The topics in this newsletter are considered to be timely and of interest. Comments and suggestions are invited. The use of trade names in this newsletter is not an endorsement of any company or product by the Maryland Cooperative Extension, University of Maryland, College Park.
David S. Ross, Extension Agricultural Engineer

The following Natural Resource, Agriculture, and Engineering Service publications are being highlighted this month for growers and marketers.

Orders should be sent to NRAES, Cooperative Extension, 152 Riley-Robb Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853-5701. Quantity discounts are available. Major credit cards are accepted, and checks should be made payable to NRAES. For information about quantity discounts, or for a free publications catalog, contact NRAES by phone at (607) 255-7654, by fax (607) 254-8770, or by E-mail at nraes@cornell.edu. NRAES also maintains a web site at http://www.nraes.org.

Agricultural producers and consultants, engineers, equipment dealers, government agency employees, educators, students, and others interested in the technology of irrigation have a newly published resource to help them better understand all aspects of sprinkler irrigation systems. The book Sprinkler Irrigation Systems, MWPS-30 from MidWest Plan Service (MWPS) provides a systematic approach to the whys and hows of developing sprinkler irrigation systems.

Thomas Scherer, an associate professor and extension engineer in the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering at North Dakota State University, served as chair of the group that wrote the book. He says Sprinkler Irrigation Systems was developed to provide a planning tool, reference guide, and design manual for a broad audience. According to Scherer, the authors wanted MWPS-30 to be a repository of the technical knowledge necessary to design and develop sprinkler irrigation systems. Another goal was to further an understanding of the methods used to manage irrigation systems efficiently.

In line with those aims, the book provides information that helps to determine water needs and to establish a minimum recommended system capacity. The publication also includes a discussion of the methods used to evaluate a water supply and to determine the type of sprinkler system that best fits a specific need.

One chapter is devoted to understanding and using water sources properly. This chapter includes sections on planning, drilling, developing, pumping, and maintaining irrigation wells. Separate chapters discuss sprinkler performance characteristics and sprinkler selection and management. Another chapter explains how to select pumps, piping, and power units.

The book does not neglect special uses for irrigation systems. One chapter discusses chemigation, which is the application of fertilizers and pesticides through irrigation systems. Another discusses using sprinkler irrigation systems to apply effluent from animal production systems, municipal treatment plants, and food processing plants. This chapter focuses on the need to apply effluents without detrimental effects to surface water, ground water, soil, and crops.

The final chapter in the book contains examples covering the step-by-step planning and design process for different sprinkler irrigation systems. Included in the examples are designs for a center-pivot system with a well, a traveler irrigation system, and an irrigation system for a small acreage that is producing horticultural crops.

Sprinkler Irrigation Systems contains more than 110 photographs and illustrations. Included in the illustrations are example layouts of irrigation systems and diagrams of pumping and piping systems. The book has approximately 70 tables that help to organize technical data, including estimated pressure losses for hard and soft hoses, peak application rates for various systems, maximum flow rates, friction losses, and efficiencies of typical drive units.

Sprinkler Irrigation Systems, MWPS-30, is available for $20.00 per copy plus shipping and handling from NRAES, Cooperative Extension, 152 Riley-Robb Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853-5701. Shipping and handling for one copy is $3.50 within the continental United States.

Jay Harmon, an extension agricultural engineer at Iowa State University, is one of the authors of the publication. He says that AED-44 will be a good resource for pork producers who are investigating lower-cost structures for raising pigs.

The 16-page publication gives swine producers the latest information on an emerging alternative form of swine housing. According to Harmon, it provides an objective review of the advantages and disadvantages of hoop structures. It addresses basic questions about when producers should consider hoops over other housing systems and discusses some of the different management practices that hoops require.

Harmon advises producers who are investigating the possibility of putting up hoop structures to house gestating sows to examine a number of different layout options. AED-44 shows various layouts and provides a detailed discussion explaining how layouts vary depending on the type of feeding systems used, he says. The publication concludes that feeding stalls are the most expensive of the feeding system options but points out that stalls provide the producer the best option in individual sow management.

AED-44 presents financial information comparing the costs of different hoop structure layouts. It shows some of the differences in management techniques required for handling grouped sows in hoop structures, and it describes the bedding and manure handling requirements for hoop structures. The publication also summarizes information about hoop structure design and use.

