Northwest Missouri Research Articles

A declaration of commitments toward agroecology pluralities: A critical gaze on the U.S. Agroecology Summit 2023

First paragraphs: The U.S. Agroecology Summit was held May 22–25, 2023, at the Elms Hotel in Excelsior Springs, Missouri. One of the first agroecology convenings of its kind, the summit was funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and organized by researchers across prominent U.S. universities. The gathering brought together scholars, researchers, farmers, activists, and movement leaders to create a “roadmap for agroecological research in the U.S.” This declaration, written, edited, and affirmed by us, the undersigned subgroup of summit participants, aims to archive and communicate the challenges we grappled with during and after this gathering while also advocating for an unwavering commitment toward agroecological pluralities. Like all lands commonly known as the United States, the location for the convening, the Elms Hotel, is on stolen Indigenous land. The rolling hills of Northwest Missouri where the convening took place are the historical hunting, foraging, and fishing grounds, and farming areas of the region’s original peoples, which include the Ioway, Missouria, Osage, Otoe, and Sac and Fox nations. Through a series of treaties in the 1800s, all tribes were forcibly and systematically removed from what became Missouri to make way for white European settlers. None of the aforementioned tribes currently have a land base in Missouri, nor are there any federally or state-recognized tribes remain­ing in the state. Approximately 50 miles to the west and across the Missouri River, the state of Kansas is now home to the nearest federally recognized Tribal Nations: the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, Kickapoo Tribe of Kansas, Prairie Band Potawatomie, and Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska. There was no representation from these tribes or any other local or regional Black, Indigenous, or communities of color in the summit’s organizing committee. Subsequently, the summit’s conceptual framings, design, and decision-making lacked grounding in the histories, ethics, and practices of local Indigenous and other regionally based frontline communities. . . .

Evaluating the impact of broadband access and internet use in a small underserved rural community

Having adequate access to the internet at home enhances quality-of-life for households and facilitates economic and social opportunities. Despite increased investment in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of households in the rural United States still lack adequate access to high-speed internet. In this study, we evaluate a wireless broadband network deployed in Turney, a small, underserved rural community in northwest Missouri. In addition to collecting survey data before and after this internet intervention, we collected pre-treatment and post-treatment survey data from comparison communities to serve as a control group. Due to technical constraints, some of Turney's interested participants could not connect to the network, creating an additional comparison group. These comparisons suggest two primary findings, (1) changes in using the internet for employment, education, and health could not be directly attributed to the internet intervention, and (2) the internet intervention was associated with benefits stemming from the ability to use multiple devices at once. This study has implications for the design of future broadband evaluation studies, particularly those examining underserved rather than unserved communities. Recommendations for identifying appropriate outcome variables, executing recruitment strategies, and selecting the timing of surveys are made.

Observations on the Fall Movements of Isabella Moth Larvae (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae) in Northwest Missouri

Despite their visibility, abundance, and widespread distribution, the movements of Isabella moth larvae (a.k.a “woolly worms:” Pyrrharctia isabella (J.E. Smith); Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae) have been poorly studied. We observed these larvae to assess the relationship between their movement and local environmental conditions. Twice each day for 83 d, nearly 52 km of highway were observed in northwest Missouri. A total of 264 larvae were encountered during 664 total visits to four road sections, peaking in the first week of October. Analyses revealed increased larva abundance (n ≥ 159 road-section visits) associated with temperature, wind speed, pale pavement tint, and afternoon time-of-day. The best overall model to explain larval movement patterns, based on 163 visits and all measured conditions, incorporated temperature, north wind speed, west wind speed, and humidity (P = 0.015), but no other factors. In addition, larvae showed a significant tendency to travel in the same direction as the wind, and to travel eastward in the afternoons. These observations provide insights into the fall movements of a common larva, and provide directions for future research.

