Dave Bjorneberg will be attending the Water Resources for the 21st Century: A
National Hydrology and Hydraulic Engineering Workshop in Tucson, AZ, on
November 26-30. The purpose of the workshop is to promote coordination,
collaboration and technology exchange in the fields of hydrology and hydraulic
engineering among NRCS, ARS and CSREES. (KIM2001.1126N1)
October 22-26, 2001. Rick Lentz, Bob Sojka, Jim Entry, Gary Lehrsch, Dale
Westermann, Jim Wright and Hank Mayland will attend and participate by presenting
oral or poster presentations at the annual American Society of Agronomy meetings
in Charlotte, NC. (KIM2001.1011N1)
October 29-30, 2001. Rick Lentz and Bob Sojka will attend a meeting at
Chemtall, Inc., the only major polyacrylamide manufacturer in the U.S.
Lentz and Sojka will present brief seminars on recent work using polyacrylamide
for erosion control, runoff water quality protection, and water management in
irrigated agriculture. Scientists from the ARS research unit in Florence, SC,
are also expected to attend the two-day informal meeting. Chemtall
representatives will provide an update on state-of-the-art polymer production,
safety, environmental and applications technology as well as a tour of the
Chemtall manufacturing facility. The meeting will provide opportunities for the
ARS scientists to explore possible new polymer applications in their work and
develop dialogues with Chemtall scientists which could lead to future cooperative
research ventures. Chemtall is a wholly owned subsidiary of SNF Floerger, the
world's largest polyacrylamide manufacturer. (KIM2001.1011N2)
November 1, 2001. Dale Westermann, Bob Sojka, Dave Bjorneberg, and Rick Lentz
will attend a meeting with the Idaho Department of Agriculture on Best Management
Practices (BMP) Technical Committee, where the discussion will focus on phosphorus
effluent trading. In this program, municipal and industrial groups will be able
to pay farmers to reduce their agricultural P contributions to U.S. waterways
instead of incurring the greater expense of having to reduce municipal and
industrial effluent contributions. The committee must quantify P-effluent
reductions resulting from the use of various BMPs. (KIM2001.1011N3)
September 24, 2001. Hank Mayland met with collaborator, Dr. Hussein
Hussein, College of Veterinary Science, University of Nevada Reno. Hank
was shown the newly equipped laboratory and discussed current and extended
research opportunities on PM- vs AM-cut alfalfa hay. (KIM2001.0927N1)
August 28-September 5, 2001. Ben Turner attended two meetings during a trip
to the United Kingdom. Ben presented an invited review paper at the
International Phosphorus Transfer Workshop, held in Plymouth, entitled
‘Alchemy within Agriculture: Current perspectives on phosphorus solubilisation,'
co-authored by Dr. Richard McDowell, AgResearch Invermay, New Zealand.
The workshop was the third such meeting on the problem of agricultural
phosphorus pollution and was attended by over 150 delegates from around
the world, reflecting the current global interest in this problem. Dr. Turner
also co-authored a paper with Drs. Dale Westermann, Dave Bjorneberg and Kris
Aase, entitled ‘Phosphorus release kinetics as affected by aqueous solutions,'
and was a Reporter for the workshop theme of ‘Phosphorus sources and release
mechanisms,' which involved synthesizing the conclusions and questions raised
on this topic during the workshop and presenting these on the final workshop
day. Dr. Turner will be co-editing the book arising from the workshop.
