Thirty-eight farm sales occurring over a five year period in two adjacent Coastal Plain counties and 84 farm sales in a Piedmont county were studied in an effort to identify and analyze factors affecting sale price. The effect of soil productivity and landscape characteristics were of particular interest in this study. The effect of soil productivity on farm sale values was found to be significant in both study areas but was somewhat Overshadowed by other considerations. Factors affecting sale price in the Coastal Plain study area were: (1) inflation, (2) location, (3) proportion of farm in cropland, (4) soil productivity, and (5) value of improvements. Eighty percent of the variation in sale price per hectare could be accounted for by a multiple regression equation which included variables representing each of these factors. Factors affecting sale price in the Piedmont study area were: (1) value of improvements, (2) proportion of farm in cropland, (3) inflation, (4) soil productivity, and (5) size of flue-cured tobacco allotment. A multiple regression equation including variables representing each of the factors accounted for slightly less than 50% of the variation in sale price per hectare. The effect of tobacco allotment on sale price was found to be considerably diminished from that found by previous studies. Crop yield ratings were more highly correlated with sale price per hectare than were SCS land capability classes among the Piedmont farm sales. The opposite was true for Coastal Plain sales. Classes I, II, and III lands were found to be positively correlated with sale price per hectare while Classes IV, VI, and VII were negatively correlated with sale price per hectare in the case of Coastal Plain farm sales. None of the three land capability classes were significantly correlated with sale price per hectare in the case of the Piedmont farm sales. A weighted average of all land classes occurring on each farm was found to be significantly related to sale price. Crop yield ratings for forages, soybeans, and small grains were found to be significantly related to sale price in the case of the Piedmont farms. Yield ratings for small grains were also found to be significantly related to sale price in the case of the Coastal Plain soils. Indices of soil productivity were found to be more highly correlated with sale price among the Coastal Plain farm sales than was the case among the Piedmont sales. The soils and topography of the Coastal Plain are more conducive to intensive crop production. In both study areas, a closer relationship was found between soil productivity and sale price in those soil associations which were well suited to intensive cropping. Farm sale prices rose rapidly in both study areas during the five year period studied. Farm sale values increased at an average annual rate of 47% in the Coastal Plain sales. In both study areas, about 2% of all farms were involved in bona fide sales within a given year. / Ph. D.

An expert system for dairy herd reproductive management for microcomputer was developed using an expert system shell and Turbo Pascal. A dairy extension reproductive specialist provided information for the system and empirical support was provided by research. The expert system initially examines days open, days to first insemination, percent of possible estruses observed, and number of breedings per conception to determine whether a problem exists. Interpretations ranging from “excellent” to “severe” were established for each parameter. “Excellent” and “adequate” interpretations correspond to a 12 to 13 mo calving interval. The system then selects for evaluation one of three areas that influences days open; days to first insemination, efficiency of detection of estrus, or conception percentage. Once an area has been selected for further evaluation, the expert system utilizes information from the user and from DHIA reproductive management reports developed by the Dairy Records Processing Center in Raleigh, NC. The reproductive reports are captured in a computer file and read by the expert system to identify problems of conception categorized by production, parity, service, days in milk, breed, and service sire. In addition, questions are asked by the expert system to isolate problems in data accuracy, semen handling, AI technique, detection of estrus, signs of estrus, and other management areas. Recommendations and suggestions are given. The expert system was designed to be used by extension personnel who may not have extensive knowledge of computers or reproductive management. The compiled program runs on an IBM compatible personal computer with 640K memory. Ten Virginia DHIA herds with conception problems were evaluated by the expert system and the extension specialist. Of 100 potential problem areas, the expert system and extension specialist identified 47, agreeing on 85% of them. Most discrepancies resulted from the expert applying a more restrictive standard when values were close to a preselected threshold. / Master of Science

In September, 1933, the Soil Conservation Service established a demonstration area in the Wreck Island Creek Watershed of Appomattox County, Virginia. In order to secure information as to the farm practices followed in the area, the Soil Conservation Service and the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station conducted a farm management survey of the area during the summer of 1936, covering the 1935 farm business. This survey was repeated in the summer of 1937, covering the 1936 farm business. The records of the 1936 farm business are the basis of this study. The data were secured by the survey method, by trained enumerators. A total of 135 records were taken, of which 2 were discarded because they were too small to be classed as farms, and 25 were omitted because 50 percent or more of the total business receipts were obtained from non-farm sources. The remaining 110 form the basis for this study. The purposes of this study were to show conditions in the area for the year 1936, determine and measure the importance of factors affecting income, and to make comparisons, where possible, with the results of the 1935 study. / Master of Science

M.S.