Has COVID‐19 made rural areas more attractive places to live? Survey evidence from Northwest Missouri

COVID‐19 disruptions encouraged some rural regions to think about proactively attracting newly footloose residents—but would the pandemic make rural areas seem more attractive to potential return migrants? Using econometric analysis of survey data, we find that for natives who had left the study region, attitudes about living in rural areas during COVID were lower on average than for those who stayed. Interestingly, we do find that owning a business and having a stronger sense of belonging are both associated with positive attitudinal shifts towards rural living, which has practical implications for rural migration policy.

Identifying Anxiety and Depression in Adolescents Through Primary Care Screening

This study provided screening for early detection and treatment of anxiety and depression in adolescents from a rural county in Northwest Missouri. The study cohort was from a rural primary care clinic and comprised 44 adolescents, aged 12 to 18, who had symptoms of anxiety and depression, or had not been previously diagnosed. Screening for anxiety and depression and initiating treatment in adolescent decreases the possibility of detrimental effects of depression and anxiety extending into adulthood. For the health care system, it fosters decreased cost of office visits for somatic symptoms, lessens strain on the health care system for inpatient treatment, and increases quality of care for a vulnerable population.

Rodeo: An Animal History by Susan Nance

Reviewed by: Rodeo: An Animal History by Susan Nance Elyssa Ford Rodeo: An Animal History. By Susan Nance. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2020. ix + 285 pp. Illustrations, notes, works cited, index. $36.95, cloth. In Rodeo: An Animal History, Susan Nance explores a side of the rodeo left largely untold, that of the animal participants. While animal rights activists and some scholars in the humanities, such as anthropologist Olga Nájera-Ramírez and interdisciplinary scholar Laura Barraclough, have examined animal treatment in the rodeo, Nance looks not just at that issue but also aims to tell the life stories of the animals themselves, thus elevating them to the same level of examination that the human rodeo participants have received over the past 100 years. Nance is not new to this model of storytelling, with a previous book on elephants in the circus and a current project on the exotic animal trade, where she also places animals, their lives, feelings, and experiences at the centers of those industries. Telling the life stories of animals is always difficult as they rarely are included in documentation, and little beyond their names and general statistics are recorded. Nance focuses on cattle and horses, the primary participants in rodeo, with three chapters on each. The book is structured both categorically and chronologically. The latter reveals how rodeo, its events, and its treatment of animals have evolved over time. Nance astutely notes that much of this change comes from external pressure from early humane associations and more modern animal rights activists to urban communities increasingly uncomfortable with this presentation and use of animals, though sometimes criticism also has come from within the rodeo world. Despite these changes, Nance notes that often it has been superficial, such as removing an event but really only altering its name or implementing rules that banned certain practices. In reality, events like steer busting, when removed from programs in the early 20th century, still appeared in other formats. Similarly, rules that banned the use of spurring, quirts, and spikes in bucking-horse contests did not mean those practices disappeared. Nance also critiques the specialized breeding of bucking horses and bulls as part of this process. When more physical prodding was banned, the book outlines how breeding programs artificially created animals developed to jump, buck, and roll in a manner pleasing to the cowboys, appropriate for a competitive arena, and molded to create an enthusiastic audience response. In her discussion, Nance follows the arguments of many animal rights activists who present the distress of the animals involved, but what Nance adds to the conversation is her incorporation of the history of the mythic, heroic West and how that has molded our understanding of certain rodeo animals and has made allowances for their use and abuse in the rodeo. This is done most effectively in the chapter on bull riding. While other events have been attacked by animal rights activists as cruel, bull riding escapes much of this, in Nance's view, because the bulls are seen as part of what she calls the "myth of consent" (144) in that they appear [End Page 222] to happily buck and then once the buzzer sounds they just as happily trot out of the arena. Further, because of the threat of injury and death to the riders themselves, it is seen as a fairer contest. In many ways this book is not just telling the history of rodeo and that of animals in the rodeo, it is also a call for change in how we treat and view animals, their lives, and their value. Yet, as Nance notes in the chapter on bull riding, when rodeo idolizes bull riders as "a certain kind of reckless western manhood" (175) where it is okay and even celebrated that the human riders will be injured and sometimes die, it is unsurprising that little concern is directed toward the animal participants. Elyssa Ford Department of Humanities and Social Sciences Northwest Missouri State University Copyright © 2021 Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