Dr. Turner also attended the annual meeting of the British Soil Science
Society, held in the cathedral city of Durham, northern England. He presented
a paper entitled ‘Phosphorus limitation in the northern Pennines, UK,'
co-authored with Professor Brian Whitton and Dr. Robert Baxter, both from the
Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Durham. (KIM2001.0920N1)
September 18, 2001. April Leytem, ARS Soil Chemist, and Dale Westermann
visited the Jerome County NRCS office and toured the dairy lagoon poplar
projects with Maureen Boling, Soil Conservationist. The plantings were
installed to screen the dairy facilities from public viewing and to aid in
the disposal of their lagoon waters. Information is needed to adequately
irrigate these plants with water containing dissolved salts, nutrients and
carbon compounds without environmental consequences. (KIM2001.0920N2)
September 19, 2001. Dale Westermann met with Gary Wagner, President of
Natural Aeration, a company from Spokane, WA, who makes and sells aerators
for ponds receiving waste products. Natural Aeration's approach is to
manage waste products as resource products. This approach will largely
eliminate environmental problems with nutrient imbalances, odors, and
biological components associated with these products. (KIM2001.0920N3)
August 29-30, 2001. Dale Westermann, Northwest Irrigation and Soils
Research Laboratory, and Jim Wood and Ralph Fisher, Idaho NRCS
personnel, visited Ken Beckman, NRCS District Conservationist for the
Yellowstone Soil Conservation District (SCD) concerning ground water
quality issues around St. Anthony and Ashton in eastern Idaho. The
Yellowstone SCD is conducting a 319 study project to evaluate agricultural
factors potentially responsible for increasing nitrate concentrations in
the region's wells. Both irrigated and dryland farms are present that
produce seed and commercial potatoes, malting barley, spring cereals and
forages. Animal densities are low. (KIM2001.0906N1)
August 22, 2001. Martha Steinbock, ARS-Pacific West Area Technology
Transfer Specialist from Albany, CA, visited the Northwest Irrigation and
Soils Research Laboratory. While at the laboratory, she gave a short
informal seminar on the services that her office provides to help get
scientist's research results adopted by the public. In addition, each
scientist discussed their current research and technology transfer
activities with her. (KIM2001.0906N2)
August 22, 2001. Rick Lentz met with staff from U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
in Grand Junction, CO, to help prepare a research plan for a project that will
examine the impact of polyacrylamide (PAM) irrigation canal sealant on irrigation
and return flow water quality. PAM can potentially be used to inexpensively seal
canal perimeters, which conserves water and decreases salt contamination of
natural surface streams. Selenium contamination is a particular concern for
many western states. (KIM2001.0823N1)
July 29-August 1, 2001. Dave Bjorneberg attended the 2001 ASAE Annual
International Meeting in Sacramento, CA, where he presented papers
entitled " Phosphorus transport during furrow irrigation," coauthored by
Dale Westermann and Kris Aase, and "Furrow irrigation data needs for
simulating erosion and evaluating erosion models," coauthored by Theodor
Strelkoff, ARS Water Conservation Laboratory, Phoenix, AZ. After the
meeting, Dr. Bjorneberg traveled with Tom Trout, ARS Water Management
Research Lab at Parlier, CA, to tour the San Joaquin Valley Agricultural
Sciences Center southeast of Fresno and agricultural areas in the southern
San Joaquin Valley. (KIM2001.0816N1)
August 5, 2001. Dave Bjorneberg attended the 2001 Annual Conference of the
Soil and Water Conservation Society in Myrtle Beach, SC. Dr. Bjorneberg
participated in a facilitated poster discussion for a nutrient management
training symposium that was attended by about 35 people. The poster title
was "Nutrient losses in surface irrigation runoff" which was coathored by
Dale Westermann and Kris Aase. (KIM2001.0816N2)
Dr. H. Don Scott visited the Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory
(NWISRL) on July 30, 2000, and presented a seminar on soil and water research
being conducted in Arkansas. Dr. Scott is University Professor of Soil Physics
in the Crop, Soils and Environmental Sciences Department of the University of
Arkansas at Fayetteville, AR. Dr. Scott spent the week with Bob Sojka of the
NWISRL gaining an overview of Pacific Northwestern conditions, agriculture and
environmental issues, as well as gathering background information for Dr. Scott's
soils courses and books in progress. They also discussed possible future
collaborations on water quality-related research for the Mississippi Delta region
of Arkansas. (KIM2001.0809N1)
In 2000 the Kimberly, Idaho, Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research
Laboratory (NWISRL) of the USDA's Agricultural Research Service surpassed
the 1000 publication mark for literature reporting the laboratory's nearly
forty years of research findings and accomplishments. In June of 2001,
the laboratory revised its website to make nearly the entire body of
published work available directly from the website as pdf files. The
project was the accomplishment of computer specialist John Stevens,
Bioscience Technician James Foerster, and summer science student
apprentices Riqui Heinemann and Steve Koehtz who completed the project
with the encouragement of soil scientist Bob Sojka. Customers arriving at
the NWISRL homepage click on the topic box "Publications List/Reprints."
This accesses the station publication list via a search engine which
responds to queries. Queries can be aimed at titles, keywords or author
names. Queries are answered from the NWISRL publication list with the set
of publications (titles, authors, journal citation and station publication
number) matching the queries. Clicking on a publication number accesses a
pdf file, displaying the selected publication for browsing on screen.
