Defining the physical properties of corn grown under drought-stressed conditions and the associated energy and nutrient content for swine.

Historically high temperatures and low rainfall during the 2012 growing season resulted in drought-stressed conditions in much of the U.S. corn belt. The objective of this experiment was to investigate the impact of these conditions on the composition and energy content in corn and determine if relationships exist among corn quality measurements, chemical composition, and digestibility of energy. Twenty-eight samples of corn from the 2012 drought-stressed crop (DS), plus 2 representative corn samples from the 2011 crop (CNTRL), were collected in Iowa and Illinois using yield as an initial screen for drought impact. Yields ranged from 2.5 to 14.8 t/ha. Each sample was graded by an official of the U.S. grain inspection agency and analyzed for 1,000 kernel weight, kernel density, ether extract, starch, GE, NDF, and CP content. Diets were formulated using each of the 30 corn samples and were fed at 2.6 times the estimated maintenance energy requirement according to the . Sixty individually housed barrows (PIC 359 × C29; 34.2 ± 0.2 kg initial BW) were randomly allotted in an incomplete crossover design to 30 diets across 4 periods. Diet and fecal samples were analyzed to determine DE values. Both ME and NE values were then calculated from DE values using methods developed by and , respectively. Mean DE, ME, and NE values between the CNTRL and DS were not different (3.72 vs. 3.68 Mcal/kg, respectively, 3.66 vs. 3.62 Mcal/kg, respectively, and 2.92 vs. 2.87 Mcal/kg, respectively; > 0.10). Comparing CNTRL with DS, there were no differences ( > 0.10) in ether extract (4.07 vs. 3.96%), CP (8.56 vs. 9.18%), or starch (70.5 vs. 69.5%). However, ADF and NDF were higher in the DS (2.23 and 8.19%, respectively) when compared with CNTRL (1.89 and 6.92%, respectively; < 0.001 and = 0.015, respectively). Small but significant correlations were observed between DE and NDF ( = -0.51, = 0.008), kernel density ( = 0.51, = 0.007), and percent damaged kernels ( = 0.41, = 0.031). No statistically significant correlations were observed between DE and starch or ADF content or between DE and test weight. We can conclude that corn grown in drought-stressed conditions has energy content similar to corn grown under more favorable conditions and, therefore, can be successfully used in swine diets. Furthermore, NDF proved to be superior to fat, starch, and ADF content in explaining the variation in corn energy content.

Development of a safety decision-making scenario to measure worker safety in agriculture.

Human factors play an important role in the management of occupational safety, especially in high-hazard workplaces such as commercial grain-handling facilities. Employee decision-making patterns represent an essential component of the safety system within a work environment. This research describes the process used to create a safety decision-making scenario to measure the process that grain-handling employees used to make choices in a safety-related work task. A sample of 160 employees completed safety decision-making simulations based on a hypothetical but realistic scenario in a grain-handling environment. Their choices and the information they used to make their choices were recorded. Although the employees emphasized safety information in their decision-making process, not all of their choices were safe choices. Factors influencing their choices are discussed, and implications for industry, management, and workers are shared.

Measurement of worker perceptions of trust and safety climate in managers and supervisors at commercial grain elevators.

The safety climate of an agricultural workplace may be affected by several things, including the level of trust that workers have in their work group supervisor and organizational management. Safety climate has been used by previous safety researchers as a measure of worker perceptions of the relative importance of safety as compared with other operational goals. Trust has been linked to several positive safety outcomes, particularly in hazardous work environments, but has not been examined relative to safety climate in the perennially hazardous work environment of a commercial grain elevator. In this study, 177 workers at three Midwest grain elevator companies completed online surveys measuring their perceptions of trust and safety at two administrative levels: organizational management and work group supervisors. Positive and significant relationships were noted between trust and safety climate perceptions for organizational managers and for work group supervisors. Results from this research suggest that worker trust in organizational management and work group supervisors has a positive influence on the employees' perceptions of safety climate at the organizational and work group levels in an agricultural workplace.

Management of safety and quality and the relationship with employee decisions in country grain elevators.

Human factors play an important role in the management of safety and quality in an agricultural work environment. Although employee actions and decisions have been identified as a key component of successful occupational safety programs and quality management programs, little attention has been given to the employees' role in these types of programs. This research explored two safety relationships that have theoretical connections but little previous research: the relationship between safety climate and quality climate, and the relationship of the safety and quality climates between the organizational level and the group level within a workplace. Survey data were collected at three commercial grain handling facilities from 177 employees. Employees also participated in safety and quality decision-making simulations. Significant positive predictions were noted for safety and quality climate. Decision-making predictions are also discussed. This research suggests that organizational safety is an important predictor of group safety. In addition, recognizing the larger role that supervisors play in group workplace behavior, more should be done to increase employee perceptions of group-level involvement in quality climate to promote more quality-oriented decision-making by employees.