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 AgComm
News Purdue Extension Purdue
Agriculture Purdue University 
Jay Akridge Olivia Maddox Cherryl Frederick 
Agricultural Communication |
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Welcome to Purdue Agriculture Report, an e-newsletter for business and community leaders on research, academics and Extension across Indiana and around the globe. Forward-thinking partners expand Purdue's potential to serve Purdue University relies on support from many sources to provide programs and services to the people of Indiana. Philanthropic gifts from like-minded partners make it possible for us to stretch and improve our capabilities. Purdue Ag graduate Joe Sample, and his wife Angela , recently provided this kind of support to our college in honor of Joe's late father Glenn W. Sample. In recognition of Glenn's lifelong commitment to agriculture and Purdue, the dean's position will be referred to as the Glenn W. Sample Dean of Agriculture, pending approval by the board of trustees. Glenn Sample (1912-80) was an agricultural innovator. He was a household name in Indiana agriculture for many years. He helped establish agricultural communication as a career field, serving as a farm journalist with the Richmond (Ind.) Palladium-Item, as an agricultural editor at Purdue and as information director and "Hoosier Farmer" editor at Indiana Farm Bureau. He also hosted a daily farm radio program and launched an international travel service for farmers. Sample was elected vice president and secretary of Indiana Farm Bureau and became a leader in developing Indiana agricultural policy. This gift will allow us to support and expand programs in priority areas and help attract and retain world-class faculty. It also will help Purdue Agriculture maintain its preeminence in research, Extension and teaching. Without the support of engaged, insightful visionaries, our efforts to ensure the best for Indiana agriculture would lag behind the vast potential that we possess. Ethanol's impact on agriculture a mixed blessing Converting more corn into ethanol would be a high-octane boost to many, but not all, in the agriculture industry, predict two Purdue University agricultural economists. Corn growers, beef producers and the dairy industry stand to gain from an ethanol boom, according to economists Chris Hurt and Otto Doering. On the flip side, hog and poultry producers, grain elevator operators and grain shippers might be negatively affected. Soybean and wheat growers could go either way. Hurt and Doering outlined possible impacts to Indiana agriculture from a new federal renewable fuel standard. "The standard calls for the production of 7.5 billion gallons of renewable fuel by 2012 - a near doubling of current annual production," Doering said. "Ethanol and biodiesel are expected to make up most of the 7.5 billion gallons. To meet that goal, ethanol plants would use 2.5 billion bushels of corn, an increase in current usage of 1 billion bushels." Some of the new ethanol production will occur in Indiana. Several ethanol plants are on the drawing board, including a plant in the Montgomery County town of Linden, capable of pumping out 100 million gallons a year. A plant that size will go through about 35 million bushels of corn a year - about 30 percent of the corn grown in Montgomery and seven surrounding counties in 2004, Hurt said. read more Purdue researcher leads $4.5 million NSF study of soybean genome
The four-year funding package launches the process to sequence the soybean genome, which eventually will provide new ways to improve crops, said Jackson, an agronomy professor and holder of the Wickersham Chair of Excellence in Agricultural Research. "Considering how important the soybean is economically and agriculturally, relatively little had been done to learn about its genetic makeup compared with the study of maize and rice," Jackson said. "Soybeans, which are legumes, are much different than rice and corn, which are both cereal plants. Soybeans can do things that neither corn nor rice do." The researchers will locate the genes on the soybean chromosomes in order to create a physical map, Jackson said. Integrating the physical map with the parts of the genetic map already available eventually will allow sequencing of the entire soybean genome. read more Purdue Extension helps entrepreneur begin business Editor's note: Assisting entrepreneurs with new business start up is one of Purdue Extension's many programs and services to help the Indiana economy. "Purdue Extension Means Business," a publication that details the resources Purdue has for entrepreneurs, will be inserted in newspapers across the state in late October and early November. Look for it in your newspaper, and visit the "Purdue Extension Means Business" Web site. Related Link: Purdue Extension Means Business Good things often come in small packages, Just ask Kalista Johnston, creator of Baked Cheese Crisps. Johnston's cheese crisps were a healthy answer to a snacking dilemma she faced when she was on a low-carb diet. Her friends agreed that the crispy wafers filled a void, and an entrepreneurial idea was born.