Hoop Structures for Gestating Swine, AED-44, is available for $4.00 per copy plus shipping and handling from NRAES, Cooperative Extension, 152 Riley-Robb Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853-5701. Shipping and handling for one copy is $3.50 within the continental United States.

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is an approach that uses knowledge from many disciplines to enhance profitability, optimize environmental stewardship, and protect human health. Minimizing reliance on chemical pesticides is one important goal of IPM. A new IPM Field Corn Pocket Guide brings together in a compact format information needed for successful Integrated Pest Management and Integrated Crop Management (ICM) for field corn growers in the Northeast and their advisors. A collaborative work by experts from across the region, the IPM Field Corn Pocket Guide, IPM-1 (January 1999, 280 pages), is available from NRAES, the Natural Resource, Agriculture, and Engineering Service, for $7.00 plus shipping and handling and sales tax.

Some key principles of IPM include management strategies such as crop rotation, site selection, and hybrid selection; identification of pests, environmental stress, nutritional deficiency, or other factors as causes of field problems; sampling or scouting to assess the damage potential of pests; weighing of costs, benefits, and risks of cultural, mechanical, biological, and chemical controls; and implementation of pest control at optimal times in the life cycles of pests and crops. After an introductory overview, the IPM Field Corn Pocket Guide concisely presents information for scouting and managing insect pests, beneficial insects, corn plant diseases, and vertebrate pests, grass weeds, and broadleaf weeds. Also covered are plant and soil health and fertility and postharvest storage. Appendixes include useful formulas, conversions, and comparisons. Offering guidance on identifying and managing insect, weed, and vertebrate pests as well as nutritional deficiencies, the 280-page publication includes over 80 line drawings, 18 color plates, and more than 40 tables-all in a handy 3 1/4-inch by 6-inch format. Five fold-out reference charts provide insect pest action thresholds, management alternatives, and sampling strategies; pictorial keys to grasses and broadleaf weeds; and "Be Your Own Corn Doctor" full-color diagnostic illustrations.

The IPM Field Corn Pocket Guide is an expansion and revision of a 1997 book, Your Pocket Guide to Alfalfa and Field Corn Management. It offers regional coverage as well as substantial additional material on field corn, including diagnostic color plates. New features include pull-out color guides and keys, color disease plates, a practical thumb-index, coverage of vertebrate pest management, a guide to corn development, and expanded sections on corn yield loss and management of dried stored grain.

IPM Field Corn Pocket Guide, IPM-1, is available for $7.00 per copy plus shipping and handling, from NRAES, Cooperative Extension, 152 Riley-Robb Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853-5701. Shipping and handling for one copy is $3.50 within the continental United States.

As concern for the environment grows, so does the need for effective management of the life inhabiting our great woodlands. Enhancing Wildlife Habitats: A Practical Guide for Forest Landowners, NRAES-64, is a comprehensive guide designed specifically for private, non-industrial forest owners. This straightforward guide outlines strategies for developing a well-focused plan to encourage and manage wildlife on woodlots.

The initial sections of the book are designed to give readers a clear understanding of the complex plant and animal interactions they will encounter on their woodlots. Featured in these sections are topics such as forest growth, the forest community, wildlife populations, cover, food, and water. Other sections discuss encouraging the growth of specific animal populations. Descriptions, ranges, life histories, and habitat requirements of many wildlife species are included.

The book includes chapters on basic forest wildlife ecology, understanding wildlife habitats, American woodcock and ruffed grouse, white-tailed deer and eastern wild turkey, other upland forest wildlife species, and wetlands wildlife, as well as an appendix, glossary, and references. Review questions are also included at the end of each chapter. The book is 172 pages long with 11 tables and over 100 figures, many of which are black-and-white photographs.

Enhancing Wildlife Habitats: A Practical Guide for Forest Landowners, NRAES-64, was written by Scott S. Hobson, chief biologist at Keyes Associates and Environmental Scientific; John S. Barclay, associate professor of wildlife management and extension wildlife specialist at the University of Connecticut; and Stephen H. Broderick, extension forester at the University of Connecticut.

Enhancing Wildlife Habitats: A Practical Guide for Forest Landowners, NRAES-64, is available for $25.00 (plus shipping and handling) from NRAES, Cooperative Extension, 152 Riley-Robb Hall, Ithaca, New York, 14853-5701. Quantity discounts are available. The shipping and handling charge is $5.00 for a single copy within the continental United States.