Agronomy 114 Final Exam
DIRECTIONS: Print your name (last name, first name and
fill in bubbles under your name. MARK THE ONE BEST ANSWER ON
YOUR ANSWER SHEET.
1. You would expect to find the highest populations of nodulating bacteria under which of the following conditions
a) pH of 4.5
b) in soils with corn residue
c) associated with conditions favorable for fungi
d) pH of 7.0
e) similar conditions as smut, fungi and mildew
2. Corn will most likely increase yields under
a) warm days, high soil fertility, early planting
b) warm days, high soil fertility, late planting
c) cool days, low soil fertility, late planting
d) cool days, high soil fertility, early planting
e) cool days, high soil fertility, late planting
3. To avoid N loss, one would most likely use two applications of nitrogen rather than one application on which soil type?
a) silt
b) silt loam
c) sandy clay loam
d) silty clay loam
e) sandy loam
4. The hot, humid air we often experience in the Midwestern U.S. during July and August is due to which of the following air masses?
a) continental tropical originating over Northern Mexico
b) maritime tropical originating over the Gulf of Mexico
c) maritime tropical originating over the Pacific equatorial region
d) maritime polar originating in the Gulf of Alaska
e) continental polar originating over Canada's Hudson Bay
5. Which of the following would most likely cause moldy silage?
a) packing the silage too tight
b) harvesting at 70% moisture rather than 65%
c) too much lactic acid in the silage
d) fresh air movement into the silo
e) adding molasses to silage
6. Wheat millers would reject buying wheat with this disease?
a) Maize dwarf mosaic
b) Bacterial Blight
c) Brown spot
d) Ergot
e) Scald
7. The total water "leaving the soil" in a field of grain sorghum is called
a) evaporation
b) crop utilized water
c) total water utilization
d) evapotranspiration
e) transpiration
8. Which bale of hay is most likely to have flowers or seed pods in it?
a) a bale of hay used around the perimeter of a building to insulate it from cold north winds
b) a bale being sold at a farm auction of a cattle and grain farmer
c) a bale in the back of a pickup that is being used to feed pure bred angus cattle
d) a bale on a semi-truck load of hay being shipped to a Kentucky horse farm
e) a bale of hay that is being used to feed a dairy herd in Northeast Iowa
9. One of the newer emerged disease problems of maize and wheat that has world-wide implications is:
a) high plains virus (HPV)
b) maize dwarf mosaic (MDM)
c) global wheat nematode (GWN)
d) Asian cereal blight (ASB)
e) Air-borne maize vector (AMV)
10. The sugar that processors remove from sugarbeet is found in the
a) root
b) bulb
c) stems
d) flowers
e) seeds
11. The economic threshold for insect control
a) is the same from year to year within each kind of crop
b) is only important when there are large populations of beneficial insects
c) is the actual economic loss due to insect damage plus the cost of controlling the pest
d) can only be determined if insect populations and insect damage are assessed in the field
e) is the same regardless of the relative stages in the life cycle of both insects and the crop plants
12. If you wanted to grow spring wheat in the greenhouse for a display of wheat inflorescences to your clients, what type of wheat would you choose because of vernalization problems?
a) wheat from Minnesota
b) wheat from Kansas
c) wheat from Mexico
d) flinty wheat
e) sweet wheat
13. The ability of soil to hold water against the pull of gravity is mainly a function of
a) the amount of sand in the soil
b) percent slope
c) capillary pore space
d) gravitational pore space
e) crop grown
14. A crop that is used to attract an insect species in order to prevent damage to a primary crop is known as
a) an emergency crop
b) a trap crop
c) a catch crop
d) an attractant crop
e) a detractant crop
15. Harvesting period for corn growers
a) Increases with lower seed moisture content
b) Is influenced by number of acres to be harvested
c) Is shortened when late maturity hybrids are grown
d) Is not influenced by prices of drying fuel
e) Is delayed if lodging becomes a problem for the hybrid used
16. The insect that is likely to cause poor stands from damage to the plant before it emerged is:
a) seedcorn maggot
b) rice weevil
c) hessian fly
d) earworm
e) aphid
17. If corn was planted May 1 in central Iowa, corn rootworm damage that occurred in late May would be mostly on the
a) radicle
b) seminal roots
c) secondary root system
d) rhizomatous root system
e) brace roots
18. In order to achieve good seed-soil contact and have good seedling emergence, a planter should
a) place the seed at a depth of 2.5 inches
b) place the seed in contact with soil
c) clear the crop residue in the inter row zone
d) place the seed in loose moist soil
e) seal a smooth layer of compacted soil above the seed
19. Biennials normally
a) produce seed for two years and then die
b) produce seed the second year of growth
c) produce seed twice a year then die
d) do not produce vegetative growth the second year
e) produce seed the first year and vegetative growth the second year
20. Some cities in Iowa have had problems in their drinking water partially due to fertilizer usage in the state. This chemical compound is
