Master of Agribusiness / Department of Agricultural Economics / Allen M. Featherstone / Small scale broiler and layer production constitutes a significant part of the poultry industry in Zambia. However, the contribution of small scale enterprises to broiler production is more pronounced than layers with statistics showing 60 and 30 percent for broilers and layers, respectively. This study was carried out for the purpose of determining the economic profitability of both broiler and layer enterprises and also to evaluate their degree of attractiveness for investment. The thesis used the Net Present Value and Internal Rate of Return methods to determine the economic profitability for both broiler and layer enterprises. The data used in the analyses were obtained direct from the market and additional data were extracted from the Cost of Doing Business Manual 2012, a publication of the Zambian Development Agency. Additionally, the study used a capital investment of US $50,000 for each enterprise, 25 percent opportunity cost of capital and an economic life of five years. The data were used in estimating the enterprise budgets for both broiler and layer enterprises from which income statements were generated. The enterprise budget for broiler production estimated revenue from the sale of live broiler chickens at a wholesale price while the layer enterprise budget estimated its revenue from the sale of eggs and culled hens. The sale prices used were US $5 per broiler chicken, US $3.60 per tray of eggs and US $2 per culled hen as obtaining on the market at the time. In addition, production was estimated at 60,000 broilers and 30,000 trays of eggs from 3,000 layers annually. The cost of constructing brooder houses and purchase of production equipment were the major cost components for the two enterprise budget estimates. The estimates indicated that these two cost components amounted to US $27,090 and US $21,095 for boiler and layer enterprises respectively. The other cost component was production cost and it includes the cost of labor, feed, day old chicks, marketing, vaccines, transportation, electricity, debeakers, heaters, stationery, etc. The cost of feed constituted about 65 percent of total production cost for layer enterprises and about 60 percent for broiler enterprises. The total production cost as a percentage of revenue was estimated at 80 percent and 70 percent for broiler and layer enterprises, respectively. The analyses were completed under three alternative scenarios that included optimistic, expected and pessimistic scenarios. The analyses across all scenarios show that both broiler and layer enterprises are economically viable for investment though the broiler enterprise is more economically profitable than the layer enterprise. They both show positive NPVs and IRRs in excess of the 25 percent opportunity cost of capital used in the analysis. The analysis for broiler enterprise showed a NPV of US $178,242 for the optimistic scenario, US $122,742 for the expected scenario and US $30,550 for the pessimistic scenario. Results obtained from layer enterprise analysis showed NPVs of US $72,388, US $49,260 and US $11,186 for the optimistic, expected and pessimistic scenarios, respectively. Consistent with the decision rules of the NPV and IRR methods, both enterprises were found to be economically viable for investment. On a comparative basis though, the small scale broiler enterprise was found to be more attractive for investment than the small scale layer enterprise as indicated by the results of the NPVs and IRRs. The lucrative nature of the broiler enterprise and easy of management could be used as possible explanation to the current investment trends seen in the Zambian poultry industry.

Master of Agribusiness / Department of Agricultural Economics / Vincent Amanor-Boadu / The purpose of this thesis was to estimate the value accruing to Zambian bean supply chain participants with the view to showing that value at the different stages is a function of the value addition and risk incurred at those stages. The data used in the study came from two different surveys done under the Pulse Value Chain Initiative – Zambia focusing on producers and bean traders. The surveys used structured questionnaires for both producers and traders. The producers were sampled from three principal bean producing provinces in Zambia: Lundazi, Mbala and Kalomo. The traders were sampled from the largest consumer region in the country – Lusaka – and focused on traders operating in the three principal markets in the city: Soweto; Chilenje; and Mtendere. The analyses were conducted using STATA®, employing both statistical and econometric methods. Value was defined as a function of transaction costs and value addition as well as the risks borne. In the Zambian mixed bean trade environment, where traders travel to remote locations where producers live and produce, they are seen to incur higher levels of risk and undertake higher levels of value addition – assembling the grain, bagging them and moving them from the rural areas where production occurs to the cities where customers reside. As such, it is expected that value creation and distribution would increase away from the farm. The results confirmed this expectation. The total average value created at the farm level was ZMK3,391.06/kg. However, the average value accruing to traders who only undertook wholesaling was ZMK7,405.75/kg while that accruing to traders going further down the chain to retail was ZMK9,663.56/kg. Traders who engaged in institutional trade produced an average value of ZMK8,750.75/kg. The share of total value produced accruing to producers in the producer-wholesaler-retailer chain was about 16.6 percent because of the higher value addition and risk that occur further downstream in the chain. The share of total value produced accruing to producers in the producer-wholesaler-institutional buyer chain was about 17.3 percent. The study showed that female producers’ share was not different, statistically speaking, from male producers’ value. It also showed that the average value created in thin (smaller) markets was higher than the value created in larger markets, probably because of the level of competition that occurs in the latter markets. Interestingly, the results showed that the larger the land holdings of producers, the lower the value created. This is in line with the foregoing results of size, competition and value. The study suggests that producers’ share of total value created may be enhanced by helping producers undertake specific activities that increased the value they added and reduce the risks that traders bear in their search for grain. One of such activities could be the formation of horizontal strategic alliances among producers that allowed producers to aggregate grain at particular locations in significant lots and bag them. This service would allow them to extract higher value from the exchange with traders. Any attempt to address the perceived “unfair” distribution of value along the supply chain by administrative fiat could result in higher costs to the whole supply chain and crate adverse unintended consequences for producers and the treasury.

