Progress 10/01/99 to 09/30/05
Outputs
The fundamental hypothesis of this work is that the environmental impact of large scale animal feeding operations may be moderated by alternative feeding strategies including rotation through pasture systems. An important economic benefit is reduced cost in animal feeding, as well as enhanced animal restitution and health. This is of significant potential impact to Indiana agriculture as well as regional and national animal husbandry. The model being used in this case is dairy cow operations. Fortran computer code with a Java interface has been developed to simulate the consumption patterns, energy utilization, and farm specific soil and climate conditions related to pasture systems. The computer model is currently being validated using data from the Purdue University Agronomy Farm. The model was able to predict biomass availability and nutrient loading to surface and subsurface water based on input of weather, soil conditions, and farm management practices. The next
step is to integrate the animal component into the mechanistic model on which the grasing simulation model (GRASIM) is based.
Impacts
The impact of the grazing simulation model (GRASIM), and the hydrologic model 2DSTREAM air sparging model (SPARG), will continue to be major as long as economic and environmental issues are of public concern in the application and development of new numerical methodologies for agricultural and biological engineering applications. My leadership in conducting workshops and facilitating technical interactions for using and developing numerical methods through ASABE is helping to make this technology available both to agricultural and commercial users in the state of Indiana as well as the Midwest region.
Publications
- Zhai, T., R.H. Mohtar, H. Karsten and M. Carlassare. 2004. Modeling growth and competition of a multi-species pasture system. Transactions of the ASAE. 47(2):617-627.
- Zhai, T., R.H. Mohtar, F. El-Awar, W. Jabre, and J. J. Volenec. 2004. Parameter Estimation for Process-Based Crop Gorwth Models. Transactions of the ASAE. 47(6):2109-2119.
- Mohtar, R., H.D. Buckmaster and S. Fales. 1997. A grazing simulati9on model. A: Model Development. Transactions of the ASAE. 40(5):1483-1493.
- Mohtar, R., H.D. Buckmaster and S. Fales. 1997. A grazing simulation model. B: Field Testing. Transactions of the ASAE. 40(5):1495-1500.
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Progress 10/01/03 to 09/29/04
Outputs
Dairy and beef are major contributors to the economy of the US, but increasing cost of production, the decline of prices towards a world market price, and environmental issues are jeopardizing the long-term sustainability of these farms. This is causing a continuing trend toward larger farms concentrated in certain geographic locations. Integrated research and technology transfer programs are needed to help dairy and beef farmers manage their farms in a cost effective and environmentally acceptable manner and to comply with new farming regulations. Modeling and computer simulation provide an effective research strategy for integrating component-level effects and interactions to predict farm level or higher outcomes. The NE-132 project has brought together a broad range of disciplines and led to the development of quantitative models: the Dairy Forage System Model (DAFOSYM), the Dairy Nutrient Planner (DNP), and GRASIM the grazing simulation model. These models
integrate years of collaborative research and enable an enhanced understanding of nutrient flows in the farm system. In the new project, models that were previously developed will be used and evaluated under diverse farm conditions to identify improved strategies for management of nutrients on farms. Models will be developed for on-farm use in various regions on the U.S. To advance whole-farm model evaluation and application, a coordinated effort is needed at several levels. First, field studies of nutrient dynamics and cropping systems are needed to calibrate predictions for different geographic locations and to evaluate model components. Second, model refinements and software development are needed to enable use of the models on individual farms throughout the U.S. Third, model prediction capacity must be expanded to more accurately partition nutrient losses into those from volatilization, leaching, runoff, and denitrification, and consequences of alternative feeding or crop
management systems must be expanded. Finally, models must be applied to planning of dairy production systems to reduce or eliminate problems associated with nutrient management and profitability.
Impacts
GRASIM will continue to be a useful planning tool as long as economic and environmental issues are of public concern in the application and development of new numerical methodologies for agricultural and biological engineering applications of environmental issues. My leadership in conducting workshops and facilitating technical interactions for using and developing numerical methods through ASAE is helping to make this technology available to both agricultural and commercial users in the state of Indiana as well as the Midwest region.
Publications
- Mohtar R.H. and D. Buckmaster. 1995. A grazing system model: GRASIM. Proc. of the American Forage and Grassland Conference. American Forage and Grassland Council, Georgetown, TX.
- Mohtar, R.H., D.R. Buckmaster, and S.L. Fales. 1997b. A grazing simulation model: GRASIM, II Field Testing. Trans. ASAE. 40(5):1495-1500.