There are great variations in returns to different farms for a given year, due to differences in (1) size of business, (2) labor efficiency, (3) rates of production, and (4) balance of the farm business. The dominant factor is size of business, since it exerts influence on each of the other factors. The problem of the small farm has been much discussed, but little studied. The problem becomes more and more pronounced as each generation passes on and leaves smaller estates to be divided among descendents. Small farms have usually been studied in comparisons with large farms, seldom being given attention as separate problems. Previous studies have shown that small farms are less efficient users of labor and capital than large farms. The small farm has difficulty in furnishing productive work for the labor force throughout the year. The small farm cannot afford as much equipment as a large farm, and has difficulty in using efficiently that equipment which it can afford. With its equipment inferior to that of the large farm the small farm is handicapped in the struggle to keep rates of production up and costs of production down. The small farm cannot diversify its sources of income to the extent that a large farm can, because it must specialize in a small number of enterprises in order to be at all efficient in any. There is a limit to the receipts that a small farm can make, just as there is a limit to the receipts that can be had from a single cow, from a flock of 10 hens, or an acre of tobacco. The need for a study of small farms was given consideration in 1940, when graduate students in agricultural economics at V.P.I. took records of the 1940 farm businesses on 300 farms scattered throughout Pittsylvania County. The records used for this study gave itemized lists of all receipts and expenses, crop and livestock production and sales, inventories of property on hand at the end of the year, other sources of income, and other information necessary to make an analysis of each farm business. In the tobacco section, the tobacco acreage is a good indicator of the size of the farm business. A study of the farms in the Banister River Drainage Basin of Pittsylvania County showed an average of 7.3 acres of tobacco per farm, and a range of 1.0 to 45.0 acres of tobacco. 1/ For the purposes of this study a small farm is defined as one that has 5.0 acres of tobacco or less. An average of 2.9 acres of tobacco was grown by the farm included in this study, with a range of 0.1 to 5.0 acres of tobacco. This study covers only the year 1940. Relationships that held true for that year may or may not be valid for subsequent years due to changes in economic conditions. The purpose of this study is to describe the 300 small farms and to show the effect of factors that affect the returns to a farm business. / Master of Science

Interviews with the Farm Game Cooperators in Game Conservation Districts II, V and VI disclosed that individual landowners were interested in improving habitats for farm game species. In order of preference of wildlife planting materials cooperators chose annual seeds, <u>L. bicolor</u> seeds, <u>L. bicolor</u> plants and <u>L. sericea</u>. (Pp.25-35) The data on cultural practices indicate that the Farm Game Program cooperators need to follow instructions of the Virginia Commission of Game and Inland Fisheries for planting, fertilizing and cultivating wildlife materials in order to receive maximum benefits from the objectives of the Farm Game Program. (pp. 38-52) Cooperators considered the wildlife plantings of intrinsic value in that they were using the plantings for erosion control, food and cover for wildlife, field-woods borders and turn rows for farm machinery. (Pp. 55-56) It was observed that farm game species were utilizing wildlife food plantings established in 1950-51. The perennial plantings were immature yet in many instances they attracted quail, rabbits, turkey and deer. The data on food availability as determined by ground quadrant samples taken from wildlife food plantings on the three specific areas indicate that adequate food is be:ing produced on one-eighth acre plots, which have been maintained according to recommended cultural practices. A hundred percent increase was noted in quail populations on the Hawfield Game Demonstration Area during 1950. (Pp. 70-75) / Master of Science

Game management has been defined as the art of making land produce sustained annual crops of wild game for recreational use (Leopold, 1939). Game is a product of the land; thus the successful practice of game management is dependent upon the manipulation of the land so as to meet most adequately the needs of any animal species. Natural habitats are constantly undergoing many changes in response to external influences. These changes are usually very slow but almost invariably take place in a series of integrating, but well defined steps when the pattern is unaltered by the activities of man. This sequence or plant changes has associated with it an animal population which is probably governed by floristic alterations. There are few quantitative data available on the relationship of these plant successional changes on the associated animal populations. Whereas the effect of plant succession on the animal population of a habitat is not susceptible to exact measurements, this effect probably may be measured in relative terms. In Virginia alone, an average of 50,000 acres of land has been abandoned each year for the past fifty years (United States Department of Commerce, Agricultural Census, 1950). In the state this represents approximately two and one half million acres of wildlife habitat which is in a state of dynamic change. Such abandoned areas may be among the more important wildlife producing areas 1n the state as the production of wildlife on such areas is not in conflict with agricultural or forestry interests and, therefore, may be given top priority in a game management program. On the 40,000 acres of the three state forests here in Virginia, large sums of money are spent annually on a wildlife management program and a majority of the activities under this program is devoted to the reclamation of abandoned areas or the holding of such areas at a stage of ecological succession so as to produce the maximum crop of wildlife. A similar wildlife management program is in effect on the approximately 1,500,000 acres in the two Virginia National Forests. In addition, there is a statewide farm game program sponsored by the Virginia Commission of Game and Inland Fisheries and a majority of work under this program also is concerned With holding ecological succession at a stage where game supposedly is produced in reasonable quantities. Basic data on the influence of ecological succession on game populations are needed for these programs if they are to be carried out intelligently and effectively. It is the purpose of this project to attempt to supply such data. The primary objectives of the project were fourfold: (1) To follow the trend of natural plant succession in abandoned areas in Cumberland County, Virginia in the Piedmont Region of the state, (2) to determine the influence of natural plant succession on the cottontail rabbit and bobwhite quail on abandoned areas in Cumberland County, Virginia, (3) to determine those stages in ecological plant succession which are best suited to the requirements of the cottontail rabbit and the bobwhite quail, (4) to develop a basis for predicting the tenure of animal and plant species in areas in which natural succession is undisturbed. A study or this nature should indicate the type of habitat changes which might be normally expected on abandoned land and the associated shifts in animal populations which may be concurrent with these habitat changes. If these successional data are accurately analyzed, they may indicate in general what has happened, is happening, or may be expected to happen on much of the approximately two and one half million acres of abandoned land in Virginia. This study was largely concerned with the trend or plant changes on abandoned land rather than with the underlying causes for these changes. In addition to the primary objectives of the study, three secondary objectives were considered in this investigation in Cumberland County. These objectives were: (1) To determine rabbit utilization of land use types other than abandoned land by means of trapping, (2) to collect population data, age ratios, and call indices for the bobwhite quail and to attempt to relate these data to land use types, (3) to determine small manal utilization of land use types other than abandoned land by means of trapping. / Ph. D.