Master of Science / Department of Biological & Agricultural Engineering / Naiqian Zhang / Mobile apps are useful tools for many different purposes. In agriculture, apps can be used to check the weather and markets, control irrigation, and monitor machine activity among other uses. This research project is a collaboration between Kansas State University and AGCO and includes the development of two apps, using MIT Application Inventor and Google App Engine. Kansas State University was responsible for developing the apps user interface and functionality while AGCO provide the data needs for the apps through Google App Engine. The first app is called Crop Maturity App and measures Growing Degree Days from a crops planting date. The second app is called Combine Efficiency App and determines the performance of a combine harvesting based on its speed. AGCO provided the server support for these apps from a weather service and their own combines that are connected. This project demonstrates the possibility of an open-source development environment with AGCO machine data.

Master of Agribusiness / Agricultural Economics / Allen M. Featherstone / As the single largest asset class on the agriculture sector’s balance sheet, real estate is clearly a significant component of America’s farming community’s well-being and key to production agriculture. Purchasing farmland requires a significant commitment of capital, and one of the chief considerations for producers when contemplating purchasing a property is the return they can expect to receive from their investment over the course of its productive life. The traditional Net Present Value approach to investment valuation is difficult to implement since estimating cash flows over the life of the property is extremely difficult due to uncertainty in yields and commodity prices. By using historical price, yield, and cost data, this thesis develops a net present value spreadsheet model that uses simulation to determine an expected cash flow per acre. This expected cash flow can then be used to determine the gross cash flow from a particular farm over the term of the investment. While not explicitly accounting for non-direct expenses in the model such as returns to management, the techniques discussed provide a solid foundation for a more thorough enterprise analysis and give the producer an estimate of cash flows independent of short-term management decisions.

