AGRONOMY 114 FINAL EXAM
Instructions for your answer sheet:
1.
During an interview, a forester said that a dry fall often results in
more stress on evergreen shrubs and trees.
This is likely due to the
a) water stress within plant tissues due to winter transpiration of
green, needled leaves
b) extra freezing and thawing of roots than if the soil was wetter
c) more fertilizer uptake of roots in dryer soils
d) poorer aeration of a dryer soil
e) greater compaction problems of soils that are dryer than normal
2. Using extremely high plant
populations for wheat might likely increase what problem?
a) hessian fly
b) fusarium kernel rot
c) tiller competition
d) root rot
e) lodging
3.
Scarification is generally done for seed with
a) low vigor
b) higher amounts of foreign material
c) high seed production ratios
d) hard seed coats
e) poor storage ability
4. The formula for figuring out the
total number of eggs laid by a nematode after 4 generations in one year is
(assume a female can lay 500 eggs each time)
a) 4 x 500 X 12
b) 4 to the 12th power
c) 1 x 4 x 500
d) 500 to the 4th power
e) 8 to the 500th power
5. The term "race" of a
disease refers to the
a) epidemic potential
b) pathogenic organism
c) symptom variability
d) abiotic factor of disease
e) injury-resistance level of the host
6. How much should one increase
corn population to offset a 10% yield loss due to corn borer?
a) 0%
b) 5%
c) 10%
d) 15%
e) 20%
7. Which reason best accounts for
Iowa having some of the best soils in the world?
a) growth of typical tree species
b) growth of species like big bluestem,
switchgrass, and indiangrass
c) degree of no-till tillage systems
d) frequency of cold front patterns
e) absence of hurricanes
8. What was originally thought of
as “trash” in fields is now considered as a potential source of biofuel. This trash is:
a) left over weeds
b) biological yield
c) crop residues
d) garbage
e) John Deere equipment
9. The main reason two farmers
can bring in No. 4 corn to a local grain elevator, which can then ship and sell
all the corn as No. 2 is that
a) grain discounts can be applied to the farmers
b) grain moisture is not accounted for until the final shipping
c) you can usually take No. 4 corn and
reduce its grade to a
poorer quality level like No. 2.
d) No. 4 corn lots may be No. 4 quality for different reasons,
which can disappear after blending grain
e) grain grades are not that exact and small miscalculations
can made that can change the grade, which is likely in this
case
10. A tremor in Lake Nyos in
Cameroon caused the release of trapped gas from lake-bottom sediments,
resulting in the deaths of hundreds of people and livestock from carbon dioxide
poisoning. This type of soil is?
a) fusarium
b) lacustrine
c) carbonuvial
d) alluvial
e) residual
11. The bowl of soup with a swirl
of white cream that was being eaten by a lady in Mexico and shown in discussion
was made from
a) black beans
b) chili beans
c) agava
d) corn smut
e) molasses
12.
Which breeding method would not likely be used to produce crops like
rice, oats, or rye?
a) backcrossing
b) synthetic variety method
c) bulk selection method
d) single seed selection method
e) pedigreed selection method
13. Hay digestibility is largely determined by
the digestibility of the
a) cell wall
b) endoplasmic reticulum
c) plasma membrane
d) ribosome
e) vacuole
14. The geographic center of origin of a crop
species is especially important to a plant breeder because it is there that he
or she can expect to find
a) genetic variability
b) triple fusion
c) double fertilization
d) cross pollination
e) recurrent parents
15. If you filled up a sealable
can of air at sea level and carried it to the top of a 4,000 meter mountain,
the can of air would
a) get warmer
b) get heavier
c) get dryer
d) burst from freezing
e) none of the above
16. Soils are referred to as
young or mature according to the
a) amount of sand in the rooting zone
b) amount of organic matter in the subsoil
c) number of years they have been under cultivation
d) number of years since a crop was grown on them
e) extent of profile development they exhibit
17. Which grazing management
practices would tend to lower animal performance?
a) using rotational pastures
b) using supplemental pastures
c) using permanent pastures
d) using strip grazing
e) using continuous grazing
18. An ISU Extension Forage
Specialist recommends taking the temperature of a representative sample of big hay
bales after harvesting. This is to
determine whether the hay
a) was baled too dry
b) needs some fertility
c) is spoiling
d) needs more protein
e) has reached optimum digestibility
19. Applications of
anti-transpirants, which are developed to reduce moisture stress in plants, are
targeted at:
a) apical and axillary buds
b) pubescence
c) roots
d) stoma
e) stems
20. Use of a defoliant to improve
harvest success is most illogical for which crop?
a) cotton
b) wheat
c) orchardgrass hay
d) peas
e) tobacco for seed
21. About 1 million insect
species are known but it is estimated that 90% of the damage to the world's
crops are caused by about how many species?
a) 100,000
b) 10,000
c) 5,000
d) 100
e) 0.50
22.