a) lime
b) nitrate
c) aflatoxin
d) butyric acid
e) black alkali
21. The presence of which acid indicates better silage?
a) acetic acid
b) hydrochloric acid
c) sulfuric acid
d) butyric acid
e) lactic acid
22. Proper stocking rate and pasture management is important to prevent animals from:
a) overeating
b) selective grazing
c) in-herd fighting
d) hoof and mouth disease
e) salt toxicity
23. The economic threshhold (based on insects per square meter) of bean leaf beetle for soybeans is likely to be greater when the LAI is:
a) 0
b) 1
c) 2
d) 3
e) 4
24. A normal plant cell (not a reproductive cell) usually has how many sets of chromosomes
a) 2
b) 1
c) 3
d) 4
e) 5
25. A loam soil with optimum conditions for crop growth would contain approximately
a) 80% minerals
b) 10% organic matter
c) 25% water
d) 50% air
e) 20% minerals
26. In semi-arid areas, good soil fertility programs can help minimize the effects of drought, this is primarily due to the enhancement of fertility on:
a) LAI
b) stomatal regulation
c) root growth
d) soil texture
e) photoperiod
27. What practice would be most appropriate to harvest a very weedy grain crop?
a) repaint the combine to red and put CASE-IH decals on it
b) delay harvest until sometime later in November to allow the killing frost to kill the green weeds
c) harvest at 40% moisture grain rather than 20%
d) use a desiccant 1-2 weeks before harvesting
e) row cultivate approximately 1-2 weeks before harvest to remove the worst areas of weed infestation
28. If you had a leaf spot disease problem on fieldbeans, which management decision would likely result in greater disease injury?
a) adding fertilizer to the soil to improve plant growth
b) increasing the soil ph to 6.8-7.0
c) tiling or draining excess water from the field
d) switching from furrow irrigation to sprinkler irrigation systems
e) inoculating the soil with rhizobium bacteria
29. Which
row of soybeans in a field next to a pasture of Kentucky bluegrass would likely
experience the least stress?
a)
the outside border row
b)
the second row from the outside
c)
the fifth row from the outside
d)
the middle row of the field
e)
the row that was tallest
30. If the average growing season is 150 days for a given area, then the chances of successfully growing a 150-day-maturity crop X is about
a) 1%
b) 10%
c) 50%
d) 70%
e) 100%
31. Salt toxicity disease is most likely to appear in the field as:
a) long strips of yellowing plants
b) plants that are beginning to yellow from the bottom leaves and progressing toward top leaves in mature plants
c) rows that have intermittent skips of dead plants in them
d) irregular white patches of soil devoid of plants
e) long narrow strips of yellowing plants around the borders of the field
32. A weed, called hairy cotton in southern states, which produces seeds contained within a pod and has fine pubescence on its vegetative surfaces is known in Iowa as:
a) velvetleaf
b) giant foxtail
c) common cocklebur
d) pigweed
e) hairy vetch
33. In a corn field suffering from severe corn borer infestations, one should:
a) decrease the fertilizer application on the field
b) decrease the irrigation rate in arid, irrigated areas
c) try to increase the number of vectors in the field
d) not increase the planting rate
e) apply of a fungicide to the crop at critical infestation levels
34. The layer of atmosphere where our weather occurs is the
a) stratosphere
b) troposphere
c) ionosphere
d) inner sphere
e)
hemisphere
35. Suppose a farmer sprayed a herbicide on soybeans near physiological maturity to cause rapid drying of the plant and allow earlier harvesting. The harvested seeds, when planted next spring, did not germinate properly. The herbicide probably was
a) a contact herbicide
b) a translocated herbicide
c) a soil sterilant
d) chosen for its selectivity
e) applied at two times the normal rate
36. The best crop to make a loaf of bread is
a) Hard red winter wheat
b) Durum wheat
c) Yellow corn
d) Malting barley
e) Sorghum molasses
37. Flat soils near the river deposited by floods over the last 500 years would be classified as
a) alluvial
b) lacustrine
c) glacial till
d) prismatic
e) maritime
38. Which reason best accounts for Iowa having some of the best soils in the world?
a) trees
b) native prairie grasses
c) lakes
d) annual weather patterns
e) earth quakes
39. You would be more concerned with a new plant that appeared in your field in Idaho if you knew the plant was a:
a) C3 plant that had rhizomes
b) C4 plant that had stolons
c) C3 plant that had pubescence
d) C4 plant that had pubescence
e) C3 plant that had stipules
40. Which statement is most accurate?
a) Legal seed must be sold as certified seed.
b) Legal seed must be protected seed through the Plant Variety Protection Act (PVPA).
c) Certified seed must be sold as legal seed.
d) Certified seed must be sold as protected seed (PVPA).
e) Certified seed must be sold as registered seed.