Title listings or pdf files can be downloaded and/or printed by visitors
to the homepage. The new service is expected to greatly help with
technology transfer to the 20,000 annual visitors to the NWISRL's website.
(KIM2001.0719N1)
Dr. Clinton Williams, a visiting assistant professor at Utah State
University and Dr. Shad Nelson, a postdoctoral research associate at the
Fresno, California ARS lab presented seminars in Kimberly, ID, on July 10
and 12. Drs. Williams and Nelson are candidates for the soil chemist
position at the Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory. The
two candidates worked together at UC-Riverside during their graduate
studies on a joint research project involving investigation of
organic-matter-facilitated transport of the herbicide napropamine. That
topic was the primary focus of both seminars. Dr. Williams also discussed
current ongoing involvement with composting research in Utah and Dr.
Nelson also presented findings from research looking for alternatives to
methyl bromide for fumigation of soils and stored produce. This brings to
three the total number of candidates interviewed for the soil chemist
opening; Dr. April Leytem was interviewed the previous week. (KIM2001.0719N2)
Dr. Aravind Surapaneni, soil scientist from the Institute of
Sustainable Irrigated Agriculture (ISIA) in Tatura, Victoria, Australia,
visited the ARS Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory (NWISRL) in
Kimberly, Idaho, from 9 to 13 July. Dr. Surapaneni seeks closer ties and
collaborations between ISIA and NWISRL scientists in areas of sustainable
irrigation research, particularly in areas of salinity and sodicity management
and in control of irrigation-induced erosion and management of irrigation
return flow water quality. Dr. Surapaneni hosted NWISRL scientist Bob Sojka
in February and March 2000 for a survey of Australian erosion and water
quality problems, with an interest in investigating and applying polyacrylamide
(PAM) and other erosion control technologies developed at the NWISRL under
Australian conditions. (KIM2001.0712N1)
July 2-3, 2001. Dr. April Leytem, candidate for the ‘soil chemist' position
visited with project leaders, toured the facilities, and presented a
discussion of her current work on interacting with farmers, agencies, academics
and regulators in developing ‘Phosphorus' guidelines for the DelMarva Peninsula.
(KIM2001.0712N2)
June 27, 2001. Bob Sojka addressed 25 teachers for the Magic
Valley Water Camp 2001 at the Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research
Laboratory's (NWISRL) South-Farm research site near Kimberly, ID. Teachers
represented a cross section of southern Idaho Kindergarten through Grade 12
teachers that present environmental units to their students. Sojka's
presentation included a brief introduction to the NWISRL and explanation of
its role in federal agricultural and environmental research. He then focused
on development of the use of polyacrylamide (PAM) as a tool for prevention of
irrigation-induced erosion and protection of runoff water quality. The
presentation was done outdoors at an experimental field with ongoing
sampling activity. Sojka's presentation provided hands-on demonstrations
for the teachers to participate in. Teachers were directed to the
NWISRL's website for further information on a variety of topics. Teacher
response was enthusiastic, with many technical questions and requests for
advice on how to perform similar demonstrations to their students in the
classroom. (KIM2001.0705N1)
June 26-28, 2001. Bert Clemmens, Fedja Strelkoff and Hadi Tabbara from the
U.S. Water Conservation Lab in Phoenix, AZ, visited the Northwest Irrigation
and Soils Research Laboratory (NWISRL) to work with Dale Westermann and
Dave Bjorneberg on predicting sediment and phosphorus transport in
furrow irrigation. The purpose of the visit was for the Phoenix group to
observe furrow irrigation and the procedures used when collecting sediment
and phosphorus data. Field data collected at Kimberly is being used by the
Phoenix group to add a sediment and phosphorus transport component to their
surface irrigation simulation model (SRFR). This collaborative project is
partially funded by an NRI grant. (KIM2001.0705N2)
June 15, 2001. Maureen Boling and Tom Burnham, NRCS personnel from
Magic Valley, met with scientists to discuss using poplar trees to
process dairy lagoon waste. Jerome County has plantings at two local
dairies that are to be used for monitoring by NRCS and others. Overall
objectives include demonstrating the potential of using lagoon water
to irrigate the poplar trees and to determine if deep leaching of
nutrients are occurring. (KIM2001.0621N1)
June 4-7, 2001. Dr. Rick Allen, University of Idaho, and Dr. Jim
Wright, Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory, were visited
by Dr. Nick Austin, New South Wales, Australia. Dr. Austin is an agricultural
engineer who leads the Water Use Efficiency Advisory Unit of New South Wales.
