Search Results

1. Burnett, Elizabeth The Influence of Farmer Stress and Hardiness on Adoption of Best Management Practices in the Maumee Watershed

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2014, Environment and Natural Resources

Runoff from agricultural nutrient applications in the Maumee watershed is the most significant human factor leading to phosphorus loading and water quality issues in Lake Erie. The adoption of agricultural best management practices (BMPs) that address the amount, form, placement, and timing of nutrients could reduce runoff and result in cost savings for farmers, however recent research has shown that, depending on the practice, a quarter to a half of farmers in the Maumee watershed are choosing not to adopt these practices. The aim of this study was two-fold: to examine whether occupational stress in farmers influenced their intentions to adopt BMPs, and to examine whether occupational hardiness moderated the impact of stress on farmer's intentions to adopt BMPs. Questionnaires were mailed out to corn and soybean farmers in the Maumee watershed of Ohio in March, 2014. Principal component analyses were used to form the Maumee Watershed Farm Stress Scale and the Farming-Related Hardiness Scale. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that risk perception and beliefs about BMP effectiveness in reducing phosphorus runoff positively influenced farmer's intentions to adopt BMPs, and that stress negatively influenced these intentions. As stress increased, farmer's intentions to adopt BMPs decreased. Moderated regression analysis showed that high hardiness moderated stress' influence on intentions to adopt BMPs. Specifically, when hardiness and stress were high, adoption was high, but when hardiness was low and stress was high, adoption was low.

Committee: Robyn Wilson Ph.D (Advisor) Subjects: Agricultural Education; Agriculture; Behavioral Psychology; Behavioral Sciences; Communication; Environmental Health; Environmental Management; Psychology; Social Psychology; Water Resource Management; Wildlife Management

2. Leidheiser, Paul An evaluation of selected aspects of farm management in Lorain County with implications for an extension educational program /

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 1965, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

3. Meier, Verlin Goals and factors affecting success of farm families /

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 1961, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

4. Dutenhaver, Paul Farm management problems of Ohio young farmers /

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 1961, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

5. Cunningham, Martin A comparison of managerial characteristics of limelight and non-limelight dairy farm operators /

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 1964, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

6. Miller, Charles Monetary and satisfaction orientation of Ohio cash grain farm managers /

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 1964, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

7. Parker, Denisha Drivers of Predatory Insect Distribution in Urban Greenspaces

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2021, Entomology

The majority of the human population resides in cities. This transformation to an urbanized world has disrupted many species due to habitat disturbance, alien species colonization, and changes in soil and air quality. This reality has raised concerns about the impact of urbanization on insect communities. Many cities are implementing conservation efforts to combat these stressors by transforming habitats to urban farms, pocket prairies, and rain gardens. Although urbanization is a negative driver of insect biodiversity, opportunities exist to implement conservation strategies in “legacy cities” that can support insects and allow us to understand how challenges of urbanization affect their distribution patterns. Legacy cities are cities that have faced significant population decline due to the fall of manufacturing industries. This has resulted in an increase in vacant land that can be revitalized to target key conservation initiatives. My research was focused on how urban habitat transformation affects predatory insects and their community assembly, distribution patterns, and diet. I used lady beetles (Coccinellidae) and long-legged flies (Dolichopodidae) as my target species due to previous evidence illustrating their decline and importance as biological control agents. My key objectives were to determine how the local management and landscape context of urban greenspaces influenced the abundance, richness, and health of these predators. To examine their health, I focused on their ability to locate prey as well as their dietary breadth. In Chapter 1, I found that habitat type had no effect on native lady beetle abundance while local variables within a site such as plant height, biomass and bloom abundance supported a greater richness of lady beetle species. Also, I found that landscape variables such as decreased impervious surface surrounding a site and sites that were surrounded by less isolated greenspace patches supported a greater abundance and richness in (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Mary Gardiner (Advisor); Michel Andrew (Committee Member); Megan Meuti (Committee Member); Carol Anelli (Committee Member) Subjects: Entomology

