The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture
ANNUAL REPORTING FORM
 
Brian Leib, Associate Professor
Biosystems Engineering & Soil Science
Annual Performance Period: January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2006


A. SUMMARY AND IMPACTS.

1. Summary. Provide an overall summary (500 words or less) of your accomplishments during the reporting period.

My primary objective is to develop and deliver information for clientele on irrigation system design and management that will increase productivity, reduce chemical inputs, save water, and decrease non-point pollution.

In Tennessee, projects have been initiated that correspond with my primary objective and affect important crop enterprises in the state. Four field research and extension projects were continued from 2005, two existing projects were significantly improved and three new projects were initiated in 2006: These nine projects are:

CONTINUED PROJECTS
1) Sprinkler Package Evaluation for Center Pivot Irrigation of Row Crops in No-Till,
2) The Irrigation Potential of Forages: Fescue, Orchard Grass, Bermuda Grass, and Alfalfa,
3) Fertigation of Burley Tobacco: Reducing Fertilizer Input and Nitrosamine Levels,
4) A Revolving Fund to Promotion Irrigation Scheduling using Soil Moisture Sensors,

UPGRADED PROJECTS
5) MOIST Irrigation Scheduling Program and Automated Weather Stations (tobacco, scalable crop coefficients, and digital cell phones added)
6) Optimum Pumpkin Production comparing Irrigation Levels, Plastic Mulch, and Bare Soil (Greeneville location added)

NEW PROJECTS
7) Low Cost Irrigation of Bermuda Grass for Small Acreage Implemented (funded in 2005),
8) Deficit Irrigation of Cotton for Optimum Return on Investment (implemented and funded),
9) Tennessee Irrigation Survey Of Row Crop Production.

These projects are located on UT experiment stations and on producers' fields, and include collaboration with extension specialists from other departments along with extension agents from various counties. In order to support these projects, $13,500 of new grant funds were secured in 2006 and $93,000 grants were still active from previous contracts.

These research and extension projects are providing much of the information needed for my extension programming and there has been a significant increase in requests for education/service in 2006 as summarized below:

1. 18 presentations were made to 890 producers, extension agents, and professionals,
2. 16 irrigation/water related plans were developed for clientele,
3. 7 row crop producers participated in irrigation scheduling demonstrations,
4. 58 requests for technical information were answered.


2. Impacts. List up to three significant impacts of your program. Impact statements should be one to three sentences and should be written in a way that would be meaningful to the public.

1. Implemented improved irrigation scheduling methods with producers who farm over 40,000 acres of row-crops in West Tennessee.

2. Established research and demonstration plots to improve irrigation practices in most of Tennessee's major crop enterprises: tobacco, forage, vegetable, and row crops.

3. The Tennessee branch of Mid-Valley Irrigation was purchased by the operator. Assistance has been provided in adding irrigation scheduling products to this business.



B. PROJECTS AND PROGRAMS (EXTENSION, RESEARCH AND TEACHING). As applicable, list title, names of participants (PIs, Leaders, Co-PIs, Co-leaders, Collaborators etc.), project number, sponsor, your role ( leader/co-leader/collaborator) and your percent effort on the project as stated in the project description or document.

1. Optimum Pumpkin Production comparing Irrigation Levels under Plastic Mulch versus Bare Soil. Internally funded by the Biosystems Engineering & Soil Science Department, REC at Greeneville, and the Plateau REC. Leib, B. G. (Leader, 30%), J. W. Hitch (5%), R. Ellis (5%) W. C. Wright (20%), R. Hensley (20%) and A. B. Smith (20%), 2006.

2. Forage Irrigation in Tennessee. Internally funded by the Biosystems Engineering & Soil Science Department and the Highland Rim REC. Leib, B. G. (Leader, 35%), H. Savoy (10%), G. Bates (10%), B. Sims (10%), and B. Fisher (35%), 2006.

3. Sprinkler Package Evaluation for Center Pivot Irrigation of Row Crops in Humid Regions. Internally funded by the Biosystems Engineering & Soil Science Department and the Milan REC. Leib, B. G. (Leader, 30%), D. Tyler (10%), B. Brown (20%), J. McClure (20%), and J. Williams (20%), 2006.

4. Real-Time Crop Water Use and Weather Data for Tennessee. Internally funded by the Biosystems Engineering & Soil Science Department and cooperation with Extension Specialists, and Extension Agents. Leib, B. G. (Leader, 20%), Lown, J. (10%), J. Wilkerson (10%), W. C. Wright (25%), J. Buchanan (10%), J. Logan (10%), J. Sowders (5%), S. C. Danehower (5%), and T. Sullivan (5%), 2006.

5. Management of Irrigation Systems in Tennessee (MOIST): an Irrigation Scheduling Spreadsheet. Internally funded by the Biosystems Engineering & Soil Science Department. Leib, B. G. (Leader, 80%), S. C. Danehower (10%), and J. Lown (10%), 2005.