Which situation is most likely to result in a killing frost on a given
night?
a) dry soil, bottom land, cloudy sky
b) dry soil, bottom land, clear sky
c) moist soil, hillside, cloudy sky
d) moist soil, bottom land, clear sky
e) moist soil, lower latitudes, clear sky
23. Plant abnormalities not
caused by pathogenic organisms are in the general category of
a) psychological disease
b) abiotic disease
c) non-toxic symptoms
d) irregular environmental interaction
e) pollution effects (eg. abnormally higher CO2 in the air, lead
poisoning, etc)
24. What observed plant trait
would be the best hint to use a translocated herbicide rather than a contact
herbicide?
a) hypogeal germinating seed
b) rapidly respiring mitochondria
c) seed produced on panicles
d) stolons
e) self pollinating flowers
25. What is the total cost to the
producers by selling 10% moisture soybeans rather than selling 14 % moisture
soybeans on 100 acres averaging 50 bushels/A and the contracted price was $5/bu? (1 bu = 60 lbs) with no drying or
discount costs for soybeans brought into the grain elevator at 14% moisture or
less?
a) $500
b) $1,000
c) $5,000
d) $12,000
e) $120,000
26. An increase in what silage
factor would decrease the ensiling, storability and utilization of silage
a) pH
b) lactic acid
c) carbohydrate concentration
d) anaerobic conditions
e) alcoholic odor
27. Which of the following is not
a class of seed recognized by the seed industry in the U.S.?
a) Foundation seed
b) Registered seed
c) Certified seed
d) U.S. Sample Grade seed
e) Breeder seed
28. Which insect is most likely
to cause stem lodging?
a) green cloverworm
b) alfalfa weevil
c) grasshopper
d) wireworms
e) European corn borer
29. “Praying mantis” is the answer
for which question?
a) a sucking insect?
b) a beneficial insect predator?
c) a leaf chewing insect?
d) a pollinating insect?
e) commonly found in places of worship?
30. In the dust bowl days of the
1930s, new layers of soil were deposited in fields from the huge, thick dust
clouds that darkened the skies of the Great Plains. This type of soil parent material is called?
a) alluvial
b) colluvial
c) lacustrine
d) loess
e) residual
31. Which one of the following
weeds could be vegetatively spread by field cultivation?
a) velvetleaf
b) sunflower
c) cocklebur
d) lambsquarters
e) quackgrass
32. Which term refers to
herbicide formulation?
a) preplant
b) wettable powder
c) amino acid synthesis inhibitor
d) banded
e) selective
33. If a winter annual, such as
winter wheat, is not vernalized one would expect?
a) yields typical for the crop
b) slightly reduced yields
c) yields higher than normal
d) more seed diseases
e) big yield differences
34. The adult form of this insect
pest is a beetle. The larvae are big
bodied, whitish, with a brown head and six legs. Eggs are deposited in grass sod. The insect
described is a
a) white grub
b) wireworm
c) armyworm
d) rice weevil
e) hessian fly
35. Red clover has the best
chance to overwinter without injury in the Midwest
a) in a low spot in the field
b) under thick snow
c) in a clean, residue-free soil
d) under a thin layer of ice
e) on the east side rather than the west side of a field
36. It has been stated by ISU extension
agronomists that proper fertilizer management in the Midwest could significantly
reduce the ever growing dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. What fertilizer practice in the Midwest is
the single, greatest contributor of this increasing dead zone in the Gulf?
a) applying manure
b) applying herbicides
c) crop rotation
d) fall fertilizing
e) soil testing
37. Two reasons why the same
crops grown in the winter season often don’t yield as much as when grown in the
summer season under the same precipitation patterns would be related to?
a) day length and angle of the sun
b) length of growing season and CO2 levels
c) elevation and air circulation patterns
d) planting depth and plant population patterns
e) fertilization patterns and decomposition rates
38. Which irrigation system
should you use on high-value crops in arid climates where irrigation water is
expensive?
