|
||||
|
|
|
|
|
 AgComm
News Purdue Extension Purdue
Agriculture Purdue University 
Jay Akridge Olivia Maddox Cherryl Frederick 
Agricultural Communication |
|
Welcome to Purdue Agriculture Report, an e-newsletter for business and community leaders on research, academics and Extension across Indiana and around the globe. Indiana's New Manufacturing Economy Purdue University plans to build on its track record in economic development with Indiana's New Manufacturing Economy Initiative. Key components include:
The university is asking the Indiana General Assembly to invest in the state's manufacturing future through this initiative. Purdue Agriculture will play a key role in several of these efforts, including developing biofuels, advanced manufacturing technologies and value-added agriculture products. While educating new generations of Hoosiers remains Purdue's primary mission, the university's research, expertise, and ability to work with businesses and communities are extremely effective resources. This legislative request is a proposal for a partnership to further boost Indiana's economic development. Democrat-led Congress likely to 'E's' into ag policy A power shift in Congress likely means a new emphasis — with a capital E — in agricultural policy, said Allan Gray, a Purdue University agricultural economist. With Democrats winning majorities in both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate in last month's midterm elections, Gray said he believes Democrats will chart a course that follows what he calls the "four E's." "There are going to be some shifts in agricultural policy issues with the Democrats assuming power in January," Gray said. "I think Democrats will focus on extension, environment, equity and energy." All four topics are likely to be addressed in the 2007 Farm Bill, which Democrats will play a significant role in writing, Gray said. The 2002 bill, estimated to spend $180 billion over 10 years, expires next September. read more Many weather factors needed for accurate climate change predictions
Climate change studies that assess the full range of interactions among temperature, radiation, precipitation and land use can better aid humans to prepare for extreme shifts in weather patterns, the scientists report. Climate change impact models often don't consider whether shifting weather will allow for sustainable agriculture, said Dev Niyogi, Purdue agronomy, and earth and atmospheric sciences assistant professor. Niyogi's team looked at weather factor interactions and their impact on two different crop plants by using data for weather and field conditions that occurred in a year considered normal for the test area. By designing a study that changed a number of variables simultaneously, the researchers found that the complex interactions of precipitation with other weather factors had the most impact on the overall health of crops and regional agricultural productivity. They concluded that lack of precipitation will have the most dramatic effect on living conditions in the future. read more Purdue seminars prepare farmers for biofuels-era marketing A government subsidy many farmers have relied on for years is gone. Ethanol and soy biodiesel — not budget-cutting legislators — are behind the suspension of the loan deficiency payment (LDP), said a Purdue University agricultural economist. Producers will need to learn to live without the LDP for as long as the biofuels market inflates corn and soybean prices, said Corinne Alexander. That means farmers should sharpen their marketing skills in order to maximize their profits in volatile grain markets. "The biofuels boom makes marketing much more important for farmers," Alexander said. Alexander and fellow Purdue agricultural economist Chris Hurt will lead a seminar series on grain pricing and selling for producers. "Grain Marketing in the Biofuels Era" takes place on four Mondays in January and February, with sessions broadcast at sites across Indiana. read more Corn acreage for 2007 looks like 1946 all over again As farmers look toward the 2007 crop season, many are blurting out a four-letter word: CORN! The expanding biofuels industry and high export demand adds up to what could be the largest United States corn acreage in several generations, said Chris Hurt, Purdue University agricultural economist. Hurt predicts corn prices will eclipse $3 a bushel for the 2007 marketing year and could threaten the 1995 record of $3.24 a bushel. "There's no question at this point that we're going to need a massive increase in corn acreage for 2007," Hurt said. "That increase is driven primarily by ethanol, but we also have very strong export demand. That export demand is mostly driven by the fact that there's a fear that corn supplies are going to be very tight in the United States and that prices will be much higher. "In terms of acreage, I've been suggesting that we may have to push acreage up to 88 million to 89 million acres of corn. That would be a 10 million acre increase from 2006 and would put us at the highest acreage planted to corn in the United States since 1946. We'd be looking at a 60-year phenomenon." read more The verdict is in: crop trials help farmers choose seed Producers looking to buy corn and soybean seed might wonder how to choose from a plethora of options. That's why Purdue University conducts the annual Purdue Crop Performance Trials. "The main objective is just to provide information that's reliable and unbiased, because they have a lot of people wanting to sell them seed -- it's a big consideration," said Phil DeVillez, Purdue corn performance testing specialist. "The cost of seed has gone way up with the new traits and with all of the different varieties and hybrids that have different defensive traits. Since the cost of seed has gone way up, that decision is very important to their bottom line." During the trials, researchers plant different corn and soybean hybrids, donated by seed companies voluntarily participating in the program, at four locations and replicated three times, throughout Indiana. Researchers measure how each hybrid stands up under numerous conditions. Once the information is obtained, results are shared with farmers in a bulletin available both on the Web at http://www.agry.purdue.edu/pcpp/ and in print. For more information or to request a print copy of the bulletin, contact DeVillez at (765) 494-0406 or by e-mailing him at pld@purdue.edu. read more Upcoming Events December - January: Turf-Management Workshops January: Indiana Watershed Leadership Academy Jan. 10: Help Stop Invasive Plants in Indiana Jan. 11-12: Appreciating Diversity through Foods
|
Current climate change impact models that consider only one weather variable, such as increasing temperature, sometimes spawn unsubstantiated doomsday predictions, according to researchers at Purdue and North Carolina universities.