@article{mayer_veal_godfrey_chinn_2021, title={Response of canola yields from marginal lands managed with tillage practices}, volume={4}, ISSN={["2666-1543"]}, DOI={10.1016/j.jafr.2021.100133}, abstractNote={In recent years the discourse regarding the effective use of dwindling agricultural spaces for food, fiber, or fuel production has grown and it is becoming increasingly important to manage non-agricultural or marginal spaces that make them suitable for crop production. Highly eroded, highly compacted, low nutrient soils, similar to those found along highway rights-of-way (ROWs) offer unique field characteristics that can be used to study crop production potentials and land use decisions. This work evaluated the feasibility of maintaining a canola crop production system on the non-agricultural soils of highway ROWs across the humid subtropical climate within North Carolina, USA as a bioenergy feedstock for renewable fuels. Specific objectives included examination of (1) three different North Carolina geoclimatic conditions and (2) three levels of tillage (conventional (CT), minimum (MT), and no-till (NT)) on canola (Brassica napus L.) grain yields cultivated on ROW soils. Field experiments were conducted for two growing seasons in the Inner Coastal Plain, Piedmont, and Mountains regions and assessed main and interaction effects among tillage, site, and year of cultivation on crop productivity. After season 1, CT produced the highest average yield (1.24 Mg ha−1) followed by MT (0.93 Mg ha−1) and NT (0.86 Mg ha−1), respectively. In the second year, the comparative intensity of productive effects from CT was lower, and plots cultivated under MT resulted in the highest average yields (2.70 Mg ha−1), followed by CT (2.69 Mg ha−1) and NT (1.96 Mg ha−1), respectively. Yields observed were comparable to regional canola grain yields, and no significant difference was observed between yields under CT versus MT. These findings suggest that reduced levels of tillage on ROW soils in North Carolina hold the potential to produce yields comparable to those realized in traditional agricultural soils, and targeted tillage practices can support improved suitability of marginal crop production spaces.}, journal={JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE AND FOOD RESEARCH}, author={Mayer, Michelle L. and Veal, Matthew W. and Godfrey, Edward E., III and Chinn, Mari S.}, year={2021}, month={Jun} }
 @article{diaz_veal_chinn_2014, title={Development of NIRS models to predict composition of enzymatically processed sweetpotato}, volume={59}, ISSN={0926-6690}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2014.05.012}, DOI={10.1016/j.indcrop.2014.05.012}, abstractNote={This study was conducted to develop calibration models to predict the major constituents (moisture, protein, fiber, alcohol insoluble solids (AIS), and starch) of enzymatically processed sweetpotatoes using a non-destructive near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) technique. Prediction of these constituents is of interest since starch content can be used to estimate crop potential and efficiency of processing enzymes used to convert starch into valuable products needed for industrial applications. Wet chemistry procedures are expensive, laborious, and time consuming; however, NIRS is a reliable and fast tool that can be used to quantify components and identify composition changes occurring during sweetpotato processing. Freeze-dried samples of sweetpotato roots (clones: NC-413, DM02-180, and Covington) were scanned over the near infrared wavelengths at different stages of processing (unprocessed material, wet samples after liquefaction, and wet samples after saccharification) and chemically analyzed. Calibration models were established by Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) analysis and developed to predict moisture, AIS, protein, fiber, and starch content. Spectral range and the number of MLR factors were examined in a stepwise manner that yielded the lowest standard error of calibration (SEC) and highest correlation coefficient of determination (R2). Calibration models based on all sweetpotato clones adequately predicted moisture, AIS, and starch compounds in unprocessed and processed treatments. Protein was successfully predicted with 99% confidence for unprocessed material and an approximate quantitative prediction in processed treatments (R2 = 0.69). Fiber was predicted with 85% confidence for Covington sweetpotato and with 65% for both NC-413 and DM02-180 sweetpotato clones. Starch was successfully predicted with 91% and 97% confidence for unprocessed and processed treatments, respectively. Our results indicated that NIRS technique is a tool able to rapidly predict with reasonable accuracy the composition of different constituents present in sweetpotato samples before and during its processing to value-added products.}, journal={Industrial Crops and Products}, publisher={Elsevier BV}, author={Diaz, Joscelin T. and Veal, Matthew W. and Chinn, Mari S.}, year={2014}, month={Aug}, pages={119–124} }
 @article{whitfield_chinn_veal_2014, title={Recommendations to Mitigate Potential Sources of Error in Preparation of Biomass Sorghum Samples for Compositional Analyses Used in Industrial and Forage Applications}, volume={7}, ISSN={1939-1234 1939-1242}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12155-014-9476-y}, DOI={10.1007/s12155-014-9476-y}, number={4}, journal={BioEnergy Research}, publisher={Springer Science and Business Media LLC}, author={Whitfield, Matthew B. and Chinn, Mari S. and Veal, Matthew W.}, year={2014}, month={Jun}, pages={1561–1570} }
 @article{caffrey_veal_chinn_2014, title={The farm to biorefinery continuum: A techno-economic and LCA analysis of ethanol production from sweet sorghum juice}, volume={130}, ISSN={0308-521X}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2014.05.016}, DOI={10.1016/j.agsy.2014.05.016}, abstractNote={This paper describes the economic, environmental, and energy issues of the farm to biorefinery continuum related to production of ethanol from soluble sugars recovered from sweet sorghum using the BE3 (bioenergy economics, energy, and environmental) model methodology. A comparative analysis of five process configurations was conducted to determine how process decentralization affects the total production system. An increased integration of on-farm processing resulted in a moderate increase in the breakeven sales price of ethanol ($0.08/L), however the substantial increase in value-added agricultural practices (approximately 180%) can offer greater returns to the farm operation. Benefits outside the scope of this analysis related to decentralized processing include: increased rural development, reductions in transportation requirements, additional income to farmers, and dissipation of some environmental impacts. Using a single parameter sensitivity analysis for those process configurations the greatest economic impacts were found to be related to conversion efficiency, crop yield, and press efficiency. Conservative values were used throughout the process modeling procedure (e.g. crop yield, Brix level of juice, conversion efficiency, and by-product usage), yet with system optimization, breakeven sales price could be significantly decreased.}, journal={Agricultural Systems}, publisher={Elsevier BV}, author={Caffrey, Kevin R. and Veal, Matthew W. and Chinn, Mari S.}, year={2014}, month={Sep}, pages={55–66} }