- Mohtar, R.H., D.R. Buckmaster, and S.L. Fales. 1997c. GRASIM: A tool for better pasture management. XVIII Int'l Grassland Congress, Manitoba, Canada.
- Mohtar, R.H., T. Zhai, and X.W. Chen, 2000. A world wide web-based grazing simulation model (GRASIM). Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 29:243-250.
- Zhai, T., R.H. Mohtar, X.W. Chen, and B.A. Engel, 1999. Optimization of pasture system with Grazing Simulation Model (GRASIM). Written for Presentation at the 1999 ASAE Annual International Meeting Sponsored by ASAE, Paper number 993091, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. July 18-21, 1999.
- Zhai, T., R.H. Mohtar, H. Karsten, M. Carlassare, 2004b. Modeling growth and competition of multi-species pasture system. Trans. ASAE. 47(2):617-627
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Progress 10/01/02 to 09/30/03
Outputs
The fundamental hypothesis of this work is that the environmental impact of large scale animal feeding operations may be moderated by alternative feeding strategies including rotation through pasture systems. An important economic benefit is reduced cost in animal feeding, as well as enhanced animal restitution and health. This is of significant potential impact to Indiana agriculture as well as regional and national animal husbandry. The model being used in this case is dairy cow operations. Fortran computer code with a Java interface has been developed to simulate the consumption patterns, energy utilization, and farm-specific soil and climate conditions related to pasture system. The computer model is currently being validated using data from the Purdue University Agronomy Farm taken between 1993 and 1997. The model was able to predict biomass availability and nutrient loading to surface and subsurface water based on input of weather, soil conditions, and farm
management practices for 1994 and 1996. The next step is to integrate the animal component into the mechanistic model on which the grazing simulation model (GRASIM) is based.
Impacts
The impact of GRASIM will continue to be major as long as economic and environmental issues are of public concern in the application and development of new numerical methodologies for agricultural and biological engineering applications of environmental issues. My leadership in conducting workshops and facilitating technical interactions for using and developing numerical methods through ASAE is helping to make this technology available to both agricultural and commercial users in the state of Indiana as well as the Midwest region.
Publications
- Mohtar, R.H., F.A. El-Awar, and W. Jabre. 2003. Water Harvesting Methods for Rural Domestic Water Supply. Encyclopedia of Water, Marcel Dekker.
- Jaber, F.H. and R. H. Mohtar. 2002. Dynamic Time Step for One-Dimensional Overland Flow Kinematic Wave Solution. Journal of Hydrologic Engineering ASCE 7(1):3-11.
- Benner, M., R.H. Mohtar, and L. Lee. 2002. Field and numerical analysis of parameters affecting air sparging remediation systems. Journal of Hazardous Materials 95(3):305-329.
- Mohtar, R.H., T. Zhai, and X. Chen. 2003. Rangeland modeling - Forage, water, and nutrients: species competition and tree effects. Proceedings of Water Harvesting & Environmental Conference, December 14-18, 2003. Bhopal, India.
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Progress 10/01/01 to 09/30/02
Outputs
The fundamental hypothesis of this work is that the environmental impact of large scale animal feeding operations may be moderated by alternative feeding strategies including rotation through pasture systems. An important economic benefit is reduced cost in animal feeding, as well as enhanced animal restitution and health. This is of significant potential impact to Indiana agriculture as well as regional and national animal husbandry. The model being used in this case is dairy cow operations. Fortran computer code with a Java interface has been developed to simulate the consumption patterns, energy utilization, and farm specific soil and climate conditions related to pasture systems. The computer model is currently being validated using data from the Purdue University Agronomy Farm taken between 1993 and 1997. The model was able to predict biomass availability and nutrient loading to surface and subsurface water based on input of weather, soil conditions, and farm
management practices for 1994 and 1996. The next step is to integrate the animal component into the mechanistic model on which the grazing simulation model (GRASIM) is based.
Impacts
The impact of GRASIM and SPARG will continue to be major as long as economic and environmental issues are of public concern in the application and development of new numerical methodologies for agricultural and biological engineering applications of environmental issues. My leadership in conducting workshops and facilitating technical interactions for using and developing numerical methods through ASAE is helping to make this technology available to both agricultural and commercial users in the state of Indiana as well as the Midwest region.