He visited Kimberly to explore the potential for improving irrigation
efficiency and managing growth in irrigation water use using estimates of
crop water requirements based on meteorological data. Dr. Austin shared much
of their experience in converting irrigation licenses from a land area to a
water volume basis and also some research of phosphorus losses from irrigated
pastures. (KIM2001.0621N2)
April 24, 2001. Hank Mayland presented a seminar to dairy students from
McMillan College. This small school serves rural industries in the
Gippsland region near Warragul in eastern Victoria, Australia. Hank
discussed benefits of afternoon cutting to increase forage quality and
this was followed by a lively interaction with the students. (KIM2001.0613N1)
Dr. David L. Bjorneberg, senior author, along with Drs. J. Kristian Aase and
Dale T. Westermann, co-authors, were awarded a 2001 ASAE Superior Paper Award
for their paper titled "Controlling Sprinkler Irrigation Runoff, Erosion and
Phosphorus Loss with Straw and Polyacrylamide," which was published in
Transactions of the ASAE 43:1545-1551. The paper described a laboratory study
that was conducted to determine if surface residue would improve the
effectiveness of polyacrylamide (PAM) applied with sprinkler irrigation. Study
results showed that applying straw at a rate similar to non-tilled conditions
(about 70% surface cover) more effectively controlled runoff and soil erosion
than applying PAM at 2 or 4 lb/a. Applying straw at a rate similar to minimum
tillage (about 30% surface cover) was about as effective as either PAM rate.
Applying PAM to straw-covered soil further reduced runoff and soil erosion.
Producers should consider reduced tillage systems that leave crop residue on
the soil surface in conjunction with PAM application to control runoff and soil
erosion from sprinkler irrigated land. The annual Paper Awards are selected
from one of four ASAE publications: Applied Engineering in Agriculture,
Transactions of the ASAE, Resource, or Journal of Agricultural Safety and Health.
2.5% of papers published receive Superior Paper Awards. Award winners will be
recognized during the Awards Luncheon and Recognition Program by ASAE President,
Harmon Towne, held in conjunction with the ASAE International Meeting to be held
in Sacramento, California, on Wednesday, August 1, 2001, at the Sacramento
Convention Center. (KIM2001.0613N2)
Jim Entry traveled to Florida International University to give two invited
presentations titled "Source Tracking of Escherichia Coli in Surface and
Ground Water" on May 4, 2001, and "The Efficacy of Polyacrylamide and
Related Compounds to Remove Microorganisms and Nutrients from Animal
Wastewater" on May 10, 2001. He discussed future projects with Dr. Krish
Jayachandran who is a member of the Department of Environmental Studies at
Florida International University. He also visited Dr. Reza Savabi at the
USDA- ARS Everglades Agricultural Hydrology Research Unit in Miami,
Florida, on May 7, 2001. He also attended the American Society of
Microbiology Meeting in Orlando, Florida, from May 19 to May 24, 2001, and
presented a poster "Microbial Source Tracking of Escherichia Coli in Rock
Creek, Idaho." (KIM2001.0531N1)
May 24, 2001. Rick Lentz was invited to meet with staff from U.S.
Bureau of Reclamation, EPA, Fish and Wildlife Service, Geologic
Survey, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, and
Colorado Water Users Associations to discuss environmental
concerns and research needs related to the application of
polyacrylamide (PAM) in irrigation canals. Lentz presented a general
overview of PAM, related environmental information, and summarized
Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory research on PAM fate.
PAM can potentially be used as an inexpensive canal sealant to conserve
water and decrease salt contamination of natural surface streams.