 @misc{caffrey_veal_2013, title={Conducting an Agricultural Life Cycle Assessment: Challenges and Perspectives}, ISSN={["1537-744X"]}, DOI={10.1155/2013/472431}, abstractNote={Agriculture is a diverse field that produces a wide array of products vital to society. As global populations continue to grow the competition for natural resources will increase pressure on agricultural production of food, fiber, energy, and various high value by-products. With elevated concerns related to environmental impacts associated with the needs of a growing population, a life cycle assessment (LCA) framework can be used to determine areas of greatest impact and compare reduction strategies for agricultural production systems. The LCA methodology was originally developed for industrial operations but has been expanded to a wider range of fields including agriculture. There are various factors that increase the complexity of determining impacts associated with agricultural production including multiple products from a single system, regional and crop specific management techniques, temporal variations (seasonally and annually), spatial variations (multilocation production of end products), and the large quantity of nonpoint emission sources. The lack of consistent methodology of some impacts that are of major concern to agriculture (e.g., land use and water usage) increases the complexity of this analysis. This paper strives to review some of these issues and give perspective to the LCA practitioner in the field of agriculture.}, journal={SCIENTIFIC WORLD JOURNAL}, author={Caffrey, Kevin R. and Veal, Matthew W.}, year={2013} }
 @misc{whitfield_chinn_veal_2012, title={Processing of materials derived from sweet sorghum for biobased products}, volume={37}, ISSN={["1872-633X"]}, DOI={10.1016/j.indcrop.2011.12.011}, abstractNote={Sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) is particularly suitable as a feedstock for a variety of bioprocesses, largely because of its high yields of both lignocellulosic biomass and fermentable saccharides. Sweet sorghum is less economically important for refined sugar production than other sugar crops, e.g., sugar beet and sugarcane, but can produce more raw fermentable sugar under marginal conditions than those crops. In this review, the agronomic requirements of sorghum (viz., water, soil, and nutrient requirements), cultural practices, and plant morphology are discussed from a bioprocessing perspective. Historically, sugar extraction from the plant in the form of juice has been of primary interest; these methods, along with modern developments are presented. Recently, the direct yeast fermentation of sorghum juice for ethanol production has been studied. Additionally, the bagasse resulting from the juice extraction has been used for a variety of potential products: forage, silage, combustion energy, synthesis gas, and paper. The bagasse contains high levels of relatively low crystallinity cellulose, along with relatively labile lignin, and so is itself of interest as a fermentation feedstock. Whole sorghum stalk, and its bagasse, have been subjected to studies of a wide array of pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis, and fermentation processes. The potential fermentation products of sweet sorghum are wide ranging; those demonstrated include ethanol, acetone, butanol, various lipids, lactic acid, hydrogen, and methane. Several potential native products of the plant, in addition to cellulose for paper production, are also identified: waxes, proteins, and allelopathic compounds, such as sorgoleone.}, number={1}, journal={INDUSTRIAL CROPS AND PRODUCTS}, author={Whitfield, Matthew B. and Chinn, Mari S. and Veal, Matthew W.}, year={2012}, month={May}, pages={362–375} }
 @article{veal_shearer_fulton_2010, title={Development and performance assessment of a grain combine feeder house-based mass flow sensing device}, volume={53}, DOI={10.13031/2013.29564}, abstractNote={Yield monitors have become an indispensable part of many precision agriculture systems because of their ability to quickly and efficiently measure yield variability within a field. The current technology of measuring grain yields with sensors mounted in the clean grain elevator is error prone due to mass flow variations caused by the threshing and separating operations. To reduce the effect of combine dynamic errors, a new crop mass flow sensing technology is being developed. This new sensor measures the tension on the feed conveyor drive chain, as it is believed that the tension on this chain is related to the flow of biomass through the feeder housing. The initial field tests were conducted in 160 m strips of corn that were broken into six blocks of varying grain yields. An analysis of the data indicated that chain tension sensors are sensitive to differences between the blocks of varying grain yields. Additional tests, under normal field conditions, were also conducted under varying biomass volumes controlled by selecting one of three specific stripper plate settings on the combine corn head. The chain tension sensor could detect differences between the stripper plate settings, as the greatest chain tensions were recorded at the narrowest stripper plate width. Results from both field trials were compared to yield data collected from an impact-style mass flow sensor located in the clean grain elevator. The results indicated that biomass flow sensing at the feeder housing might complement existing technologies to improve yield monitor data quality.}, number={2}, journal={Transactions of the ASABE}, author={Veal, M. W. and Shearer, S. A. and Fulton, J. P.}, year={2010}, pages={339–348} }
 @inproceedings{veal_shearer_stombaugh_luck_koostra_2009, title={Automated tractor guidance and implement tracking error assessment}, number={2060}, booktitle={Conference: agricultural engineering - land-technik ageng 2009 - innovations to meet future challenges }, author={Veal, M. W. and Shearer, S. A. and Stombaugh, T. S. and Luck, J. D. and Koostra, B. K.}, year={2009}, pages={193–198} }