Leandra Marshall (left) are developing lines of popcorn featuring higher levels of lysine, an amino acid essential to the diets of humans and some livestock. (Photo by Craig Chandler, University Communication)

Genes to Proteins: Enriching the Nutritional Value of Popcorn, Sorghum

February 21, 2019
After years of research a University of Nebraska-Lincoln team led by David Holding has roughly doubled the content of lysine, an essential amino acid, in both popcorn and sorghum. For sorghum it could mean a more complete source of nutrition for many in the developing world.

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Figure showing the marginal net returns to N fertilizer application for irrigated corn following corn and corn following soybean. The analysis was done for $4/bu corn and fertilizer costs of 7 lb N and 9 lb N equal to value of one bushel of grain or of $0.57/lb N and $0.44/lb N, respectively.

Effects on Profitability and Nitrogen Loss from Reducing N Rate for Corn

February 5, 2019
This study looks at how various reductions in nitrogen application rates in corn might reduce nitrogen loss to the environment and what the costs of those changes would be in yield and profit.

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Modern corn hybrids, shown here, differ significantly from hybrids of 50 years ago.

Corn Growth and Development: Updating an Old Paradigm of Dry Matter and Nutrient Accumulation and Partitioning

January 23, 2019
From the 1960s to the 2000s corn hybrids have changed dramatically in appearance and yield. Nutrient content, concentrations and partitioning also have changed and are the focus of this article for the Nebraska Crop Management Conference Jan. 28-29.

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Bar graph showing distribution of various ear abnormalities within the tested group.

Corn Growth and Development: What We Have Learned About Corn Development From Studying Ear Issues

January 23, 2019
In an effort to better understand the causal agents of ear formation issues first seen in corn in 2016-2017, researchers laid out an experiment in 2018 to typify types of ear formation damage as well as possible factors contributing to damage.

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