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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. Biofuels could chart new energy course Next week, Purdue University and U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar will host an energy summit to discuss industry and policy perspectives on how our nation can significantly reduce its dependence on foreign oil. Biofuels, such as soy diesel and ethanol, hold promise as alternative forms of energy, which could start a process that weans our nation from its oil addiction. Purdue Agriculture is developing many of the new technologies that will move the renewable fuels industry forward. Our researchers are exploring a number of ways to make biofuels production more efficient, effective and affordable. The time is ripe to discover the potential of biofuels and discuss this country's future energy course. However, replacing foreign oil with domestically grown biofuels will require an ambitious effort, not unlike that which put a man on the moon. The United States has proven time and time again that it can achieve tremendous goals with Apollo-like efforts. And while a future run by biofuels would require a large investment, the advances will be made not in space, but right here in Indiana farm fields and Purdue research laboratories. Richard G. Lugar-Purdue Summit on Energy Security http://www.purdue.edu/energysummit/. Fast-growing trees could take root as future energy source
Purdue University researchers are using genetic tools in an effort to design trees that readily and inexpensively yield the substances needed to produce alternative transportation fuel. The scientists are focused on a compound in cell walls called lignin that contributes to plants' structural strength, but which hinders extraction of cellulose. Cellulose is the sugar-containing component needed to make the alternative fuel ethanol. The Department of Energy's Office of Biological and Environmental Research is funding a $1.4 million, three-year study by Purdue faculty members Clint Chapple, Richard Meilan and Michael Ladisch to determine ways to alter lignin and test whether the genetic changes affect the quality of plants used to produce biofuels. A hybrid poplar tree is the basis for the research that is part of the DOE's goal to replace 30 percent of the fossil fuel used annually in the United States for transportation with biofuels by 2030. read more Ground swell: Purdue survey finds farmland values up again Indiana's fertile farmland produces corn, soybeans, wheat and a lot of equity for those who own it. A Purdue University survey of farm lenders, appraisers, land brokers and farm managers found that Hoosier cropland posted strong gains in value during the year that ended in June. The survey also revealed that cash rents rose in the same period but by a much smaller percentage. Purdue's Department of Agricultural Economics conducts the survey each June. Indiana farmland values have trended higher for about 20 consecutive years, said Craig Dobbins, a Purdue agricultural economist and survey coordinator. "This was another year where Indiana farmland values were up fairly strong," Dobbins said. "On a statewide basis we're talking about an average increase of 6 percent to 7.5 percent in farmland values from June 2005 to June 2006." A survey report, "Indiana Farmland Values Continue to Increase," appears in the August issue of the Purdue Agricultural Economics Report. The report is available online at http://www.agecon.purdue.edu/extension/pubs/paer/. read more Purdue creates new low-cost system to detect bacteria Researchers at Purdue University have developed a new low-cost system that analyzes scattered laser light to quickly identify bacteria for applications in medicine, food processing and homeland security at one-tenth the cost of conventional technologies.
"Unlike conventional methods, we don't have to do any biochemical staining, DNA analysis or other types of manipulation," said Bartek Rajwa, a staff scientist at the Bindley Bioscience Center in Purdue's Discovery Park, the university's hub for interdisciplinary research. The work was initiated by Arun Bhunia, a professor of food microbiology in the Department of Food Science, and E. Daniel Hirleman, a professor and William E. and Florence E. Perry Head of Purdue's School of Mechanical Engineering. read more Program teaches strategies for successful agrimarketing Purdue University's Center for Food and Agricultural Business will host its annual Strategic Agrimarketing seminar Oct. 23-27 for marketers and sales professionals. "Strategic Agrimarketing is one of the center's flagship programs," said Samantha Lucy, the center's marketing manager. "For nearly 20 years, our faculty has worked with agrimarketers to help them gain a more comprehensive understanding of marketing strategy." The program provides agrimarketers with new methods for analyzing market problems, tools for evaluating strategy and decision making, and a new framework for managing market segmentation. Registration is $2,345 before Sept. 22 or $2,495 after, which includes all program materials, snacks and some meals. Registration is limited and is available on a first-come basis. More information regarding registration and the seminar is available on the center's Web site or by contacting Lucy at (765) 494-8151, slucy@purdue.edu. read more Upcoming Events
Aug. 22 -- Davis Agricultural Center Field Day Aug. 23 -- Pinney Agricultural Center Field Day Aug. 24 -- Northeast Purdue Agricultural Center Field Day Aug. 26 -- Purdue Forestry Field Day Aug. 29 -- Daviess County Biodiesel Awareness Session Aug. 30 -- Indiana Grazing Lands Tour Sept. 12-14 -- Venison Workshops
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A tree that can reach 90 feet in six years and be grown as a row crop on fallow farmland could represent a major replacement for fossil fuels.
The technique - Bacteria Rapid Detection Using Optical Scattering Technology - works by shining a laser through a petri dish containing bacterial colonies growing in a nutrient medium.