41. Sexually reproduced crop plants have evolved to produce gametic cells. This fortunate evolutionarily trait has prevented the harmful effects of:
a) chromosome doubling
b) double fertilization in seeds
c) asexual reproduction
d) allelopathathy
e) mitosis
42. The least efficient forage management system from the standpoint of animal gain per acre is
a) continuous grazing
b) rotation grazing
c) strip grazing
d) zero grazing
e) spring grazing
43. The likely cause of small seed size in a harvested summer annual grain is that
a) the seed planted was of poor quality
b) the crop was suffering from CO2 deficiency during vegetative development
c) the crop was under stress late in the growing season
d) the floret size was small
e) a late frost in the spring damaged the plants
44. Which of the following best represent the population increase of a bacterial pathogen?
a) 1-2-3-4
b) 1-10-20-30
c) 1-11-21-31
d) 1-10-100-1000
e) 1-10-100-10000
45. The "ugly duckling" of the parents in a backcross selection method that contains the targeted gene is likely to be the
a) first parent
b) BC6 parent
c) donor parent
d) allelic parent
e) genetic parent
46. To control Canada thistle in an established, mixed grass-legume pasture using a herbicide, one would have to use a:
a) selective herbicide
b) banded herbicide
c) soil applied herbicide
d) contact herbicide
e) granular herbicide
47. A soil was compacted about 12 inches deep due to heavy equipment use. Which of the following operations would most likely improve drainage?
a) rotary tillage
b) subsoiling
c) sweep tillage
d) chisel-plow planting
e) till plant
48. Before the time of Linnaeus, the plant now designated Trifolium repens (white clover) was specified as Trifolium capitulis umbellaribus leguminubus tetraspermis caule repente. What is another name for the improved Linnaean system of nomenclature?
a) Latin nominal
b) polynomial
c) biennial
d) binomial
e)
monomial
49. Which of the following statements about a chisel plow tillage system is false or illogical?
a) chisel in the fall
b) chisel in the spring
c) works well for rolling land
d) increases soil temperature compared to the conventional system
e) decreases soil moisture more than a no-till system
50. Some
berry crops in California are grown in beds covered with plastic using drip
irrigation. Plastic is used to
a)
reduce humidity
b)
reduce evaporation
c)
reduce air temperature
d)
reduce wind speed
e)
reduce transpiration
51. The phenotypic F1 ratio of a monohybrid cross: male = Aa; female = Aa would be (A is dominant and a is recessive):
a) 1:1
b) 3:1
c) 2:2
d) 4:0
e) 1:4
52. The best way to help lower damage due to Angoumois grain moth is to:
a) apply a herbicide
b) clean old grain from grain storage bins
c) apply a nematocide
d) wait approximately one month after harvesting before drying corn
e) rotate cereal crops with legume crops
53. Which one of the following plants would most likely establish the quickest LAI because of its growth habits?
a) soybeans
b) wild sunflower
c) sugarbeet
d) sweet potato
e) peanut
54. The subsoil moisture level in a growing region is likely to reach its lowest point
a) when the LAI is highest
b) when the rainfall is highest
c) on the longest day of the year
d) during late fall and early spring
e) during the winter months
55. Transpiration
rates will decrease when
a)
relative humidity near the leaf increases
b)
stirring the air in the crop canopy on a hot, still
day
c)
plant leaves have more stoma
d)
plant leaves have thinner cuticles
e)
plants etiolate
56. An Ames adapted variety of soybeans was planted May 20 near Ames, Iowa and at the same date near Minneapolis, Minnesota. If the temperature was the same at both locations from planting until flowering
a) the field near Minneapolis would flower first
b) the field near Ames would grow taller
c) the field near Ames would flower first
d) the two fields would flower at the same time
e) the plants in the two fields would be the same height
57. When does moisture in the soil become unavailable to plants?
a) at 1 atmosphere
b) at 5 atmospheres
c) at field capacity
d) at wilting point
e) at hygroscopic point
58. Which of the following weeds is most likely to become a greater problem when the soil is not tilled and the crop is planted using a no-till planter?
a) hemp dogbane, a perennial
b) velvetleaf, a broadleaf
c) common ragweed, a dicot
d) redroot pigweed, a taprooted annual
e) common lambsquarters, a pubescent plant
59. The following insect would be most likely to be vector for a virus disease
a) aphids
b) armyworms
c) grasshoppers
d) corn earworms
e) southern corn rootworm beetles
60. The equation P = G + E is often used to explain
variability among plants. Which of the
following statements about this is true?