(KIM2001.0531N2)
May 27, 2001. Hank Mayland provided some mentoring to Linda
Mackay who was given a special award for a science fair report on
'Diurnal Changes in Forage Quality.' Linda, a sophomore at Franklin High
School, El Paso, Texas, measured increases in soluble sugars in alfalfa
during the day. During the past year, Linda's report progressed through
local and regional science fairs and was judged tops in the junior
division in west Texas and south central New Mexico. She plans to test
actual animal preference for afternoon vs morning cut alfalfa and to
report results in another science fair. (KIM2001.0531N3)
April 5-30, 2001. Hank Mayland, was an invited guest of Agriculture Victoria,
in Australia. Hank's sponsor was Dr. Kevin Smith of the Pastoral and Veterinary
Institute located at Hamilton, Victoria. Hank visited with researchers, graduate
students, and producers at both Hamilton and Ellenbank (Dairy Research Institute)
and critiqued plans for their initiation of extensive research on forage soluble
carbohydrates. He, Tony Ciavarella, and Kevin Smith conducted two studies on
sheep behavior when offered PM- vs. AM-cut oaten or lucerne forage. Results are
being prepared for technical publication and for presentation at the American
Society Agronomy meetings in Charlotte, NC, October 21-25, 2001. Much of the
new forage breeding and harvest management research across Australia now includes
components to evaluate the role of soluble sugars on animal ingestion and
performance. These results will be of great value in interpreting research
conducted by ARS and in developing management strategies for U.S. producers.
(KIM2001.0521N1)
April 26, 2001. Hank Mayland was interviewed by 'On The Land' editor Terry Sim
of the Western District 'Victoria Standard' from Warrnambool (circulation 21,000)
and Pat Cameron, 'Features Writer' for the Hamilton 'Spectator' (circulation
24,000). Photos of Mayland and Ciavarella with the sheep appeared in both
newspapers and accompanying articles discussed advantages of afternoon cutting of
forage. (KIM2001.0521N2)
May 1-4, 2001. Hank Mayland visited Plant Science Division of CSIRO at Canberra,
ACT, Australia, as guest of Dr. Hugh Dove. This group has been active in
modeling the soil-plant-sheep (or cattle) enterprise. This includes intensive
studies of soluble sugar in forages. Both Ciavarella and Smith, now at Hamilton,
were graduate students of Dove. The CSIRO studies showed sheep could identify
clover-grass mixtures that contained higher soluble sugars because of recently
fixed photosynthate. On May 3, Hank presented a seminar on 'Cues utilized by
grazing- and hay fed-animals' to the Plant Division and visitors at Canberra.
(KIM2001.0521N3)
Bob Sojka presented a talk on April 25, 2001, to the Yakima Nation
Soil and Water Conservation Office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs
(BIA) in Toppenish, Washington. The program represented the first
annual meeting of the Yakima Nation's Soil and Water Conservation
Committee to present information and issues vital to land, water and
wildlife management at impacting tribal members and lessors and lessees
managing land on the Yakima Reservation. The meeting was designed to
give farmers an update on current farm related issues affecting farming
in 2001 and in the future, with an emphasis on how the farm community
must adapt to meet requirements of the Clean Water Act (CWA) and the
Endangered Species Act (ESA). The meeting was held at the Eagle
Seelatsee Auditorium of the BIA Yakima Agency Office and was attended
by about 60 farmers and conservationists. Sojka's talk was entitled
"Polyacrylamide (PAM) in irrigation water: erosion, infiltration, use,
environment." The soil and water conservation group was invited to
explore further ties with the entire Kimberly Northwest Irrigation
and Soils Research Laboratory staff in development of their natural
resource management efforts. (KIM20010503N1)
March 30 - April 2, 2001. Gary Lehrsch, Soil Scientist, Kimberly, ID,
attended the International Symposium on Snowmelt Erosion and Related
Problems held in Oslo, Norway. He presented an invited keynote lecture on
"Aggregate Stability Analysis for Freezing Environments." The symposium
was attended by more than 75 researchers representing 23 countries in
North America, Scandinavia, Europe, and Russia. Gary also presented two
other invited lectures to faculty and graduate students at the
Agricultural University of Norway, located in As. Gary's lectures were on
erosion research in ARS laboratories and on the soil and water research
programs at the ARS Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory,
Kimberly, ID. Opportunities for collaborative studies were discussed with
researchers from JORDFORSK, the Centre for Soil and Environmental
Research, also located at As. (KIM2001.0412N1)
March 24-25, 2001. Drs. Rick Allen, University of Idaho, and Hank
Mayland, USDA-ARS-NWISRL, hosted 5 members of the Tashkent
Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization Engineering
faculty in their homes and provided them a guided tour of NWISRL
and discussion of the research program here and in the western USA.
(KIM2001.0412N2)
April 9, 2001. Ben L. Turner started working as a post-doc in the
phosphorus runoff program at NWISRL. His studies will be
coordinated with the National Phosphorus Research Program,
primarily using a rainfall simulator to determine phosphorus runoff
concentrations for different soils in the western U.S. Ben received his
PhD in May 2000 from the Department of Geography, Royal Holloway,
University of Longdon, Egham, England, working under Philip M. Haygarth at
the Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research, North Wyke, UK.