Later this year, with help from Purdue Extension, boxes of Johnston's cheese crisps will begin rolling off the line at her new business, Grace Island Specialty Foods, in Garrett, Ind. "It's hard to even begin to list all the help I got from Purdue," Johnston said. "I attended a workshop and during that workshop came across a brochure for the business plan writing class. In the process of taking that class, I was introduced to a number of community resources." read more Beck family donates to build agronomy training and research center With nearly 70 years in the seed business, an even longer connection to Purdue and a wish to contribute to agriculture improvement, the Beck family of Atlanta, Ind., is providing the lead gift to build a new training and research facility at the university's Agronomy Center for Research and Education. The Beck Agricultural Center will provide space for classes, meetings and hands-on demonstrations at the agronomy farm. Purdue President Martin Jischke formally announced the gift in early October and celebrated completion of fund raising for the $3.5 million facility. "The structure will play a major role in meeting urgent needs in agriculture today and providing a place to prepare for the needs of tomorrow," Jischke said. "The Becks have played a leading role in Indiana's farming success, and their farsightedness in making this new facility possible will be key to the state's increased commitment to the agriculture industry." The agronomy center currently attracts more than 8,000 people annually for workshops and training programs. In addition, it serves 5,000 elementary through high school students and teachers every year for various classes read more College of Agriculture graduates earning higher salaries May 2005 graduates of the Purdue University College of Agriculture may see slightly decreased job placement, but once employed receive significantly increased salaries than those of previous years' graduates. Eighty-nine percent of the graduates were employed or continuing their education as of Oct. 1, with reported starting salaries for all degree fields averaging $35,416. Among the May 2004 graduates, 91 percent were employed or continuing their education as of Oct. 1, 2004, with salaries averaging $32,724. "Our graduates are receiving more pay both in state and out of state, although salaries have increased a bit more rapidly outside of Indiana," said Allan Goecker, assistant dean and associate director of academic programs. Agricultural and food process engineering graduates reported the highest average beginning salaries of $49,286. Food science and manufacturing graduates started on average at $38,966, agribusiness graduates averaged $34,438, and natural resources management graduates averaged $32,762. read more Get Checking program helps Hoosiers grow financially More than 500,000 Hoosier adults can't get a checking account because of previous mismanagement. For that reason, the Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service is working with partners throughout the state to offer Get Checking, a financial management program that helps Hoosiers get access to financial services. "When people attend this class they learn money management and financial planning skills," said Elizabeth Kiss, a Purdue Extension financial management specialist. After successful completion, they receive a certificate they can use at a participating financial institution to open a new checking account." Originally offered in 2003 by Purdue Extension in Marion and Johnson counties, the program was so successful that it's now being launched statewide. "Last year 711 people in the Indianapolis metro area earned Get Checking certificates," said Rebecca Haynes-Bordas, a Purdue Extension educator in Marion County. "These 711 people now have the basic building block required to buy a home, or a car, or a multitude of other things." read more Entrepreneurs profit from marketing and sales workshop Entrepreneurs and small business owners often face challenges when trying to market and sell their products, but a new Purdue Extension workshop, Bigger Profits Through Targeted Sales, can help them hone their marketing plans. Joan Fulton, co-chair of the Purdue Extension New Ventures Team and a workshop presenter, said participants should walk away with more than ideas. "You'll leave this workshop with a personalized marketing plan and sales strategy to immediately use in your business," she said. Bigger Profits Through Targeted Sales is scheduled for 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. at two locations and dates - Nov. 30 at the French Lick Springs Resort and Spa in French Lick, Ind., and Dec. 15 at the Dauch Alumni Center on Purdue University's West Lafayette, Ind., campus. read more Upcoming Events Through Nov. 17 - "Introduction to New Ventures: Generating a Business From Ideas" Workshops Nov. 11 - "Introduction to Starting a Specialty Food Business in Indiana" Workshop Nov. 17-18 - Tri-State Diversity Conference Nov. 30 & Dec. 15 - Bigger Profits Through Targeted Sales, Hands on Workshop Jan. 9 - Watershed Leadership Academy Jan. 21 - Indiana Horseman's Conference
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Farmers, college students and consumers may benefit from soybean research made possible by a $4.5 million National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to a team of researchers headed by Purdue University plant geneticist Scott Jackson.
"I was doing it just for myself," she said. "And then I started making them for friends and family that were also low-carbing. Then it turned into friends of friends who were calling up and saying 'Would you make some for me?'"