6. Fertigation of Burley Tobacco: Reducing Fertilizer Input and Nitrosamine Levels. Funded by Philip Morris USA ($91,079). Leib, B. G. (co-leader, 20%), H. Savoy (20%), E. Caldwell (15%), H. P. Denton (5%), B. Sims (5%), R. Ellis (5%), C. Click (15%) and W. Pitt (15%), 2006.

7. Low Cost Irrigation of Bermuda Grass for Small Acreage. Funded by the Grazing Coalition. P. Shelby (60%) and B. G. Leib (Co-Leader, 40%), 2006.

8. Deficit Irrigation of Cotton for Optimum Return on Investment. Funded by Cotton Incorporated ($13,500). Leib, B. G. (35%), C. O. Gwathmay (30%), C. Michaud (25%), C. Craig ( 5%), and C. Mains (5%), 2006.

9. A Revolving Fund to Promotion Soil Moisture Monitoring and Irrigation Scheduling in Tennessee. Internally funded by the Biosystems Engineering & Soil Science Department ($2,000 from end-of-year extension funds), Extension Specialists, and Extension Agents. Leib, B. G. (Leader, 45%), S. C. Danehower (25%), J. Parker (5%), G. Allen (5%), R. Buntin (5%), T. Campbell (5%), T. Sullivan (5%), and P. Shelby (5%), 2006.

10. 2005 Tennessee Irrigation Survey Of Row Crop Production. Internally funded by University of Tennessee Extension. Leib, B. G. (40%) S. C. Danehower (20%) and West Tennesssee Extension Agents (40%), 2006.


C. INSTRUCTION, TEACHING AND EXTENSION EDUCATION. Detail credit and non-credit instruction and teaching activities.

1. College credit instruction. List courses in which you were an instructor or guest lecturer during the current calendar year. Include special topics, independent study and internship courses. Provide course number and title, your involvement, semester(s), credit hours and number of students. Please append a summary of teaching evaluations (student and/or peer) if this information is available.

Course number and title Involvement Semester Credit
hours		 Number of
students
         

2. Formal continuing education (certification programs, seminar series, in-service training, field days, faculty and/or staff training, journal club, etc.). Provide descriptive title of activity, your involvement, number of participants or students involved, number and duration of each session.

Descrip. title, including dates Involvement Number of students
or participants		 Number of
sessions		 Duration of each
session (hours)
“Alternative Irrigation for Small Plots” to 40 research assistants and research associates at the 2006 UT Ag Experiment Station Staff Training, Jackson, TN, March 6, 2006 Total401.5
“Irrigation Systems for Organic Fruit & Vegetable Production” at the University of Tennessee Extension – 2006 Fruit and Vegetable In-Service Training, Crossville, TN, May 24-25, 2006.Total5011.2
“Irrigation Update for Row Crops” at the UT Extension: Row Crop In-Service Training, Manchester, TN, January 20, 2006.Total301.25
“Irrigation Update for Row Crops” at the UT Extension: Row Crop In-Service Training, Jackson, TN, January 12, 2006.Total401.25
“Tobacco Irrigation, Fertigation, and Plasticulture” at the Highland Rim Tobacco Field Day, Springfield, TN, July 6, 2006.Team9720.5
“Tobacco Irrigation, Fertigation, and Plasticulture” at the Tobacco Field Day, Greeneville, TN, July 20, 2006.Team12020.5
Led hands-on training “Installation of Drip Irrigation” at the University of Tennessee Extension – 2006 Fruit and Vegetable In-Service Training, Crossville, TN, May 24-25, 2006.Team5041
Led hands-on training “Operation of Drip Irrigation” at the University of Tennessee Extension – 2006 Fruit and Vegetable In-Service Training, Crossville, TN, May 24-25, 2006.Total503.5
Tour I: Profitable Irrigation of Row Crops – When Should I Irrigate and How Much Water Should I Apply?” at the Milan No-Till Field Day, July 27, 2006.Coordinator10071

3. Extension presentations and workshops. Indicate title, type, and scope of presentation; number of times presented; attendance estimates. Include evidence of effectiveness (e.g. evaluation summaries) where applicable.

