AEN-179: Water Barriers for Cattle

Steve Higgins | May 20, 2025 (New)

Livestock producers learn very early that animals will foul their drinking water. This may explain why checking an animal’s water and cleaning water troughs daily are primary goals of 4-H and youth livestock projects. Providing fresh, clean water to cattle requires the prevention of fouling (or contamination) from feed, manure, saliva, soil, and other pollutants. In addition, open-trough watering facilities can accumulate sediment, feed, bedding, and manure, creating a potential breeding ground for flying and aquatic insects. The reduction or exclusion of these contaminants can be accomplished with a water barrier.

AEN-177: Basic Principles for Laying Out Farm Infrastructure on Livestock Operations

Steve Higgins | February 20, 2025 (New)

Livestock operations require comprehensive infrastructure to efficiently produce livestock.

AEN-178: Wetland Curriculum for Kentucky High Schools

Emily Nottingham, Tiffany Messer, Carmen Agouridis | January 23, 2025 (New)

Wetland curriculum for high schoolers is designed to provide students with knowledge concerning the natural environment and its associated problems with water quality and quantity, along with awareness of how to help solve these problems. The wetland curriculum introduces water quality concerns in surface and groundwater from humans (e.g., urbanization, mining activities, agricultural practices) and environmental factors (e.g., flood events, droughts). It also includes learning about wetland processes (e.g., nitrogen cycle, water cycle, phytoremediation, sorption, nutrient mixing, microbial activity) and functions (e.g., water storage, water treatment, animal and pollinator habitat, flood control, recreation). Implementation of the wetland curriculum into science classes allows students to make connections between restoration, environmental policies and regulations, and the engineering design process.

AEN-176: Providing and Improving Drinking Water for Livestock

Steve Higgins | August 9, 2024 (New)

Water is a fundamental requirement for livestock. Depending on the species, livestock will consume two to six times more water than forages or feed. Nevertheless, drinking water quality for livestock is commonly overlooked, which can result in huge implications to animal health, well-being, and optimal productivity. To that end, providing adequate water sources for livestock is crucial.

AEN-175: Rain Traps for Watering Livestock in Remote Locations

Steve Higgins | March 25, 2024 (New)

The availability of abundant, clean water can be the most limiting factor for a grazing operation. Rainfall has been harvested for thousands of years to provide water for crops, humans, and livestock. A familiar example is a cistern adjacent to a barn or house. This old concept still offers opportunities and, with a little ingenuity, can be used to provide abundant, clean water for almost any situation and location.

AEN-174: Drone Sprayer Sizing for Agricultural Applications

Joshua Jackson, Karla Ladino | March 6, 2024 (New)

Sprayers are essential in agriculture, since they apply products that control weeds, pests, and diseases. In recent years, drone sprayers have gained popularity due to advantages associated with their flexibility in application timing, ability to operate without being constrained by ground conditions, and ease of deployment. Given the growing number of manufacturers and the wide range of available sizes, it can be challenging to select an optimally sized drone sprayer for a user's specific needs, as this decision carries significant economic implications.

AEN-173: Shelterbelts for Livestock

Steve Higgins | December 19, 2023 (New)

Livestock must maintain a normal body temperature to optimize their production potential. Providing shade and protection from wind are two ways producers can aid in managing the impact of temperature-related stress on their livestock.

AEN-170: When to Replace Sprayer Nozzle Tips

Tim Stombaugh | December 5, 2022 (New)

Nozzle tips are critical sprayer components for achieving accurate and uniform application of chemicals. Furthermore, nozzle tips are not cheap, especially when considering how many are required on a sprayer. As with any component on a machine, they will not last forever. So when should nozzle tips be replaced? It would be nice if there were a maximum number of sprayed acres or a fixed period of time after which the nozzle tips should be changed for new ones. Unfortunately, there are too many complicating factors to give such a simple answer. This document explains the causes of nozzle tip wear and some simple ways to tell when they should be replaced.

AEN-172: Decision Aid to Determine the Cost of Using a Drone Sprayer in Production Agriculture

Gabriel Abdulai, Joshua Jackson, Karla Ladino, Tim Stombaugh | November 29, 2022 (New)

Similar to other agricultural equipment purchases, cost and potential for return on investment for drone sprayers must be carefully evaluated. General Considerations and Requirements for Drone Spraying (AEN-171) summarized what aspects should be evaluated prior to the purchase of a drone sprayer, or unmanned aerial systems (UAS) sprayer. These aspects include cost considerations, potential uses, certificates and licenses, equipment, utilities, software, insurance, maintenance and repairs, and time allocation.

AEN-171: General Considerations and Requirements for Drone Spraying

Gabriel Abdulai, Joshua Jackson, Karla Ladino | November 29, 2022 (New)

The purchase of an unmanned aerial system (UAS) sprayer, also known as a drone sprayer, must be evaluated carefully. For farmers and sprayer service providers who are thinking about purchasing drone sprayers for their operations, this publication will summarize the potential uses, background information, certificates and licenses required, equipment needed, utilities used, software implemented, insurance needed, maintenance and repairs executed, cost metric utilized, time allocated, and application effectiveness considerations.