The CMS Emergency Preparedness Rule: Challenges for Rural Medical Centers

This study examines how rural medical centers in Northwest Missouri achieve emergency planning compliance with the current Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) emergency preparedness rule. This 2017 study focused on rural hospitals, critical access hospitals, and long‐term care facilities. An exploratory qualitative research study with an interpretive phenomenological approach was applied. Data were gathered from 11 face‐to‐face interviews with medical centers’ emergency and disaster planners in Northwest Missouri. Several categories and subcategories were identified in the data and developed into themes. Thematic analysis indicated significant barriers, including a CMS unfunded mandate, preparedness conducted by a single individual with other duties, lack of a whole community approach, and a lack of financial planning by medical center administration, hinder compliance with the CMS rule, necessary to mitigate nationwide emergencies. All participants agreed to the development of the emergency operations plan, which is essential for compliance. The findings from this study support the need for additional planning staff, time, and training to understand the elements of preparedness. Compliance with the CMS emergency preparedness rule cannot be achieved unless identified barriers are addressed.

Judge rules against university

Case name: T.H., et al. v. Northwest Missouri State University, et al., No. 19‐06059‐CV (W.D. Mo. 09/23/19).

Judge rules against university

Case name: T.H., et al. v. Northwest Missouri State University, et al., No. 19‐06059‐CV (W.D. Mo. 09/23/19).

Judge rules against university

Case name: T.H., et al. v. Northwest Missouri State University, et al., No. 19‐06059‐CV (W.D. Mo. 09/23/19).

Assessing Summer Pond and Lake Inlet Use by Gray Treefrogs (Hyla versicolor/chrysoscelis complex) Using PVC Pipe Traps in Northwest Missouri

Abstract The widespread decline in amphibian populations highlights the need for establishing rigorous monitoring methods for long-term population studies. In an attempt to launch a long-term monitoring study for a Gray Treefrog complex (Hyla versicolor LeConte /chrysoscelis Cope, hereafter treefrog) population in northwest Missouri, I tested the use of PVC pipe traps in a system of ponds and inlets along a lakeside habitat for three years. For each pond (3) and inlet (2), I established an array of 16 pipes so as to compare differences in use between pipe location, ponds and inlets, and sex ratio between sites. Pipes were checked twice a week during the summer for the presence of treefrogs. Treefrog usage of pipes between ponds and inlets were compared using a contingency table analysis, while an ANOVA was used to assess differences in sex ratios between sites (α = 0.05). A single inlet was used by treefrogs more heavily than the other ponds or inlet (G = 13.61, df = 3, P = 0.0035), however, I found no differences in terms of pipe location within a pond or inlet. Mean sex ratio between water bodies varied but did not significantly differ. There appears to be little effect in terms of pipe placement within our 50 m buffer from the water's edge, but unique habitat effects at sampling locations may significantly affect detection rates or usage.

Texas Women and Ranching: On the Range, at the Rodeo, and in Their Communities ed. by Deborah M. Liles and Cecilia Gutierrez Venable