Title/Type of presentation Scope Number of times presented Total attendees
“Deficit Irrigation of Cotton for Optimum Return on Investment” at the 2006 Irrigation Cooperators Meeting in Brownsville, TN, December 13, 2006.Multi-county120 
“2006 Soil Monitoring and MOIST results of Cooperators” at the Irrigation Cooperators Meeting in Brownsville, TN, December 13, 2006.Multi-county120 
“Irrigation Options for Tree Fruit” at the Tennessee Fruit & Vegetable Association Conference, Nashville, TN, December 12, 2006.State120 
“Optimum Pumpkin Production: Plastic Mulch versus Bare Soil at Variable Irrigation Rates” at the Tennessee Fruit & Vegetable Association Conference, Nashville, TN, December 12, 2006.State140 
“Irrigation Scheduling Tools for Tennessee” at the 2006 Row Crop Irrigation Workshop, Dyersburg, TN, March 7, 2006.Multi-county150 
“Landscape Irrigation Design for Dummies and Einsteins” at the Tennessee Landscape and Nursery Association Meeting, Pigeon Forge, TN, February 7, 2006.State160 
“Irrigation for Tennessee???: What’s an Irrigation Specialist Doing in a High Rainfall Region” at the UT-BESS Seminar Series, Knoxville, TN, February 3, 2006.State120 
Irrigation Scheduling Tools for Tennessee” at the 2006 Cotton Focus, Jackson, TN, February 9, 2006.Multi-county1120 
“Evaluation and Improvement Potential of a Sprinkler System Used to Control Dust in a Feedlot at Wallula, WA” professionals at the 2006 ASABE Annual International Meeting, Oregon Convention Center, Portland, Oregon, July 9 – 12, 2006.International120 

4. Public addresses to lay audiences (TV/radio presentations, service groups, etc.). Indicate title, type, scope of presentation; number of times presented; attendance estimates. Include evidence of effectiveness (e.g. evaluation summaries) where applicable.

Title/Type of presentation Scope Number of times presented Total attendees
TV Interview on Cotton Irrigation with Cotton Incorporated.Regional1 
TV Interview on Row Crop Irrigation with Chuck Denny, University of Tennessee.State1 

5. Presentations at professional meetings, without published abstracts. List presenter, co-authors (if any), title, date and name of meeting (list scientific oral or poster presentations having published abstracts or proceedings at D5).

6. Student mentoring. Fill in the boxes to indicate number of students in each category.

Level of students No. of students advised No. of active graduate committees on which you served as:
Major professor Committee member
Undergraduate      
Masters   1   
Doctoral      

7. Student or commodity club activities (e.g. club advisor, team competitions, honor or professional societies, etc.). List the club or group; your role with the club or group; and the activities, honors or awards received by this group under your mentorship.

8. Other instructional and teaching activities.


D. PUBLICATIONS. List only publications that were published during the annual reporting period (for #8, submitted during reporting period). Format citations as typical and appropriate for outlet. If a co-author(s) is a student or was working under your direct supervision, place an asterisk after that person's name.

1. Refereed articles or refereed reviews appearing in peer-reviewed professional journals.

Leib, B. G., H. W. Caspari, C. A. Redulla, P. K. Andrews, and J. D. Jabro.  2006.  Partial rootzone drying and deficit irrigation of ‘Fuji’ apples in a semi-arid climate.  Irrigation Science 24(2):85-89.

2. Book chapters or books.

3. Bulletins, reports, circulars, pamphlets, factsheets.

4. Popular press, trade, UTIA magazine or newsletter articles.

5. Abstracts from scientific or discipline meetings, papers from conference proceedings, etc.

Leib, B. G., and D. Strausz.  2006.  Evaluation and Improvement Potential of a Sprinkler System Used to Control Dust in a Feedlot at Wallula, WA.  Proceedings of the ASABE Annual International Meeting, Portland, OR, July 9 – 12, 2006.

6. Theses/Dissertations completed by students that you directed.

7. Other publications.

8. Articles submitted during the reporting period that are in review, in press or rejected. Please do not list articles in preparation.

Szogi, A. A., B. G. Leib, C. A. Redulla, R. G. Stevens, G. R. Matthews, and D. Strausz.  2006.  Erosion control practices integrated with polyacrylamide for nutrient reduction in rill irrigation.  Agricultural Water Management.  (in review)

Leib, B. G., and J. R. Buchanan.  2006.  Irrigation system design and water use efficiency.  Chapter in the Tennessee Master Gardener Handbook, University of Tennessee - Extension, Knoxville, TN.  (in press)


E. FUNDING. Format each entry as a citation, include as applicable: investigators (with percent effort shown on grant or contract document), title, source/agency.

1. Grant and contract proposals submitted but not awarded during this reporting period. Indicate date of submission and status (still pending, rejected).

Leib, B. G. (60%), C.Owen Gwathmey (40%).  Deficit Irrigation of Cotton for Optimum Return on Investment..  The Cotton Foundation.  4/30/06.  $16,736.  (rejected)

2. Grants and contracts awarded during this reporting period. List inclusive period of support (start and end dates) and total amount of award.

Leib, B. G. (60%), C. Owen Gwathmey (40%).  Deficit Irrigation of Cotton for Optimum Return on Investment.  Cotton, Inc..  1/1/07-12/31/07.  $16,736.