Master of Agribusiness / Department of Agricultural Economics / Subramanyam Bhadriraju / Environmental concerns are growing as new information is being discovered as to what is harmful to the environment. The desire to help the environment along with improving fumigations is a big concern and effects many people. Ongoing research to improve fumigations without harming the environment has shown great promise in advancing technology and lowering the cost in protecting commodities consumed by the consumer. Methyl Bromide (MB) has been the major fumigant used to control stored-product insects for many commodities for many years. There has been a lot of concern surrounding MB because of health and environmental drawbacks. These concerns have caused MB to be reduced by 2005. With the total phase out of MB becoming critical, there is much anticipation as what will be the alternative(s). The research presented in this thesis describes two different and very effective methods of controlling stored product insects. Although there are many other methods of fumigating this thesis analyzes two forms; Sulfuryl Fluoride and Heat. The first presented alternative in this paper will be heat treatments. It has the attraction that chemical forms of treatments do not have by having pesticide-free products. The total cost of heat fumigation depends on the complexity of the lay-out/structure and the cost heaters and electricity. This cost can range anywhere from $15,000-25,000. The second alternative that will be discussed is sulfuryl fluoride. This fumigant has many positive aspects that counter act the negative aspects that have been a concern with methyl bromide treatments. These positive aspects include environmentally safe and fast off-gassing. Sulfuryl fluoride is also very efficacious with stored product insects. The labor costs per job, ProFume shows a cost of about $216.00 less than that of a methyl bromide treatment.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Entomology / Raymond A. Cloyd / James R. Nechols / Raymond A. Cloyd / James R. Nechols / Greenhouse studies were conducted to examine direct effects of light intensity and nitrogen source on primary and secondary metabolism of pac choi (Brassica rapa L. var. chinensis cv. ‘Mei Qing Choi’) and indirect effects on diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella L.)(DBM). In the first study, plants were exposed to high and low light intensities during different times of the year, resulting in a range of light intensities. From four experiments, plants exhibited higher phenolic content, greater shoot biomass, and higher C:N ratios under high light intensity, whereas plants under low light intensity contained higher protein. Ferulic acid increased under high light intensity, and this increase was negatively correlated with male DBM body weights. However, DBM developed faster on plants in the August experiment (high light), compared to the July experiment (lower light). This implies that light intensity may not be affecting DBM through plant-mediated changes unless reduced male weights confer a reduction in larval consumption. In the nitrogen source study, application of an organic source of nitrogen (fish hydrolysate fertilizer) was compared to a conventional fertilizer to determine whether nitrogen source directly impacts pac choi chemistry and biomass, thus indirectly impacting DBM fitness. In two experiments, there was no significant effect of fertility treatment on pac choi nutrients or biomass, with the exception of percent leaf phosphorus, which was significantly higher in the conventional fertility treatment. For DBM, percent survival and cohort development were significantly reduced on pac choi receiving the organic fertilizer. Calcium and magnesium were significantly higher in pac choi infested with DBM larvae than plants without DBM. In addition, calcium was negatively correlated with female DBM body weights in one experiment for the organic treatment. Overall, this study demonstrated that pac choi plants that received the organic fertilizer were similar to pac choi plants that received a conventional fertilizer with the exception of phosphorus. Furthermore, female DBM body weights were negatively impacted by calcium in the organic treatment. As multiple fitness traits for DBM were negatively affected in the organic treatment, pac choi crops grown with fish hydrolysate fertilizer may experience less feeding from DBM.

Master of Agribusiness / Department of Agricultural Economics / John A. Fox / The cost of wheat is the largest input cost for a flour mill, and as a result, profitability in wheat flour milling is determined in large part by milling efficiency – i.e., the amount of flour extracted per unit of wheat milled. In this project the objective was to quantify the influence of several measurable variables on flour mill efficiency. Data was collected from two commercial milling units of similar size. Linear regression was then used to estimate the relationship between flour yield and variables measuring grain characteristics and environmental factors. The analysis suggests that increasing ambient temperature and the occurrence of downtime both have a significant negative effect on flour yield. A significant difference in flour yield efficiency was also found between the two mills.