a)
E modifies P
b)
P is a symbol
that represents plants
c)
E represents
the portion of heritability that cannot be explained by inheritance and
environment
d)
plant breeders
genetically manipulate E to obtain the greatest plant improvement
e)
G = P + E
61. Seed generally are planted deeper in the soil if
a)
if they are
smaller seed
b)
if the soil is
sandier
c)
if the soil
temperatures are lower
d)
if the soil
moisture content is higher
e)
if the seeds
are more egg-shaped
62. A disease epidemic is less likely to occur in a
a) corn inbred
b) variety produced by backcrossing
c) variety produced by the pedigree method
d) synthetic variety
e) pure line variety
63. In grain grading, mold-damaged kernels found in a grain sample would be categorized under:
a) foreign material
b) total damaged kernels
c) test weight
d) special grade designations
e) dockage
64. If the effective rooting depth of millet is 4 feet
in a silt loam soil that holds 1 1/2 inches of available water per foot depth
of soil, and millet uses 0.1 inches of water per day in evapotranspiration,
then how long would it take the soil to reach wilting point without rainfall?
a)
2.7 days
b)
10 days
c)
15 days
d)
45 days
e)
60 days
65. Weed infestations in a pasture are likely to be greater in:
a) high soil fertility, soil pH of 7.2, and continuous grazing
b) low soil fertility, soil pH of 6.2, and continuous grazing
c) low soil fertility, soil pH of 7.2, and rotational grazing
d) high soil fertility, soil pH of 6.2, and continuous grazing
e) moderate soil fertility, soil pH of 7.2, and no grazing
66. If the recommended planning rate for Crop X was 21 pounds per acre and you bought seed for $200/bag that had a pure live seed content of 70% and each bag weighed 100 pounds. You would actually be:
a) paying more than $15 for each pound of seed
b) planting less than 15 pounds of seed per acre
c) seeding more than one bag per acre
d) paying more money per pound of seed than if you bought seed with a pure live seed content of 90% at the same price
e) planting approximately 70 pounds of seed per acre to achieve the recommended planting rate
67. If a leaf in a canopy is at a net assimilation rate (NAR) of zero,
a) all leaves above it should have a negative NAR value
b) all leaves below it should have a negative NAR value
c) it is respiring more than it is photosynthesizing
d) it is photosynthesizing more than it is respiring
e) it is producing carbohydrates which add to grain yield
68. Which crop would be the best choice for a short-term grain crop?
a) rye
b) reed canarygrass
c) switchgrass
d) alfalfa
e) birdsfoot trefoil
69. Which part of the disease triangle is never managed to significantly reduce the economic impact of disease?
a) host
b) pathogen
c) environment
d) symptom
e)
none of these
70. The graph of population development of a predator in comparison with its prey is likely to:
a) increase sooner in the season.
b) increase later in the season.
c) increase and remain constant through the season.
d) decrease and remain constant through the season.
e) decrease sharply during mid season based on weather.
71. What is the cost of water when you sell soybeans at 10% moisture rather than 14% moisture for a 100-acre field that yielded 60 bushel per acre? Assume a bushel of soybeans is worth 15.00 per bushel.
a) $3600
b) $7200
c) $9000
d) $12600
e) $90,000
72. Planting winter wheat past the Hessian fly free date is an example of
a) biological control
b) environmental control
c) cultural control
d) chemical control
e) none of the above
73. Which one is not a service provided to farmers by the seed industry?
a) seed handling and bagging
b) varietal development
c) seed testing and labeling
d) blending seed to meet U.S. No. 2 standards
e) seed increase of new varieties
74. You conducted a simple experiment to determine the type of disease organism according to degree of parasitism. Results showed that it would survive only on dead tissue. It would be considered to be
a) an obligate parasite
b) a facultative saprophyte
c) a facultative parasite
d) an obligate saprophyte
e) a parasite
75. Younger soils, generally have
a.
less profile distinction
b.
well developed surface drainage
c.
more defined B horizons
d.
been developed under forest vegetation
e.
hilly topography
AGRONOMY 114 FINAL EXAM
Disclaimer: the answer key could have an unintentional mis-key
Item #Answer
1 4
2 1
3 5
4 2
5 4
6 4
7 4
8 1
9 1
10 1
11 4
12 1
13 3
14 2
15 2
16 1
17 2
18 2
19 2
20 2
21 5
22 2
23 5
24 1
25 3
26 3
27 4
28 4
29 1
30 3
31 4
32 1
33 4
34 2
35 2
36 1
37 1
38 2
39 2
40 3
41 1
42 1
43 3
44 5
45 3
46 1
47 2
48 4
49 4
50 2
51 2
52 2
53 2
54 1
55 1
56 3
57 4
58 1
59 1
60 1
61 2
62 4
63 2
64 5
65 2
66 4
67 2
68 1
69 4
70 2
71 1
72 3
73 4
74 4
75 1