3. Grants and contracts awarded in past years that continued into this reporting period. List inclusive period of support (start and end dates) and total amount of award.

Leib, B. G. (40%), H. J. Savoy (35%), J. R. Buchanan (10%), H. Paul Denton (15%).  Fertigation of Burley Tobacco: Reducing Fertilizer Input and Nitrosamine Levels.  Philip Morris USA.  6/1/05-5/31/07.  $91,079.

Phillip Shelby (55%), B. G. Leib (45%).  Low Cost Irrigation of Bermuda grass for small acreage.  USDA-NRCS Grazing Coalition of Tennessee.  6/1/05-12/31/08.  $2,000.

4. Gifts. List recipients, donor, items or amount donated and dollar equivalent received during the reporting period.

5. Grant reports submitted. List authors, title, to whom submitted, date submitted.

Leib, B. G., H. Savoy, H. P. Denton, B. Sims, R. Ellis, and J. Buchanan. 2006. Fertigation of Burley Tobacco, Annual Report to Phillip Morris USA, Richmond, VA.

6. Other (e.g. sales, royalties).


F. OTHER CREATIVE ACTIVITIES.

1. Tech. advances (intell. prop., patent, copyright, products, processes, genetic lines/varieties).

2. Computer software (e.g. instructional or research software, CD ROMs).

Leib, B. G., C. Danehower, and T. Sullivan.  2006.  Management of Irrigation Systems in Tennessee (MOIST) update: added Tobacco crop coefficient and made all crop coefficients scalable for differing maturity varieties.  University of Tennessee – Extension, Knoxville, TN (http://bioengr.ag.utk. edu/weather/).

Wright, W. C., and B. G. Leib.  2006.  Upgraded communication for remote weather stations and data loggers to digital cell phones.  Universitity of Tennessee, BESS Department.

3. Educational tools.

4. Internet activities.

5. Other creative products and activities.


G. SERVICE. List client outreach activities (both public and private sectors) and professional service.
    
1. Client service.
 a. Commodity or discipline group service activities. List committees, offices held or other roles.

b. Clinical and diagnostic services. List type of service provided and client(s).

c. Service to individual producers, businesses, or corporations as a specialist, consultant or expert advisor (whether paid or unpaid). List your one-on-one service activities with this group of clients.

Served extension clientele in 2006 by supporting the establishment of a locally owned irrigation business in West Tennessee that will provide equipment and scheduling products (Dana Walford, Mid-Valley Irrigation).

Served extension clientele in 2006 by responding to 16 requests for Irrigation/Water Related Plans.

Served four producer using MOIST and seven producers using the AM 400 soil moisture logger in West Tennessee.

Served extension clientele in 2006 by responding to 58 requests for technical assistance.


d. Other (e.g. Ag Day activities, Varsity Visit, judging, presentations at clubs and K-12 schools).

2. Professional service (for professional colleagues).
a. Within the university.
I. Committee work. Briefly describe your involvement during the reporting period.
i. University.

ii. UTIA.

iii. Department.

Served the Biosystems Engineering and Soil Science Department by participating in the Seminar Committee, and Awards Committees (2003 to 2006).

II. Other (e.g. technical assistance to colleagues, peer reviews,
mentoring of junior faculty, hosting visiting scientists).

Participated in a Tour of Thai scholars to the University of Tennessee and the state of Tennessee by presenting Research/Extension Efforts in Irrigation and visiting a local irrigated farm, November 2 & 13, 2006.

b. Outside the university (e.g. committee work/offices in professional or public organizations or societies, editorship, editorial boards, review of manuscripts (indicate outlet) and project proposals (indicate agency), meetings organized, member of grant review panel or study section, moderator, etc.).

Served as a reviewer for an Irrigation Hatch Project at Washington State University (2006).

Served as a reviewer for journal articles: AGWAT 709, AGWAT 710, AGWAT 816, ASABE SW-06577, and ASABE SW-06672 (2006).




H. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (meetings, workshops, classes, trips, etc.). List the event or activity, sponsor, duration of event and your role.

Attended the Center Region Extension Conference sponsored by the University of Tennessee at Lebanon, TN, November 9, 2006.

Attended the ASABE Annual International Meeting, Portland, OR, July 9 – 12, 2006.


I. PERSONNEL SUPERVISION. List the postdoctoral fellows, research associates, research assistants, technicians, extension associates, extension assistants, graduate assistants, undergraduate students, clerical personnel or others that you supervised during the year.

ClassificationFTE's per semester
SpringSummerFall
Postdoctoral fellows      
Research associates, assistants, technicians      
Extension associates, assistants      
Graduate students, assistants 1  1  1 
Undergraduate students      
Clerical personnel      
Other      


J. HONORS AND AWARDS. List honors and awards received during reporting period, including the name of the organization presenting the award.