8. Davis, Eric Finance, Forests, and the Future

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2021, Agricultural, Environmental and Developmental Economics

For my dissertation, I present three essays that cover topical and methodological areas of interest. My first essay advances and intertwines the previous research on the impact of bank deregulations with the research on farm financial stress. Previous research on bank deregulation has supported the idea that interstate banking deregulation lowered the cost of credit and increased net farm income. This analysis builds on that base by investigating whether agricultural loan delinquency volume was also affected. Data are from the FDIC's Consolidated Reports of Condition and Income (Call Reports) and Summary of Deposit Reports (SOD Reports). Using a panel data fixed effects approach, deregulation was found to be associated with changes in the volume of delinquencies: interstate banking deregulation reduced the volume of production loan delinquencies, and de novo branching deregulation increased both production and real-estate loan delinquencies. Thus, deregulation's outcome is not clear cut: interstate banking reduced farm financial stress but de novo deregulation increased it. My second essay identifies the effects of carbon fertilization and forest management on forest growth from 1868 to 2017. This study uses a Genetic Matching approach with treatment and control groups formed using historical observations of forest plots across nine US forest types taken in two time periods and separated by an intervening time period of ten years. Results illustrate how forest management and increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations have increased forest biomass. My third essay uses historical observations of forest plots across nine US forest types over the past 60 years and a pooled regression model to illustrate how biomass has been impacted by changes in climate, atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration, and forest age composition as well as forest management activities. The effect of carbon fertilization is identified with a novel strategy that takes advanta (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Brent Sohngen (Committee Co-Chair); Ani Katchova (Committee Co-Chair); Tim Haab (Committee Member) Subjects: Agricultural Economics; Environmental Economics

9. Denholm, Rachael Changes in Antimicrobial Resistance from 1994 to 2011 and Exploring Farm Management Practices Associated with Antimicrobial Resistance in Salmonella on U.S. Beef Feedlots

Master of Public Health, The Ohio State University, 2017, Public Health

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing concern in human and animal medicine and threatens public health on a global scale. Beef cattle are a reservoir of Salmonella and have been implicated in foodborne outbreaks of AMR Salmonella in the U.S. Understanding trends in AMR and factors which affect resistance to medically important antibiotics in beef cattle is vital to animal and human health. The USDA's National Animal Health Monitoring System administered farm management questionnaires to beef feedlots in major cattle-feeding states around the U.S. and collected fecal samples from 100 feedlots in 1994, 73 feedlots in 1999, and 68 feedlots in 2011 for pathogen and AMR testing. The objectives of this study were to 1) evaluate change in the prevalence of AMR in Salmonella over time from USDA beef feedlot studies conducted in 1994, 1999, and 2011 and 2) to explore farm management factors, including antibiotic use, associated with the odds of AMR in a Salmonella isolate. Logistic regression models were created for each of four antibiotics: amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, ampicillin, ceftiofur, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. Final models were selected via backward elimination to measure statistical associations between management factors and odds of a Salmonella isolate being resistant to the antibiotic. There was a significant increase in odds of resistance from 1994 to 1999 for all four antibiotics, amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (OR=32.6), ampicillin (OR=6.1), ceftiofur (OR=115.4), and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (OR=17.4). Isolates from 1999 had significantly higher odds of resistance compared with isolates from 2011 for amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (OR=3.8) and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (OR=35.0). Use of antibiotics tylosin, tetracyclines, and sulfas as health or production management tools did not approach significance (p=0.20) in any of the four models. Management practices associated with increased odds of resistance to at least one antimicrobial included: (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Gregory Habing DVM, MS, PhD (Advisor); Thomas Wittum MS, PhD (Committee Member); Michael Pennell PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Agriculture; Animal Diseases; Public Health; Statistics; Veterinary Services

10. Uko, Okon Perceived farm management educational needs of part-time and small scale farmers in selected Ohio counties /

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1985, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Political Science