(KIM2001.0412N3)
March 7, 2001. Dale Westermann attended the WCC-103, Nutrient Management and
Water Quality Committee, meeting, in Salt Lake City, UT. Members of this
committee come from western universities and industry and consulting businesses.
The committee coordinates nutritional research in the western U.S. and sponsors
a biannual conference. (KIM2001.0315N1)
March 8-9, 2001. Rick Lentz and Dale Westermann attended the 2001 Western
Nutrient Management Conference in Salt Lake City, UT. Rick presented a paper
entitled "Percolation phosphorus losses in calcareous furrow-irrigated soils"
and Dale presented a poster paper that compared phosphorus runoff from surface
irrigation with sprinkler irrigation. Dave Bjorneberg and Kris Aase were
contributing authors. All papers are published in a conference proceedings.
Dale Westermann was recognized for his activities and contributions towards
solving western nutrient management and water quality issues. Seventy-eight
scientists from university and experiment stations throughout the western U.S.
attended. (KIM2001.0315N2)
February 16, 2001. Representatives from Jerome Cheese Plant and
Millenium Environmental Engineering presented a seminar discussing
plans for for handling and treating wash water from their 5- 8 million
gallon milk per day plant. They fielded questions and discussed technical
issues about land application, and primary through tertiary treatment.
They are constructing a "state of the art facility". The seminar was
attended by 30 individuals in industry, extension, research, and news
press. (KIM2001.0301N1)
February 20-22, 2001. Dave Bjorneberg and Dale Westermann visited
the U.S. Water Conservation Laboratory at Phoenix, AZ. While there
they discussed cooperative research plans with Bert Clemmens and
Fedja Strelkoff to fulfill the requirements of the NRI grant `Simulation
and Validation of Phosphorus Loading in Furrow Irrigation Tailwater'.
Field data will be obtained at Kimberly this coming irrigation season to
help develop the phosphorus subroutines to put in the irrigation sediment
transport model, developed at Phoenix. (KIM2001.0301N2)
February 26, 2001. Dale Westermann was contacted by Mike Griffel,
Assistant Editor for the Potato Grower magazine to help develop and
edit an article on phosphorus management in irrigated potato
production. This article will be based on the optimum fertilization
practices developed by the ARS research program at Kimberly in
cooperation with University of Idaho scientists. (KIM2001.0301N3)
February 28, 2001. Gary Lehrsch, at the invitation of Susan Jesser,
Guidance Counselor at O'Leary Junior High School, Twin Falls, ID,
presented information on careers in environmental science at the school's
Career Day. About 15 students attended to learn the major duties of soil
scientists, agricultural engineers, and other related environmental
scientists. Gary recommended courses to be scheduled in both high school
and college, distributed career literature, and discussed opportunities
for summer employment in the area with the students. (KIM2001.0301N4)
February 21, 2001. Dr. H. F. Mayland was awarded a "Citation for
Excellence in Manuscript Review, 2000" by Agronomy Journal
Editors. Mayland regularly serves as reviewer for technical
manuscripts across soil, plant, and animal disciplines. He has served in
editorial capacities for Journal of Range Management, Journal of Animal
Science, and the discontinued Journal of Production Agriculture. (KIM2001.0221N1)
Kimberly ARS Soil Scientist Bob Sojka traveled to Portugal from
February 1-10 as a guest of the University of Evora to present
information and conduct workshops on controlling irrigation induced
erosion through conventional agricultural management and with the
use of polyacrylamide-treated irrigation water. Seminars were
presented to the Portugese National Institute for Agricultural Reseach
(INIA)in Oeiras, to the Agricultural Faculty and students at the
University of Evora in Evora, and to the newly established Irrigation
district technical center for the joint 300,000 acre Spanish/Portugese
Alqueva Irrigation Project, located near Beja. About 120 Portugese
scientists, students, and irrigation district technical personnel attended
the three formal presentations. The two workshops provided direct
technical advice regarding ongoing Portugese irrigation-induced erosion
research to a dozen University of Evora students and technical personnel
conducting research. Dr. Francisco Santos, Agricultural Engineer leading
the irrigation program at Evora, discussed several projects for which he
was seeking to establish ties to the Kimberly ARS lab because of similar
regional conditions and research opportunities. (KIM2001.0215N1)
