ALS 3133 section 9685

Fall 2014

I. Title: Agriculture and Environmental Quality

M, W, F, Period 2, 8:30 9:20 AM, room 245 FLG

II. Course Description: Analysis of the effects of agriculture on environmental quality, especially
water quality, with emphasis on agricultural practices (fertilization, waste management, irrigation,
pesticides, etc.), management of soil, treatment and utilization of organic wastes, and sustainable
food production.

III. Objective: To acquaint the students from agriculture as well as other disciplines with agricultural
practices and their effects on environmental quality, and to show how agricultural scientists and
farmers are attempting to minimize agricultural pollution and sustain food production adequate for
the world's growing population. This course should be of significant value to those students who
will be involved in the management of agricultural production and processing industries as well as
to those with a special interest in agricultural pollution control and plan further study in this area.
For everyone, I hope exposure to the issues, challenges, and solutions will be a useful learning
process.

Student Learning Objectives; students will be able to:

Describe the important agricultural enterprises in Florida
Discuss the important water quantity and quality issues in Florida
Contrast point and nonpoint source pollution
Describe the basics of water quality regulation in the U.S. and Florida
Describe some best management practices for agricultural nutrient management
Describe some best management practices for agricultural irrigation
Discuss the issues with managing animal wastes
Name some biofuels and describe where they come from
Apply some basic math calculations pertaining to nutrient application

IV. Format: Three lectures per week, no laboratory. Students will be expected to complete all
homework, readings, and watch the videos. Students will be expected to participate in all
discussions via Sakai.

V. Instructor: Dr. George Hochmuth Office Hours:

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Upon request
Soil and Water Science Department
G175A McCarty Hall
(352-294-3114)
E-mail: hoch@ufl.edu

VI. Textbooks: There is no text book for this course. Lecture outlines will be provided on the class web
page on Sakai as PowerPoint handouts in pdf format. Students may wish to print the handouts and
bring them to class for the appropriate lectures. Reading material for each of the lecture topics will
be provided on the class web page. (If you do not have Acrobat Reader, you may download it at no
cost at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html). There will be several videos used to
supplement and expand lecture material.
 Expectation: That you will have read the materials and watched the videos prior to class and come
prepared to discuss the material in class.

VII. Important Dates:

Exam 1: Friday, September 26, 2014
Exam 2: Friday, October 31, 2014
Final Exam: Friday, December 19, 2014

Exams: We will take exams though the Assessments Tool on Sakai. There will be a period of time
on the exam date during which the exam will be available, typically starting at 6:00 AM and closing
at 11:59 PM. You can take the exam any time during that period. Exams will be 1.5 hours long to
provide generous time for completion of the exam. Please note that the latest you will want to start
the exam would be about 10:00 PM. There will be no exam make-ups without a prior written, valid,
documented excuse. No exceptions! You will receive a zero score for an unexcused, missed exam.

VIII. Class Attendance: Required!!! Students are expected to attend all classes and are responsible for
all material covered in class and the readings and videos. Attendance at all field trips is required.
Attendance will be taken regularly during the semester. Attendance will count for 10% of your
course grade.

All students are responsible for picking up the attendance/lecture question paper slips each day
AND returning them at the end of the class. We cant record your presence if we do not have your
attendance slip.

Attendance may be excused for illness with a valid, written (letterhead) doctors excuse. Other valid
absences may be excused with a prior, documented, valid excuse. Scheduling and purchasing
personal travel plans without consulting the course schedule or prior to the end of the course will not
be excused.

We discuss topics in class that may not be fully covered on the power points, so you will miss that
information when you skip class. In fact, it will be difficult to get an A (and perhaps a B) in the class
if you plan on missing class and studying only the posted lecture notes.

Class participation: We hope you will participate in class. Participation includes answering
questions in class and asking questions, and discussing topics with others.

IX. Classroom Etiquette: It is important that you respect your instructor's and fellow students right to
a respectful classroom atmosphere. Please do not hold conversations with classmates during lecture.
Please do not shuffle papers and books in anticipation of the end of the class period. The instructor
will end the lecture promptly on time and students are expected to remain attentive until the end of
the class period. An atmosphere of mutual respect is in order. The instructor reserves the right to
request that you leave the class if you engage in distractive behavior. All cell phones will be turned
off during class and no headphones or ear plugs will be allowed. Notebooks and iPads will only
be allowed for approved class note-taking or following the lecture pdfs. Students using cell
phones during class may be asked to leave and will lose attendance points.

X. Grading System: Grades will be based on 3 required exams, attendance, homework, and discussions.
The third exam will be the final exam and will be comprehensive. The exams will count as 60%
of your grade (20% each). Attendance will account for 10% of your grade. Discussions will be
 15%.
Homework is 15%. There will be three homework assignments. Students are expected to complete
each assignment on time and up-load their completed assignment in MS WORD to the Sakai e-
learning Assignments tab. Students are responsible for making sure they complete the submittal
process as requested and turn in homework in their own words.

Please check for details about grading in the first lecture PDF. The following grading scale will be
used:

A 90-100 %
B 80-89
C 70-79
D 60-69
E <60

E-learning Sakai. We will use Gradebook 2 on Sakai. Please make sure you understand how it
works. Gradebook 2 will accumulate points toward the total course 100 points. Any item, such as
an exam not yet taken, will be shown as a zero. Please review Gradebook 2 frequently as we add
your scores. Please let us know if there are questions.

