Specialties: Forage production and physiology

Dr. MacAdam came to Utah State University in 1991, where her current appointment is 70% research, 20% teaching and 10% service.  Her research interests are (1) the management of seeded, irrigated pastures for grazing-based livestock production, (2) plant responses to salinity and drought stress, and (3) the development and regulation of leaf growth in grasses.  She is the principal investigator of a USDA NIFA multi-state grant to study organic milk production on birdsfoot trefoil pastures, and has recently completed a Utah NRCS grant to study beef liveweight gain on birdsfoot trefoil pastures.

Dr. MacAdam teaches an introductory course in plant physiology and plant anatomy that emphasizes hands-on laboratory experiences and employs plants of value to agronomy and horticulture.  She has authored a text for the course, Structure & Function of Plants, that was published by Wiley-Blackwell in 2009.

Dr. MacAdam is an active member of the American Society of Agronomy and the Crop Science Society of America, serving in 2003 as chair of CSSA Division C-6 (Forage and Grazinglands) and as a technical editor of Forage and Grazinglands and an associate editor of Crop Science and Agronomy Journal.

Research Expertise and Relevance

Dr. MacAdam’s expertise is in the plant anatomy and physiology of forage crops and her work is focused on issues of importance to livestock producers, particularly those grazing irrigated forages. She has studied leaf growth and development in tall fescue, the effect of frost and growth at suboptimal temperatures on the potential for bloat in alfalfa, and the management and productivity of irrigated forage grasses and legumes under rotational stocking management.

Upon determining that birdsfoot trefoil, a valuable tannin-containing legume, was uniquely well-adapted to the cool, dry climate and high pH soils of the northern Mountain West, her work has turned to the use of birdsfoot trefoil grazing to increase the rate of milk and meat production on irrigated pastures, and determination of the quality and acceptability of meat and milk from pastured animals relative to conventionally produced meat and milk. Preliminary data suggest that production is increased, omega-3 fatty acids are elevated, wasteful rumen ammonia production is reduced, and soil nitrate production is suppressed when livestock graze birdsfoot trefoil.

Follow this link to the publication Raising the Steaks, a report issued in February of 2011 by the Union of Concerned Scientists on the best approaches for mitigating greenhouse gas production by moving U.S. beef production from feedlots to pastures.  The text box on page 16 extensively references a 2006 review article on birdsfoot trefoil in Forage and Grazinglands authored by Dr. MacAdam and others.

My Research: Irrigated Legumes for Livestock Production in the Intermountain West

My Class: PSC 3500 - The Structure and Function of Economic Crop Plants

My Textbook: Structure and Function of Plants

Earned Degrees

Ph.D.	1988	Agronomy	University of Missouri - Columbia
M.S.	1984	Agronomy	University of Missouri - Columbia
B.S.	1982	Agronomy	Missouri State University

 

Professional Employment

Utah State University, Dept. of Plants, Soils, and Climate

         Associate Professor, 1997-present

         Assistant Professor, 1991-1997

University of Missouri - Columbia, Dept. of Agronomy

         Postdoctoral Fellow, Interdisciplinary Plant Group, 1989-1991

         Instructor, Spring Semester, Crop Physiology Course, 1990

University of Missouri - Columbia, Dept. of Animal Sciences

         Postdoctoral Fellow, Ruminant Nutrition Group, 1988-1989

University of Missouri - Columbia, Dept. of Agronomy

         Graduate Research Assistant, Forage Physiology, 1982-1988

 

Courses Taught

PLSC 3500 Structure & Function of Plants

         3 semester credit junior-level lecture and laboratory course

         1998 to present

PLSC 4320, Forage Production and Pasture Ecology

         4 quarter credit / 3 semester credit senior-level lecture and laboratory course

         1991 to 2001

PLSC 6430, Plant Nutrition (co-instructed with Bruce Bugbee)

         3 quarter credit / 2 credit semester graduate lecture course, taught alternate years

         1993 to 1997

 

Recent Publications

Book

MacAdam, J.W. 2009. Structure & Function of Plants. Wiley-Blackwell, Ames IA.

 

Refereed Book Chapters

Barker, D., T. Butler, J.W. MacAdam and R.M. Sulc. 2012. Forage and biomass planting, pp. 41-110 In C.J. Nelson (ed.) Conservation Outcomes from Pastureland and Hayland Practices: Assessment, Recommendations, and Knowledge Gaps. Allen Press, Lawrence, Kansas.

MacAdam, J. W. and A. L. Barta. 2007. Irrigation and water management, pp. 379-394 In R. F. Barnes, C. J. Nelson, M. Collins and K. J. Moore (ed.) Forages. The Science of Grassland Agriculture, Vol. II., 6th Ed., Iowa State Press, Ames.