Publications
- Gunn, R.L., R.H. Mohtar, and B.A. Engel. 2002. World-Wide-Web-Based Soil and Water Quality Modeling in Undergraduate Education. Journal of Natural Resource and Life Science Education, 31:141-147.
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Progress 10/01/00 to 09/30/01
Outputs
The fundamental hypothesis of this work is that the environmental impact of large scale animal feeding operations may be moderated by alternative feeding strategies including rotation through pasture systems. An important economic benefit is reduced cost in animal feeding, as well as enhanced animal restitution and health. This is of significant potential impact to Indiana agriculture as well as regional and a national animal husbandry. The model being used in this case is dairy cow operations. Fortran computer code with a Java interface has been developed to simulate the consumption patterns, energy utilization, and farm specific soil and climate conditions related to pasture systems. The computer model is currently being validated using data from the Purdue University Agronomy Farm taken between 1993 and 1997. The model was able to predict biomass availability and nutrient loading to surface and subsurface water based on input of weather, soil conditions, and farm
management practices for 1994 and 1996. The next step is to integrate the animal component into the mechanistic model on which the grazing simulation model (GRASIM) is based.
Impacts
The impact of GRASIM and SPARG will continue to be major as long as economic and environmental issues are of public concern in the application and development of new numerical methodologies for agricultural and biological engineering applications of environmental issues. My leadership in conducting workshops and facilitating technical interactions for using and developing numerical methods through ASAE is helping to make this technology available to both agricultural and commercial users in the state of Indiana as well as the Midwest region.
Publications
- Mohtar, R. T. Zhai, and X. Chen. 2000. A world wide web-based grazing simulation model (GRASIM). Computers and Electronics in Agriculture. 29:243-250. Presented also as ASAE Paper No. 98-3173.
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Progress 10/01/99 to 09/30/00
Outputs
The fundamental hypothesis of this work is that the environmental impact of large scale animal feeding operations may be moderated by alternative feeding strategies including rotation through pasture systems. An important economic benefit is reduced cost in animal feeding, as well as enhanced animal restitution and health. This is of significant potential impact to Indiana agriculture as well as regional and a national animal husbandry. The model being used in this case is dairy cow operations. Fortran computer code with a Java interface has been developed to simulate the consumption patterns, energy utilization, and farm specific soil and climate conditions related to pasture systems. The computer model is currently being validated using data from the Purdue University Agronomy Farm taken between 1993 and 1997. The model was able to predict biomass availability and nutrient loading to surface and subsurface water based on input of weather, soil conditions, and farm
management practices for 1994 and 1996. The next step is to integrate the animal component into the mechanistic model on which the GRASIM model is based.
Impacts
The impact of GRASIM and SPARG will continue to be major as long as economic and environmental issues are of public concern in the application and development of new numerical methodologies for agricultural and biological engineering applications of environmental issues. My leadership in conducting workshops and facilitating technical interactions for using and developing numerical methods through ASAE is helping to make this technology available to both agricultural and commercial users in the state of Indiana as well as the Midwest region.
Publications
- Mohtar*, R. and B. Engel*. 2000. A WWW-based soil and water quality modeling system to enhance student learning. J. Engineering Education. Jan. 2000 89-94.
- Mohtar*, R. and L. Segerlind. 1999. Dynamic time step estimates for one-dimensional linear transient field problems. Transactions of the ASAE, 42(5):1477-1484.
- Mohtar*, R.H. and L. Segerlind. 1999. Dynamic time step and stability criteria comparison. International Journal of Thermal Sciences. 38 (475-480).
- Alavi*, S.H., V.M. Puri*, S.J. Knabel, R.H. Mohtar*, and R.C. Whiting. 1999. Development and Validation of a dynamic growth model for Listeria monocytogenes in the fluid whole milk. Journal of Food Protection, 62(2):170-176.
- Benner*, M.L., S.M. Stanford, L.S. Lee* and R.H. Mohtar*. 1999. Field and Numerical Analysis of In-Situ Air Sparging: A Case Study. HAZMAT, Elsevier. 72(2000) pp 217-236.
- Montas*, H., R. Mohtar*, A. Hasan*, F. AlKhal. 2000. Heuristic space-time design of monitoring wells for contaminant plumes characterization in stochastic flow fields. Journal for Contaminant Hydrology 43(2000) pp. 271-301.
- Mohtar*, R. T. Zhai*, and X. Chen. 2000. A world wide web-based grazing simulation model (GRASIM). Computers and Electronics in Agriculture. In press.