Make-up exams will be approved only due to illness or extreme family needs, or important
excused activities required by another class. Make-up exams must be approved prior to the
regularly scheduled exam, and must be made-up within two class periods. If you are unable to
take the exam due to illness, contact the instructor of teaching assistant prior to the exam date to
confirm your absence.

Note that the final exam is scheduled for the last day of finals week, Friday, December 19, 2014.
Please do not make personal plans that will interfere with the final exam date. This final
requirement will be strictly enforced. Do not make travel plans that conflict with the final exam date.

XI. Academic Honesty, Software Use, Services for Students with Disabilities, UF
Counseling Services

The University of Florida requires all members of its community to be honest in all
endeavors. Cheating, plagiarism, and other acts diminish the process of learning.
When students enroll at UF they commit themselves to honesty and integrity. Your
instructor fully expects you to adhere to the academic honesty guidelines you signed
when you were admitted to UF.

As a result of completing the registration form at the University of Florida, every student has
signed the following statement:

I understand the University of Florida expects it students to be honest in all their

academic work. I agree to adhere to this commitment to academic honesty and understand
that my failure to comply with this commitment may result in disciplinary action up to and
including expulsion from the University. Furthermore, on work submitted for credit by
UF students, the following pledge is either required or implied: On my honor, I have
neither given nor received unauthorized aid in doing this assignment.

It is to be assumed all work will be completed independently unless the assignment is defined as
 group project, in writing by the professor. Students must turn in their own homework in their
own words.

This policy will be vigorously upheld at all times in this course.

XII. Software Use:

All faculty, staff, and students of the University are required and expected to obey the laws and
legal agreements governing software use. Failure to do so can lead to monetary damages and/or
criminal penalties for the individual violator. Because such violations are also against University
policies and rules, disciplinary action will be taken as appropriate.

XIII. Campus Helping Resources

Students experiencing crisis or personal problems that interfere with their general well being are
encouraged to utilize the universitys counseling resources. Both the Counseling Center and
Student Mental Health provide confidential counseling services at no cost for currently enrolled
students. Resources are available on campus for students having personal or lacking clear career and
academic goals, which interfere with their academic performance. The Counseling Center is
located at 301 Peabody Hall (next to Criser Hall). Student Mental Health is located on the second
floor of the Student Health Services in the Infirmary.

1. University Counseling Center, 301 Peabody Hall, 392-1575; personal and career
counseling: www.counsel.ufl.edu
2. Student Mental Health, Student Health Care Center, 392-1171, personal counseling:
www.hsc.ufl.edu/shcc/smhs.htm
3. Sexual Assault Recovery Services (SARS), Student Health Care Center, 392-1161, sexual
assault counseling; and
4. Career Resource Center, Reitz Union, 392-1601, career development Assistance and
counseling.

XIV. Students with Disabilities Act

The Dean of Students Office coordinates the needed accommodations of students with disabilities.
This includes the registration of disabilities, academic accommodations within the classroom,
accessing special adaptive computer equipment, providing interpretation services, and mediating
faulty-student disability related issues.

Dean of Students Office, 202 Peabody Hall, 392-7066, www.dso.ufl.edu.

XV. Lecture topics
ALS 3133 - AGRICULTURE AND ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

LECTURE SCHEDULE Fall semester, 2014, Subject to change

# Day Date Topic
1 M 8/25/2014 Introduction to course
2 W 8/27 Setting the stage, Agric. & the Environment
3 F 8/29 Agriculture in Florida
M 9/1 Holiday, Labor Day
4 W 9/3 Nonpoint source pollution
5 F 9/5 Nonpoint source pollution,
6 M 9/8 Environmental regulations
7 W 9/10 Soils and relationship to environment
8 F 9/12 Soils and relationship to environment
9 M 9/15 Carbon, nitrogen & phosphorus cycles
10 W 9/17 Carbon, nitrogen & phosphorus cycles
11 F 9/19 Soil management, conservation
12 M 9/22 Irrigation management
13 W 9/24 Irrigation management
14 F 9/26 Exam 1
15 M 9/29 Nutrient management
16 W 10/1 Nutrient management
17 F 10/3 Best management practices
18 M 10/6 Best management practices
19 W 10/8 Organic wastes
20 F 10/10 Organic wastes
21 M 10/13 Municipal biosolids
22 W 10/15 Municipal biosolids
F 10/17 Holiday, Homecoming
23 M 10/20 Reclaimed water
24 W 10/22 Reclaimed water
25 F 10/24 Field trip, campus waste water treatment facility
26 M 10/27 Field trip, campus waste water treatment facility
27 W 10/29 Livestock waste handling
28 F 10/31 Exam 2
29 M 11/3 Livestock waste handling
30 W 11/5 Livestock waste application calculations
31 F 11/7 Food processing wastes
32 M 11/10 Composting
33 W 11/12 Composting
34 F 11/14 Bio energy
35 M 11/17 Bio energy
36 W 11/19 Wetland ecosystems
37 F 11/21 Wetland ecosystems
38 M 11/24 Field trip, campus natural area (SEEP)
W-F 11/26-28 Holiday, Thanksgiving
39 M 12/1 Pest management
40 W 12/3 Pest management
 41 F 12/5 Organic farming
42 M 12/8 Organic farming
43 W 12/10 America Revealed
Th, F 12/11-12 Reading days
F 12/19 Exam 3 (Final Exam)