a) trickle
b) sprinkler
c) furrow
d) flood
e) gated pipe
39. Which best describes
photosynthesis?
a) sunlight evaporates water from the surface of green leaves and causes
roots to take up water
b) atmospheric nitrogen is fixed in root nodules to allow vegetative
plant growth to take place
c) atmospheric carbon is fixed in organic form by combination with water
by means of solar energy
d) energy-rich carbohydrates are broken down to provide fuel for plant
growth
e) the process in leaf cells that is associated with the initiation of
flowering
40. Annual tillage costs for
seedbed preparation would be the greatest under which of the following systems
a) full width conservation tillage
b) strip till
c) conventional tillage with the moldboard plow
d) slot till
e) slot till on ridges
41. Crops that have larger plant
size should generally be planted
a) at higher populations in narrower rows
b) at higher populations in wider rows
c) at lower populations in narrower rows
d) at lower populations in wider rows
e) at deeper depths in narrower rows
42. Some crops in arid and semi
arid regions are grown in raised 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 crop transpiration
43. Which soil type would be the
slowest to warm up in the spring?
a) sandy soil
b) sandy loam soil
c) loam soil
d) silt loam soil
e) silty clay loam soil
44. The determination, heat
damage, is most closely associated with
a) seed quality for planting
b) legal seed
c) certified seed
d) grain grading
e) plant variety protection act
45. If soybeans start to
germinate while being stored in a bin, what will result soon after?
a) the grain temperature will rise
b) grain moisture will begin to rise
c) lactic acid will increase
d) grain pH will start to rise
e) photosynthesis will be initiated
46. Which of the following
production practices increases the probability that seedling rots will occur?
a) crop rotations
b) chemical weed control
c) late planting
d) low population densities
e) reduced tillage systems
47. Which of the following terms
would be most closely related to soil structure?
a) sand
b) particle size
c) silt
d) aggregate size
e) potassium content
48. Severe infestation of what
weed species is likely to reduce land values for hay production?
a) Green foxtail
b) Smooth crabgrass
c) Canada thistle
d) Dandelion
e) Redroot pigweed
49. Measuring the percentage by
weight of a seed sample that contains seed of the kind submitted for testing is
a goal of which seed test?
a) tetrazolium test
b) cold test
c) purity analysis
d) germination test
e) dockage test
50. If an ISU student crossed two
normally self-fertilizing oat lines the resulting F1 progeny should
a) be heterogeneous
b) be heterozygous
c) be tetraploid (4N)
d) be segregating at most loci
e) have 4 alleles for each trait
51. How do insect populations
usually develop resistance to insecticides?
a) natural selection
b) asexual selection
c) mitotic selection
d) pure line selection
e) lysenkent selection
52. Increases in which insect
would most likely cause the greatest increase in the economic threshold value
for alfalfa
a) grasshopper
b) alfalfa webworm
c) green cloverworm
d) bean leaf beetle
e) green lacewings
53. Selfing will move traits
toward
a) heterogeneous condition
b) mutation
c) hybridization
d) homozygous dominant or homozygous recessive
e) heterozygous recessiveness
54. What's the best way to
effectively kill dandelions with a translocated herbicide?
a) double the recommended rate and kill the phloem
b) halve the recommended rate and kill the leaves
c) increase the recommended rate to kill the plant as fast as possible
in the fall
d) use a recommended rate to kill the phloem slowly
e) use whatever rate is needed to kill vegetative top growth
55. Which harvest practice will
result in a producer harvesting the greatest amount of high quality alfalfa
hay?
a) cut at 1/2 bloom, bale at 30% moisture
b) cut at full bloom, bale at 25% moisture
c) cut at 1/10 bloom, bale at 10% moisture
d) cut at 1/2 bloom, bale at 10% moisture
e) cut at 1/10 bloom, bale at 25% moisture
56. A major new weed problem
increasing in Illinois soybean fields is
a) quack grass
b) soybean leaf beetle
c) soybeans Asian leaf rust
d) herbicide carryover in soils
e) round-up resistant corn
57. Before hemp was outlawed for
growth in Iowa, it was thought that the crop would be a renewable source of?
a) ethanol
b) plastic
c) caffeine free tobacco
d) fiber
e) starch
58. For soybeans(short-day
plant), if you planted a variety that is normally planted in a region 100-200
miles south of the area you are farming, you would expect the plants in your
field to
a) flower earlier
b) be more stunted
c) set seed later
d) be less pubescent
e) none of the above
59. Which point would be reached
last in soil during a prolonged, extreme, artificial drying period?