 

Refereed Journal Articles

MacAdam, J.W., R.E. Ward, T.C. Griggs, B.R. Min and G.E. Aiken. 2011. Case study: Average daily gain and blood fatty acid composition of cattle grazing the non-bloating legumes birdsfoot trefoil and cicer milkvetch in the Mountain West. Prof. Anim. Sci. 27: 574-583.

Williams, C. M., J.-S. Eun, J. W. MacAdam, A. Young, V. Fellner, and B.-R. Min. 2011. Effects of forage legumes containing condensed tannins on methane and ammonia production in continuous cultures of mixed ruminal microorganisms. Animal Feed Science Technology 166-167: 364-372.

Ballif, J, S. Endo, M. Kotani, J. MacAdam, and Y. Wu. 2011. Over-expression of HPA3b enhances primary root elongation in Aribidopsis. Plant Physiology and Biochemistry. 49: 579-583.

Williams, C. M., J.-S. Eun, C. M. Dschaak, J. W. MacAdam, B.-R. Min, and A. Young. 2010. Case Study: In vitro ruminal fermentation characteristics of birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus L.) hay in continuous cultures. Professional Animal Scientist 26: 570–576.

David, E.J., D. Chen, D. DeWald, J. Shope, J. MacAdam and Y. Wu. 2009. Searching for new cell wall protein genes in Arabidopsis. Plant Physiol. Biochem. 47: 81-85.

Griggs, T.C., J.W. MacAdam, H.F. Mayland, and J.C. Burns. 2007. Temporal and vertical distribution of nonstructural carbohydrate, fiber, protein, and digestibility levels in orchardgrass swards. Agronomy Journal 99: 755-763.

Provenza, F.D., J.J. Villaba, J. Haskell, J.W. MacAdam, T.C. Griggs and R.D. Wiedmeier. 2007. The value to herbivores of plant physical and chemical diversity in time and space. Crop Science 382-398.

MacAdam, J. W, T. C. Griggs, P. R. Beuselinck, and J. H. Grabber. 2006. Birdsfoot trefoil, a valuable tannin-containing legume for mixed pastures. Online. Forage and Grazinglands doi:10.1094/FG-2006-0912-01-RV.

Griggs, T.C., J.W. MacAdam, H.F. Mayland, and J.C. Burns. 2005. Nonstructural carbohydrate and digestibility patterns in orchardgrass swards during daily defoliation sequences initiated in evening and morning. Crop Science 45: 1295-1304.

 

Refereed Proceedings

Williams, C. M., J.-S. Eun, J. W. MacAdam, A. Young, V. Fellner, and B.-R. Min. 2010. Tannin-free and tanniniferous legumes in lactating dairy diets affect in vitro ruminal fermentation characteristics and methane production by mixed ruminal microbiota in continuous cultures, pp. 159. In E. J. McGeough and S. M. McGinn (ed) Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Greenhouse Gases and Animal Agriculture, Banff, Canada, October 3-8 2010. Agri-Food Canada, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.

MacAdam, J.W. and T.C. Griggs. 2006. Performance of birdsfoot trefoil, white clover, and other legume-grass mixtures under irrigation in the Intermountain West U.S.A. pp. 355-359 In A. Popay (ed) Proc. New Zealand Grassland Association, Dunedin, NZ, 14-16 Nov. 2006.

MacAdam, J. W., T. C. Griggs and G. J. Mileski. 2005. The interaction of management with botanical composition of irrigated grass-legume pasture mixtures in the Intermountain West USA. p. 357 In O'Mara, F.P., R.J. Wilkins, L. t'Mannetje, D.K. Lovett, P.A.M. Rogers and T. Boland (ed) Proceedings of the XX International Grassland Congress, Dublin, Ireland, 26 June-1 July 2005.

 

Refereed Extension Publications

Curtis, K., T. Knudsen, and J. MacAdam. 2013. Northern Utah small cow-calf pasture finished beef production costs & returns, 2012. Electronic Bulletin AG/Agribusiness/2013-01pr.Utah Cooperative Extension Service, Logan.

Curtis, K., Z. Ma, J. MacAdam, and V. Chakreeyarat. 2012. Rancher adoption potential of the birdsfoot trefoil pasture beef production system in the Intermountain West. Electronic Bulletin AG/Agribusiness/2012-03pr.Utah Cooperative Extension Service, Logan.

MacAdam, J. and R. Brain 2012. Beef production & consumption: Sustainable alternatives. Electronic Bulletin Sustainability/2012/04pr. Utah Cooperative Extension Service, Logan.