Dairy farmers in Virginia are confronted with the problem of continually re-organizing and adjusting their farming operations in an effort to maintain or improve their competitive position. Increasing competition in dairying within the state, as well as potential competition developing in areas outside of the state, makes it essential that dairymen operate efficiently. In particular, they must give careful consideration to various ways of reducing their production costs. Feed costs make up 50 to 60 percent of the total cost of producing milk. Consequently, the feeding program on any dairy farm greatly affects the cost of producing milk and, ultimately, the net return to the farmer. This study had four objectives: (1) to determine the available resources and their restrictions on the farms included in this study; (2) to determine an optimum forage and grain production system and forage to grain feeding ratio for three levels of milk production per cow with milk sales at the blend price not to exceed the present total base sales; (3) to determine which of the three levels of milk production is the most profitable at the present blend price of $5.73 per 100 pounds; (4) to study the effect of changes in the price of milk on the relative profitability of the three levels of production per cow and the forage-to-grain feeding ratios when the amount of profitable milk production is less than the present base. / Master of Science

Soils in the area studied seemed to be a determining factor in land class. With very few exceptions the land of Class IV was found to consist mainly of alluvial soils, lying along Little River. Classes I and II combined, and Class III lands were found in some cases along Little River but these areas were dominated by cliffs, woods, and untillable land, and included relatively little alluvial soil. Rock outcroppings in the hilly soils were noticeable on most of the land of Classes I, II, and III. Farm management data alone provide insufficient information for an adequate classification of the land. A personal investigation in conjunction with farm management data will tend to improve the classification. Value and condition of buildings are an important factor in classifying land but too much importance should not be attached to this factor, especially in areas where lumber is relatively plentiful, as was the case in Floyd County. It seems, from the results of this study, that when the value and condition of buildings are used in the classification of land that the tenure of the operator should be taken into consideration. To attempt a land classification project without topographical and soil maps may easily result in many errors unless reliable farm management data be supplemented with information obtained by careful personal investigation. It is thought that on the basis of the procedure followed in this study a dependable classification is possible. However, the use of such maps should reduce considerably the difficulty and cost of making an adequate classification. / Master of Science

Biological diversity, or biodiversity, is declining on a global scale at unprecedented rates. These declines are largely the result of human activities and resource use. Intensive forestry is often cited as a contributing factor in biodiversity declines. Because forestry practices are being placed under increased scrutiny with respect to biodiversity impacts, the objective of this project was to determine the effects of specific silvicultural practices on plant diversity in pine plantations on wet flats in Virginia. The study area consisted of three sites in the Coastal Plain. The sites were originally established in 1969 to study the effects of various treatments on loblolly pine growth. The three treatments applied were chop and burn, bedding, and ditching. Fertilization subplots of P, N and P, N, P, and lime, and a control were added to the treatment areas in 1978. This study was conducted in 1991 when stands were 23 years old, nearing rotation age. Bedding exerted the greatest effect on plant diversity. Diversity was lower on the bedded treatment, although total biomass was higher. Bedding appears to increase pine growth by providing seedlings with more available soil volume and by reducing the vegetative regeneration of hardwoods and shrubs, thereby decreasing site diversity. Ditching likewise increased pine growth by lowering water table levels, but ditching had little effect on plant diversity. Fertilization exhibited only minor effects on diversity, and those effects that were observed did not reveal any definitive trends. Of the treatments applied, liming appeared to increase pine growth most, possibly due to increased calcium availability. Water table level was highly correlated to mid story diversity, though it was less correlated to other canopy layers. In addition, correlation analyses indicated a significant degree of interaction between canopy layers. It appears that diversity, particularly in the lower canopy layers, is affected directly by treatments and indirectly by shifts in overstory characteristics. Intensive forest management involving hydrology-altering site preparation and fertilization impacted plant diversity within these wet flat plantations. Whether such changes affect wildlife habitat or ecosystem functioning requires further study. / Master of Science