a) field capacity
b) saturation
c) hygroscopic point
d) wilting point
e) wilting range
60. The following plant would be
properly classified as dicotyledonous
a) corn
b) oats
c) orchardgrass
d) barley
e) alfalfa
61. Under ideal conditions oxygen
in a silo is
a) needed for fermentation
b) present for only 4-6 weeks
c) used up by anaerobic bacteria
d) used up by molds within 12 hours of storage
e) consumed in the process of respiration of plant material and aerobic
bacteria
62. Clay loam soil as compared to
sandy loam
a) has a higher % moisture at field capacity
b) has a lower % moisture at saturation
c) contains less water at the permanent wilting point
d) contains less water when air dry
e) contains more moisture when oven dry
63. Disease resistance in a crop
is mostly likely to break down when
a) clean tillage is used
b) crop rotations are used
c) major gene resistance is used
d) environmental control is used
e) cultural control is used
64. Summer-fallowing
a) is used when irrigation is economical
b) eliminates evaporative water loss from the field
c) is conventional tillage minus the use of a moldboard plow
d) permits the conservation of moisture from one growing season so a
crop may be produced the second season
e) is accomplished by maintaining a short but complete ground cover of
slow growing crops
65. People farming with John
Deere equipment is a good example that
a) natural selection just doesn’t work
b) our economic system supports inefficiency and waste
c) mechanical predators are not necessarily
beneficial to the environment
d) outer appearance is held with higher value than internal beauty
e) all of the above are true
66. Why would popcorn pop better
than wheat or rye?
a) popcorn has a stronger pericarp
b) popcorn has a thicker aluerone layer
c) popcorn has a greater percentage of germ area
d) popcorn has a different distribution of flinty endosperm
e) popcorn has a greater protein content per kernel
67. Crops planned and grown for stressful
climatic periods in the growing season are called
a) catch crops
b) cover crops
c) sole crops
d) pulse crops
e) supplementary crops
68. "Triple fusion" is
a process associated with
a) hygroscopic water shells
b) formation of endosperm
c) the pedigree method of breeding
d) nuclear power plants
e) blending of breeder's, foundation and certified seed
69. Which insect does not exhibit
a larval stage in its lifecycle?
a) leafhopper
b) armyworm
c) European corn borer
d) hessian fly
e) angoumois grain moth
70. Some weed species secrete
compounds that restrict growth of plants in the immediate vicinity of the weedy
plant. This phenomenon is referred to as
a) systemic
b) biological control
c) abiotic phase
d) allelopathy
e) parasitism
71. In what zone of the
atmosphere are clouds formed?
a) stratosphere
b) climosphere
c) ionosphere
d) hydrosphere
e) troposphere
72. The process of coming into
contact between the pathogen and plant host is called
a) inoculation
b) penetration
c) infection
d) colonization
e) reproduction
73. Maximum dry weight of grain
not yet ready for harvest would describe
a) harvest maturity
b) green stage maturity
c) proper maturity stage
d) physiological maturity
e) cutting maturity
74. A modern integrative, weed
control program on an animal-crop farm would include
a) selecting vigorously growing varieties
b) mowing annual weeds
c) planting varieties with a high pure, live seed content
d) rotating herbicides that have with different modes of action
e) all of the above
75. Which crop would likely have
the greatest problems in stand establishment due to problems in controlling the
depth of planting during the planting operation?
a) red clove
b) rye
c) grain sorghum
d) Zea mays
e) rice
Agron.
114 FINAL EXAM ANSWERS,
Item
# Answer
1 1
2 5
3 4
4 4
5 2
6 1
7 2
8 3
9 4
10 2
11 4
12 2
13 1
14 1
15 5
16 5
17 5
18 3
19 4
20 3
21 4
22 2
23 2
24 4
25 2
26 1
27 4
28 5
29 2
30 4
31 5
32 2
33 5
34 1
35 2
36 4
37 1
38 1
39 3
40 3
41 4
42 2
43 5
44 4
45 1
46 5
47 4
48 3
49 3
50 2
51 1
52 5
53 4
54 4
55 5
56 5
57 4
58 3
59 3
60 5
61 5
62 1
63 3
64 4
65 5
66 4
67 5
68 2
69 1
70 4
71 5
72 1
73 4
74 5
75 1