January 19, 2001. Bob Sojka was the guest of The National Alliance of
Independent Crop Consultant's annual meeting in Orlando, FL. He presented
a talk entitled "The use of PAM, a linear polyacrylamide polymer for use
with irrigation water." About 250 consultants attended the talk which gave
a brief overview of the PAM technology developed by ARS at Kimberly, ID,
and which focused particularly on recent developments in use of PAM for
infiltration management in sprinklers, and reduction of microorganisms and
weed seed from irrigation runoff. The reduction of the latter two pollution
components are relatively new findings beyond the established work showing
PAM's ability to greatly reduce runoff sediment, nutrients, pesticides and
BOD (biological oxygen demand). This has the potential application for
disease and weed epidemiology control and for on-field and downstream
reductions in herbicide and pesticide use. (KIM2001.0125N1)
January 22-24, 2001. Dale Westermann attended an Intermountain Range
Restoration and Conservation Workshop in Boise, ID. The workshop was
attended by 16 lead scientists or research leaders from 13 western ARS
locations, and one ARS National Program Leader. The purpose of this
meeting was to identify and develop researchable regional programs that
will enable public and private land managers to implement ecosystem
restoration and preservation strategies on 170 million acres of sagebrush
rangelands in the Intermountain West, particularly land recently burned.
Main deliverables identified were improved plant materials, monitoring
tools, decision support systems, and an improved understanding of the
natural resource system. (KIM2001.0125N2)
January 24, 2001. Dale Westermann attended a workshop in Boise, ID, to
develop a Northwest initiative to develop site-specific integrated
agricultural systems that enhance Pacific Northwest ground and surface
water quality. The thrust of this initiative is to provide agriculture
practices and production systems to improve the habitat for salmonid fish
listed under the Endangered Species Act. Eight ARS locations are presented
in the initiative. (KIM2001.0125N3)
January 3-5, 2001. Rick Lentz, Dennis Kincaid, and Dave Bjorneberg
attended and gave presentations at the International ASAE
Symposium on Soil Erosion Research for the 21st Century in
Honolulu, HI. (KIM2001.0118N1)
January 3-5, 2001. Rick Lentz, Gary Lehrsch, and Jim Entry
attended and gave presentations at the 2nd International ASAE
Symposium on Preferential Flow: Water Movement and Chemical
Transport in the Environment in Honolulu, HI. (KIM2001.0118N2)
January 10, 2001. Lentz attended the annual Four-States Irrigation
Council Conference in Fort Collins, CO, where he was invited to
conduct a workshop on the use of soil amendments to control seepage
in soil-lined irrigation canals and channels. The meeting was attended by
over 200 managers, board members, and producers from Irrigation and Water
Conservancy Districts and Water-User Associations in six states;
irrigation consultants; as well as USBR resource officers. (KIM2001.0118N3)
January 11-12, 2001. Dale Westermann participated in Idaho's
annual sugarbeet conference in Twin Falls,ID, as a panel member in a
workshop discussing nutrient management issues and practices in sugarbeet
production. This conference is the only state-wide extension activity held
for sugarbeet growers in Idaho and was attended by nearly 600 growers.
(KIM2001.0118N4)
January 15, 2001. Hank Mayland shared results of PM-cut vs AM-cut
with growers and livestock feeders in central Wyoming. Details and
guidelines were also shared with a high school student at Upland,
Nebraska using e-mail, internet, FAX, and postal services. (KIM2001.0118N5)
January 17, 2001. Dale Westermann attended Idaho's annual potato
conference in Pocatello, ID. He was a panel member in two nutritional
fertilization workshops, one discussing phosphorus and micronutrients, and
the other on nitrogen management. This annual conference is attended by
nearly 1,200 individuals from almost all major potato growing areas in the
U.S. and even some from foreign countries. (KIM2001.0118N6)
January 3-4, 2001. Dale Westermann attended the annual Idaho Crop Production
Association meetings in Jackpot, NV. This meeting was attended by nearly 600
certified crop advisors (CCA), private crop consultants, crop protection
specialists, and fertilizer and chemical dealers and fieldmen. Westermann was
a panel member in a half-day workshop on cultural practices for early potato
growth and development, and gave an oral talk on factors affecting specific
gravity of potato tubers. (KIM2001.0111N1)
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