Reviewed by: Texas Women and Ranching: On the Range, at the Rodeo, and in Their Communities ed. by Deborah M. Liles and Cecilia Gutierrez Venable Elyssa Ford Texas Women and Ranching: On the Range, at the Rodeo, and in Their Communities. Edited by Deborah M. Liles and Cecilia Gutierrez Venable. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2019. ix + 164 pp. Illustrations, map, table, contributors, index. $32.00, cloth. Texas Women and Ranching is an edited collection that came out of a series of conferences and academic conversations centered on the long role that women have played in the Texas ranching industry. The book brings together scholars and writers from various disciplines, but most are historians from Texas. The introduction explains that it has been difficult in Texas to overcome the continued focus on men, not women, in ranching histories. The masculine nature of much of Texas history is true, and this book does not stand alone in its endeavor. It joins other recent work by Sara Massey, Jane Clements Monday, Carmen Goldthwaite, and Rhonda Lashley Lopez. The nine chapters highlight different women, ranching regions, and times, from the eighteenth to twenty-first centuries. It is a lot to accomplish, and the book would benefit from a thesis or themes to connect the chapters. The introduction divides the women into three categories—elite ranching women, women on smaller ranches, and rodeo women—while the title separates them differently: women on the range, at the rodeo, and in their communities. Despite these various divisions, most chapters examine women on the ranch. One chapter, Renee Laegreid's piece on Kathryn and Nancy Binford, mentions women in rodeo. A few, such as Jack Becker's chapter on Mattie B. Morris, highlight the roles these women held as ranchers within their communities. At times, nonranching community life comes to the fore. This is most prominent in the final chapter where Hollace Ava Weiner presents the life story of Frances Rosenthal Kallison. Kallison's story is a fascinating one of Jewish ranching in San Antonio, but the focus on her nonranching community involvement feels like a missed opportunity to place her experience into the broader context of Jewish ranching life. Most of the chapters are biographical in nature, and they tell us interesting stories about how these women came to own land and to ranch. The most successful are those that move beyond the narrative. In her piece on the fence-cutting wars, Brooke Wibracht effectively shows how two ranching women became active players in protecting their land. Sometimes they used their position as women but often they highlighted their rights as landowners, not women, in their public and private appeals for support. The beautiful cover art, provided by an inductee to the National Cowgirl Museum's Hall of Fame, and the short chapters make this book a quick, appealing read for those interested in women's history and western history. Elyssa Ford Department of Humanities and Social Sciences Northwest Missouri State University Copyright © 2021 Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Effect of Cereal Rye and Hairy Vetch on Pest Suppression and Corn Yield

ABSTRACTA study was conducted in 2016 to determine the effect of cereal rye (Secale cereale) and hairy vetch (Vicia villosa) combination on pest suppression and corn yield in Northwest Missouri. The experiments consisted of six treatments corresponding to cereal rye and hairy vetch combinations, plus a control. The corn treatments included conventional corn and transgenic corn. Harvested ears were assessed for rating on corn earworm damage and fungal damage on ears. Similarly, corn yield was measured across the treatments on randomly selected ears. Visual assessments of weed suppression, pest suppression (corn earworm damage), and fungal ear rots revealed no significant treatment effects. However, relevant trends in higher corn yield were observed with increasing hairy vetch proportion from 33% to 66% level. Delayed termination of hairy vetch caused poor corn growth and higher true armyworm (Mythimna unipuncta) infestation.

Physicochemical Characteristics of Biochars Derived From Corn, Hardwood, Miscanthus, and Horse Manure Biomasses

ABSTRACTBiochar, a carbon-rich by-product of biomass pyrolysis, is widely recognized as a potential ingredient for soil amendment, fertility, and carbon sequestration owing to its favorable physicochemical properties. The objective of this study was to investigate the chemical and physical properties of biochars produced through pyrolysis at 450°C from agricultural residues available in Northwest Missouri, namely hardwood (HW), corn stover (CR), miscanthus (MS), and horse manure (HM). These properties were assessed through the analysis of pyrolysis yield, pH, volatile matter, fixed carbon, ash and carbon (C), hydrogen (H), sulfur (S), nitrogen (N) contents, trace metal concentrations, surface morphology, surface functional groups, bulk density, and water holding capacity. The biochars derived from HW, MS and CR materials showed high volatile-matter (33–42%), high fixed carbon contents (42–47%), very low ash contents (6–15%), and low bulk density (0.14–0.28 g cm−3) as compared to that of HM. A wide range of trace elements was observed in biochar samples with significant differences in concentrations. In addition, CR, HW and MS biochars displayed a disordered graphitic-like structure with well-developed pores and surface areas of 23, 70 and 90 m2/g respectively, and high water-holding capacity up to 750%, indicating their potential application as a soil amendment.

