Sunday, March 16, 2008

Rumen Fluid

Hello Every Body!

We would like to tell you about a out campus visit we had, at a beef farm 30 miles from Athens.

We met Dr. Mark A. Froetschel a Senior professor at Dairy Science school, who needed to take some samples of rumen liquid and manure.

Here are some photos and videos.IMG_3324IMG_3278IMG_3317  IMG_3262 IMG_3277  IMG_3281 IMG_3285 IMG_3305 IMG_3314

Nutrient Management

What is a Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plan?

A CNMP is a strategy for making wise use of plant nutrients to enhance farm profits while protecting water resources, looking at how nutrients are used and managed throughout the farm.

image Nutrients inputs are brought to the farm through feeds, fertilizers, animal manures and other off-farm inputs, some of these are used, and some are recycled by plants and animals on the farm.

Nutrient outputs are the ones that leave the farm in harvested crops and animal products.

When nutrients outputs greatly exceed outputs from the farm, the risk of nutrient losses to ground water and surface water is greater.image

When comparing nutrient inputs against nutrient outputs, you are creating a mass balance (important part of a CNMP). Ideally, nutrient inputs and outputs should be roughly the same.

Basic steps

1. Evaluation of nutrient needs.image

2. Inventory of nutrient supply.

3. Determination of nutrient balance.

4. Mortality management.

5. Preventative maintenance and inspection.

6. Emergency response plan.

Monday, March 10, 2008

The Microbe blog

Hi all

I believe that a regular visit to this higly resourceful blog on microbiology will benefit anyone interested on microbes and their wonders. Other web sites on microbial world are linked and can be accessed from this blog. Let us appreciate the efforts of Moselio Schaechter, a retired microbiologist and American Society for Microbiology for supporting his efforts.


Friday, March 7, 2008

Agricultural & Applied Economics

Well, we hope ya'll have a nice weekend!

We met on 27th of February, Dr Forrest E. Steglin and Dr. Jack E. Houston, Jr. From the College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences.

They talked about other TIES Programs with Mexican participants, although they are not related with engineering, but with education; These Drs. are some of our TIES Program Partners, giving us a view of how to apply economics in our reaserch.

Engineering kind of view:

"I Can Do That!"

Economist kind of view:

"Yes, You Can Do It, but How Much Is Going To Cost?"

One thing that they told us, to get started is:

Flow Charts

There the Economist can apply economics easily. So one advice is to keep our work organized from the beginning.

Another good thing about knowing the economic analysis is:

"Knowing the economics, then you will know where to spend in new research".

Take care ya'll !!

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Hi Bioremediation mates

Hi Bioremediation Friends !!
How are u all doing? I hope that with a lot of work :)
Here we have a lot of things to do too, we are trying to get the GC started, we have already ordered the Porapak Q column for the mesurement of Methane, CO2, Nitrogen and other gases that can be found in the biogas. We are testing the HayeSep C column that can be used for the CO2 measurement only to find out whether GC is working well. I hope that tomorrow we can get that done. I'm waiting for some strains for the biological pretreatment of the poultry litter, to remove the Nitrogen that acumulates on a dry condition (total solids from 10% to 30%).
Well that was just a little bit of what im doing right now. Let us know what are you all doing too...and if there's anything that we could help you...just let us know!!

Lets keep on going, this is only the beginning!!
Greetings
Hugs and Kisses
Natalia