This library guide here is directed towards what we feel will be the most immediate needs for students in this program. I want to point out that if there is not enough information on this guide here, that there is another, much larger and more general agriculture library guide that might be of interest to you as well. There will be some overlap of information between these two guides, but there will be additional information found on the other, which can be found here: https://instr.iastate.libguides.com/agriculture
Crop Explorer
http://www.pecad.fas.usda.gov/cropexplorer/index.cfm
Produced by the Foreign Agricultural Service of the USDA, this website provides an analytical tool of crop condition information from around the world. Information covered includes weather, soil moisture, vegetation index, satellite data, growing seasons, and additional related resources.
Crop Production
http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1OB?navid=CROP_PRODUCTION&parentnav=AGRICULTURE&navtype=RT
This USDA site focuses on some of the economical issues of agronomy and the research that supports making quality decisions. Areas include a section on crop yields by county and by state, yield forecasting information, and annual world crop production summaries. Additionally charts and maps of crops are available, as well as downloadable geospatial data.
Crop Profiles and Timelines
http://www.ipmcenters.org/CropProfiles/
This site provides crop profiles and timelines searchable by state or region and by crop. The crop profiles provide a synopsis of known information for a crop in a given state. For example, this might include overall production information, growing seasons, common pests and diseases with damage and control information, weeds and individuals to contact for further data. This information is developed by the Integrated Pest Management Center, which is sponsored by the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service of the USDA.
Introductory Plant Pathology Resources
http://www.ipmcenters.org/CropProfiles/
This site is created by the American Phytopathological Society and is aimed at college students. Topics covered range from an introduction to major pathogen groups to plant disease management simulations to general topics in plant pathology. Especially useful are the full-text articles arranged by pathogen groups.
National Plant Germplasm System
http://www.ars-grin.gov/npgs/
Part of the USDA's Agricultural Research Service, this page provides information on efforts to preserve the genetic diversity of plants, particularly food crops. Information includes links to national germplasm repositories and their areas of study and ways to request samples of germplasm.
Plant Diseases & Damage
http://www.ent.iastate.edu/imagegal/plantpath/
This site maintained by Iowa State University provides pictures and descriptive articles for various diseases and insect damage that can affect crops. The crops covered are alfalfa, barley, corn, oak tater, oats, soybeans, and wheat.
Plant Management Network (PMN)
http://www.plantmanagementnetwork.org/
The resource is a unique cooperative effort of partners from industry, non-profit organizations, and universities. Although complete access requires a subscription, this site still provides lots of useful information on crop and soil sciences for free. This includes the full text of a few recent articles and a public archive for older articles for all four of the journals published by PMN (Applied Turfgrass Science, Crop Management, Forage and Grazinglands, and Plant Health Progress). Additionally, the PMN newsletter can be subscribed to for free. With a paid subscription, the site also provides an extensive plant image database, information on variety trials, a searchable plant science database, and the full text of reports like the Arthropod Management Tests.
PLANT Facts: Horticulture and Crop Science in Virtual Perspective
http://plantfacts.osu.edu/
Developed at Ohio State University, this site contains collections of data and multimedia tools. Although there is a strong emphasis on horticulture, what is particularly valuable for crop scientists is the search engine that concentrates on only plants and the searchable database of images. These images cover insects, diseases, and turf.
Plants Database
http://plants.usda.gov/
This site maintained by the Natural Resources Conservation Service, part of the USDA, has a wealth of information on plants. Although covering many aspects of plants in general, there are still many areas of interest to crop science. For instance, there is a database of alternative crops for small scale farmers, an image gallery, a section on invasive and noxious weeds, a crop nutrient tool, and a list of plants by state with both scientific and common names.
Transgenic Crops
http://cls.casa.colostate.edu/TransgenicCrops/
This site, presented in English or Spanish, strives to present balanced information on the hot button topic of transgenic crops. These are also referred to as genetically modified or GM crops. Not only does this site cover particular areas such as plant breeding and evaluation and regulation, there are also areas targeted to specific audiences. These include teachers, nutritionists, journalists, and extension agents.
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Soils Website
http://soils.usda.gov/
This site contains massive amounts of soil information, including practical tools and downloadable data sets. The site contains a soil extent mapping tool, hurricane disaster response maps, ground-penetrating radar soil suitability maps, and online versions of current soil surveys. Sub-sites of interest:
Photo Gallery
http://soils.usda.gov/gallery/
This presents photos of examples of types of soil, soil profiles, and soil landscapes.
Soil Surveys
http://soils.usda.gov/survey/online_surveys/
This site is also useful in documenting the existence of historical soil surveys by state and links to the full text when available.
Soil Taxonomy
http://soils.usda.gov/technical/classification/taxonomy/
This provides a PDF version of the government document, Soil Taxonomy, A Basic System of Soil Classification for Making and Interpreting Soil Surveys, 2nd ed.
Soil Texture Calculator
http://soils.usda.gov/technical/aids/investigations/texture/
By entering the percentage of sand and clay in a soil sample, this calculator will figure out the soil texture for the user.
World Soil Resources
http://soils.usda.gov/use/worldsoils/
This links to global and regional soil maps, technical papers, professional organizations and other resources.
Smithsonian Soils Exhibit
http://www.soils.org/smithsonian/
Although the exhibit at the National Museum of Natural History won't open until 2008, this web site will continue to increase in content over the next two years. Currently, it has the exhibit overview which highlights areas such as soil as life, the role of soil in the environment, food and medicine from the soil, and soil in cultural history. It also includes a detailed list of educational materials received for the exhibit.
Soil Biology Movies
http://www.agron.iastate.edu/%7Eloynachan/mov/
This site contains 16 streaming videos with sound on life in the soil. Produced by Dr. Tom Loynachan of Iowa State University, each video replicates a lecture describing a living item found in the soil. Examples include nematodes, protozoa, mites, earthworms, and bacteria. Best viewing requires a high speed Internet connection and Macromedia Flash player.
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