‘The right hybrid for every acre’: Assembling the social worlds of corn and soy seed‐selling in conventional agricultural techniques

AbstractThis article looks to better understand seed‐selling assemblages between top‐10 agricultural companies and conventional farmers in the US Midwest by looking to the often ignored participants connecting these groups. Data for this research are drawn from 12 qualitative, on‐site interviews with participants identifying as seed dealers or agronomists who live and work in Northeast Kansas and Northwest Missouri, an agricultural region dominated by the soybean and corn agriculture that has also become ubiquitous in European and global contexts over the last half‐century. This project arises out of assemblage‐thinking approaches to re‐see the social relations between agronomists and agricultural seed. This research suggests that the convergence between genetically engineering hybrid seed stock and the discursive act of marketing that seed stock together coproduces a flexible materiality which is far from discreet or static. Because of this, transitional actors, the seed dealers and agronomists who buy and sell such seeds have unexpectedly outsized clout when considering the agentic capacity of members in conventional agriculture assemblages. By engaging with community members and farmer‐clients, seed dealers co‐produce the worlds and meanings of hybrid seeds and conventional agriculture. This paper explores these relations and considers their implications for imagining more environmentally sustainable futures.

Presentation Abstracts 55th Annual Meeting Missouri Academy of Science April 12-13, 2019 Northwest Missouri State University Maryville, MO

Presentation Abstracts 55th Annual Meeting Missouri Academy of Science April 12-13, 2019 Northwest Missouri State University Maryville, MO

Field variability and vulnerability index to identify regional precision agriculture opportunity

Innovations in precision agriculture (PA) have created opportunities to achieve a greater understanding of within-field variability. However, PA adoption has been hindered by uncertainty about field-specific performance and return on investment. Uncertainty could be better addressed by using innovative analyses that provide insights into variability among fields and across a region. The objectives of this research were to: (1) generate a within-field soil clay-content variability index (VIc), (2) create a regional-scale growing-season precipitation variability index (VIp), and (3) integrate the soil and weather indices with the USDA NRCS soil erosion vulnerability index (SVI) to produce a final index that incorporated both variability and vulnerability (VVI). The interpretation of the outcomes represented by each objective supports unique decisions that land managers may consider for reducing uncertainty about implementing PA. All indices were derived using publically available information for Missouri, USA. The VIc was the ratio between the maximum and minimum clay content within fields. The VIp was calculated as the standard deviation of the total growing-season precipitation from 2006 to 2015. Significant clustering of VIc and VIp were observed along the Missouri River corridor, northeast and northwest Missouri. Fields with high VVI were mostly in the claypan soil region of northeast Missouri, and along a portion of the Missouri River dominated by loess soils on steep slopes. Southeast Missouri displayed the greatest diversity in soil and weather variability, but had low vulnerability. This research could be used as a decision-support tool to aid producers and PA service and product providers in determining where PA opportunities exist.

0200 Nutritive and digestibility parameters of invasive grasses in northwest Missouri

0200 Nutritive and digestibility parameters of invasive grasses in northwest Missouri

Serological investigation of heartland virus (Bunyaviridae: Phlebovirus) exposure in wild and domestic animals adjacent to human case sites in Missouri 2012-2013.

Heartland virus (HRTV; Bunyaviridae: Phlebovirus) has recently emerged as a causative agent of human disease characterized by thrombocytopenia and leukopenia in the United States. The lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum L.) has been implicated as a vector. To identify candidate vertebrate amplification hosts associated with enzootic maintenance of the virus, sera and ticks were sampled from 160 mammals (8 species) and 139 birds (26 species) captured near 2 human case residences in Andrew and Nodaway Counties in northwest Missouri. HRTV-specific neutralizing antibodies were identified in northern raccoons (42.6%), horses (17.4%), white-tailed deer (14.3%), dogs (7.7%), and Virginia opossums (3.8%), but not in birds. Virus isolation attempts from sera and ticks failed to detect HRTV. The high antibody prevalence coupled with local abundance of white-tailed deer and raccoons identifies these species as candidate amplification hosts.

What's driving adoption of in‐season nitrogen application?

What's driving adoption of in‐season nitrogen application?