- El-Awar*, F.A., M. Makke*, R.A. Zurayk, and R.H. Mohtar*. 2000. A spatial-hierarchical methodology for siting water harvesting reservoirs in dry areas. Applied Engineering in Agriculture. In press.
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Progress 10/01/98 to 09/30/99
Outputs
The fundamental hypothesis of this work is that the environmental impact of large scale animal feeding operations may be moderated by alternative feeding strategies including rotation through pasture systems. An important economic benefit is reduced cost in animal feeding, as well as enhanced animal restitution and health. This is of signficiant potential impact to Indiana agriculture as well as regional and a national animal husbandry. The model being used in this case is dairy cow operations. Fortran computer code with a Java interface has been developed to simulate the consumption patterns, energy utilization, and farm specific soil and climate conditions related to pasture systems. The computer model is currently being validated using data from the Purdue University Agronomy Farm taken between 1993 and 1997. The model was able to predict biomass availability and nutrient loading to surface and subsurface water based on input of weather, soil conditions, and farm
management practices for 1994 and 1996. The next step is to integrate the animal component into the mechanistic model on which the GRASIM model is based.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
- Carroll, N., R. Mohtar and L.J. Segerlind. 1996. Predicting the cooling time for irregular shaped food products. Journal of Food Process Engineering 19(1996):385-401.
- Mohtar, R.H., R.B. Wallace and L.J. Segerlind. 1996. Finite element analysis for air sparging in porous media. Fluid/Particle Separation Journal 9(3):239-255.
- Mohtar, R.H. and L.J. Segerlind. 1998. Dynamic time-step estimates for two-dimensional transient field problems using square elements. Int. J. Numer. Meth. Engng. 40,000-000(1997):1-14.
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Progress 10/01/97 to 09/30/98
Outputs
This particular research is a project being carried out under the auspices of the Agricultural Research Programs. The fundamental hypothesis of this work is that the environmental impact of large scale animal feeding operations may be moderated by alternative feeding strategies including rotation through pasture systems. An important economic benefit is reduced cost in animal feeding, as well as enhanced animal restitution and health. This is of significant potential impact to Indiana agriculture as well as regional and national animal husbandry. The model being used in this case is dairy cow operations. Fortran computer code with a Java interface has been developed to simulate the consumption patterns, energy utilization, and farm specific soil and climate conditions related to pasture systems. The computer model is currently being validated using data from the Purdue University Agronomy Farm taken between 1993 to 1997. The model was able to predict biomass
availability and nutrient loading to surface and subsurface water based on input of weather, soil conditions, and farm management practices for 1994 and 1996. The next step is to integrate the animal component into the mechanistic model on which the GRASIM model is based.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
- MOHTAR, R.H., JABRO, J.D. and BUCKMASTER, D.R. 1997. A grazing simulation model: GRASIM. A: Model development. Trans. ASAE 40(5):1483-1493.
- MOHTAR, R.H., JABRO, J.D. and BUCKMASTER, D.R. 1997. A grazing simulation model: GRASIM. B: Field testing. Trans. ASAE 40(5):1495-1500.
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Progress 10/01/96 to 09/30/97
Outputs
This particular research is a project being carried out under the auspices of the Agricultural Research Programs. The fundamental hypothesis of this work is that the environmental impact of large scale, large animal feeding operations may be moderated by alternative feeding strategies including rotation through pasture systems. An important economic benefit is reduced cost in animal feeding, as well as enhanced animal restitution and health. This is of significant potential impact to Indiana agriculture as well as regional and national animal husbandry. The model being used in this case is dairy cow operations. Fortran computer code with a Java interface has been developed to simulate the consumption patterns, energy utilization, and farm specific soil and climate conditions related to pasture systems. The computer model is currently being validated using data from the Purdue University Agronomy Farm taken between 1993 to 1997. The model was able to predict biomass
availability and nutrient loading to surface and subsurface water based on input of weather, soil conditions, and farm management practices for 1994 and 1996. The next step is to integrate the animal component into the mechanistic model on which the GRASIM model is based.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
- MOHTAR, R.H., JABRO, J.D. and BUCKMASTER, D.R. 1997. A grazing simulation model: GRASIM. A: Model development. Trans. ASAE 40(5):1483-1493.
- MOHTAR, R.H., JABRO, J.D. and BUCKMASTER, D.R. 1997. A grazing simulation model: GRASIM. B: Field testing. Trans. ASAE 40(5):1495-1500.
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