Master of Science / Department of Animal Sciences and Industry / Terry A. Houser / A total of 48 carcasses were taken from a larger trial using 288 pigs (PIC TR4 × 1050, initially 58.9 kg) in a 73 d feeding study to determine the effects of sorghum dried distillers grains with solubles (S-DDGS) in sorghum- or corn-based diets on ground pork quality. The dietary treatments included: sorghum-based diets with 0, 15, 30, or 45% SDDGS, a sorghum-based diet with 30% corn DDGS (C-DDGS) and a corn-based diet with 30% C-DDGS. Shoulders from 24 barrow and 24 gilt carcasses were ground and evaluated for proximate and fatty acid composition, iodine value (IV), objective color, thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS), and sensory attributes. No finishing diet × gender interaction was detected for composition, fatty acid profile, color or TBARS (P > 0.05). Pork from gilts contained less fat and more moisture (P < 0.001), was less saturated with a greater IV and total percentage of PUFA (P < 0.01), and also had a lower L* value (P < 0.001) and higher a* value (P = 0.006) than pork from barrows. Gender did not affect total color change ( E) from 0 to 120 h (P = 0.30), TBARS (P = 0.08), or sensory attributes (P ≥ 0.32). Finishing diet had no affect on total fat, moisture, or protein composition (P ≥ 0.18). Increasing S-DDGS resulted in a linear (P < 0.001) decrease in SFA and MUFA and an increase (P < 0.01) in PUFA and ground pork IV. Pork from pigs fed 30% S-DDGS had a greater percentage of MUFA (P = 0.01) and a lower percentage of PUFA (P > 0.006) and reduced IV (P = 0.03) compared to pork from pigs fed the sorghum-based diet with 30% C-DDGS. Diet did not affect TBARS (P = 0.37) or L*, a*, or b* values (P ≥ 0.11) but was shown to influence E (P = 0.01) with pork from pigs fed sorghum grain and 30% S-DDGS having less total change than all other treatments. It is concluded that consumers will not be able to differentiate ground pork from pigs fed DDGS and that feeding sorghum grain and S-DDGS can be done without affecting ground pork quality.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of History / James E. Sherow / This dissertation contributes to the environmental, agricultural, and technological history of the modern United States by examining pesticide use and the debates surrounding them in the Great Plains from the 1940s to the 1980s. Specifically, it addresses the relationships among aerial sprayers, farmers, agriculturalists, and grassroots concepts of toxicity that emerged from mid-century technological and environmental changes. It argues that pesticides as well as a variety of weeds and insects actively transformed the tools, attitudes, and regulatory policies of their users. Historians of agricultural chemical use in America have focused on the political debates over DDT, the social activism against pesticides that Rachel Carson inspired with her best-selling book Silent Spring (1962), the growth in federal regulatory policy in the 1970s, and the contentious reactions by the chemical and agricultural industries. This study offers a new, ground-level history of pesticides by showing how aerial sprayers, farmers, and agriculturalists developed custom chemical applications and conceptualized toxicity as each related to the technological and environmental changes in the region. Drawing on multiple sources, including agricultural experiment station reports, scientific studies, government documents, farm journals, landowner and aerial spray pilot correspondence, and oral histories, this study explores how local producers changed with their chemicals, spray planes, and pests to develop an environmental ethos that understood toxicity as a synthetic and natural danger. Although opposition to pesticides became central to modern environmentalism, debates around pesticides‘ effectiveness and dangers did not come only from activists or government regulators. Beginning just after World War II, landowners and spray pilots in the fields and rural airstrips of the Great Plains took the hazards of agricultural chemicals seriously, critiquing how and why pesticides were used for decades after. By viewing chemicals, spray planes, and pests, as well as landowners, pilots, and agriculturalists as equal forces in the regional transformation of farming landscapes, this dissertation highlights a new history of pesticides, agriculture, and the environment. Farmers and custom applicators did not simply follow the economic goals of agribusiness. Nor did they dismiss the dangers of pesticides. Rather, they constructed their own standards of injury and environmental risk that stressed accuracy, regulation, and a reasonable certainty of safety—a result of the equally transformational influences of chemicals, pests, and the region. This study finally offers new insights into the creation of national chemical policy and the regulatory debates over pesticides during the 1960s and 1970s.

Master of Science / Department of Horticulture, Forestry, and Recreation Resources / Steven Keeley / Common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale Weber) is an important perennial weed in turfgrass. Fall is considered the optimal time for postemergence herbicidal control of dandelions; however, applications in spring, when volatility damage to surrounding plants is an additional concern, are often needed. Therefore, we conducted research to determine the volatility of common broadleaf herbicides, and their efficacy when applied at spring and fall application timings. Volatility was determined by applying herbicides to turfgrass and using potted tomatoes as indicator plants. Tomatoes exposed to turfgrass treated with Trimec Classic, Confront, Surge, Escalade 2, and Imprelis exhibited little or no volatility damage, while exposure to Speedzone, 4 Speed XT, and Cool Power caused significant damage. In general, herbicides causing little or no damage were amine formulations. Two field studies determined the effect of spring and fall application timing on dandelion control with several herbicides. Herbicide applications in the spring coincided with dandelion anthesis stages: pre-bloom, peak bloom, and post-bloom. Results were dependent on dandelion pressure in the studies. In 2010, with lower pressure, there were no differences among herbicides at any spring timing when dandelion control was evaluated after one year; all herbicides gave ≥ 80% control. In 2011, with higher dandelion pressure, Imprelis SL and 4 Speed XT provided ≥ 96% dandelion control at the spring pre- and post-bloom timings, which was better than Surge, Escalade 2, Cool Power, and Confront. The best choices for spring efficacy combined with minimal to no volatility were Escalade 2 and Trimec Classic. Finally, because interest in organic dandelion control is increasing, we compared several organic weed control tactics with a conventional herbicide. In a two-year field study, the conventional herbicide gave much better control (> 96%) than any organic method. Horticultural vinegar corn gluten meal, and fertilizer-only gave < 25% control, while hand-weeding gave 58 to 71% control. While hand-weeding was the best of the organic tactics, the time required was considered prohibitive for turfgrass managers, unless initial weed levels were very low.