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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. Research requires a strong foundation The Hatch Act of 1887 created agricultural experiment stations in each state. This partnership between the U.S. Department of Agriculture and land-grant universities provides the infrastructure needed to address local, regional and national agricultural issues. Unfortunately, support for the system has eroded in recent years. Since 1997, federal funding for agricultural experiment stations, in terms of constant dollars, has declined 24 percent. Purdue Agriculture receives a mix of research funding from federal and state agencies, producer groups and the private sector. Most of the money is awarded for short-term studies based on competitive proposals. However, the federal and state base funds provide the people and infrastructure -- faculty, farms, greenhouses and laboratories -- that are essential to carry on the research. Competitive grants are an important part of our mission, but the short-term nature of grant funding could erode our long-term research capacity. Base support funds the faculty and research that will go into soybean rust monitoring, avian influenza prevention and water quality studies; these projects might not happen otherwise. I hope the next Farm Bill reaffirms the commitment to this unique federal-state partnership for public agricultural research. Partnership to provide agricultural education across Indiana Agricultural education to help grow Indiana's agribusiness industry will soon be offered at college campuses across the state, thanks to an agreement among Ivy Tech State Community College, Vincennes University, the Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service and Purdue College of Agriculture. Ivy Tech will offer associate's degrees in business administration with an agribusiness concentration, starting at some locations this fall. Graduates of this program could pursue jobs in agriculture-related fields in the areas of sales and manufacturing. Ivy Tech will soon determine which campuses will offer the courses in the 2006-07 academic year. "This partnership will help provide access to agricultural education in areas of the state that may need additional learning opportunities," said Dale Whittaker, associate dean and director of academic programs for Purdue Agriculture." By partnering with Ivy Tech and Vincennes, we've found a way to supply the agricultural industry with additional resources and help keep some of our youth in Indiana who might otherwise pursue similar programs out of state." Vincennes has a long-standing partnership in agriculture education with Purdue through the VU/Purdue Cooperative Agriculture Transfer Program. VU plans to expand agricultural opportunities for students in the areas of biochemistry, biotechnology and agricultural engineering, as well as develop new dual-credit programs with high schools. read more Purdue Extension careers offer a diverse array of opportunity Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service is looking for people who are goal-oriented and results-driven, enjoy working with people and want to have a positive impact in their community. Extension educators represent the face of Purdue in all 92 Indiana counties and staff the Purdue Extension offices. These community coaches partner with city and state organizations to solve a variety of problems at the county level and help improve the quality of life for local residents. "There are tremendous needs in Indiana communities today that need attention," said Dan Stewart, assistant director of Purdue Extension. "Due to the range of problems that face Indiana communities, there is no shortage of work." Agriculture and natural resources, consumer and family sciences, economic and community development and 4-H youth development are the four subject areas Extension revolves around. Additional information about Extension positions is available at the Extension Career Web site. The site includes information on openings, job requirements and application procedures. read more BRICK1 keeps a pathway to growth from crumbling The ability to control the interaction of BRICK1-related proteins may enable scientists to alter plants so they retain more of certain compounds, making them heartier and a more nutritional food source. BRICK1 (BRK1) also is part of similar developmental processes in humans and other animals, said Dan Szymanski, a Purdue Department of Agronomy geneticist and cell biologist. The discovery will enable plant geneticists to manipulate plant cell metabolism and growth in novel ways, Szymanski said. "Plant cells are the world's greatest organic chemists," he said. "At a very low cost, they can generate an amazing diversity of compounds that are important for human nutrition and health." read more Purdue worksheet helps farmers make corn replant decision A worksheet that takes some of the emotion out of the decision to replant corn by utilizing yield and dollar amount estimates is now available to Indiana corn producers. Bob Nielsen of Purdue University's agronomy department designed the "Estimating Yield and Dollar Returns from Corn Replanting" worksheet to help producers and farm managers struggling with flooded or saturated fields make decisions about whether or not to replant their corn crops. As Indiana has dealt with heavy rains throughout the spring season, Nielsen said many farmers may replant their crops based heavily on the emotion of seeing drowned fields, rather than basing their decisions on economic advantages. "Deciding to replant a stand of corn should be based on a number of criteria but, unfortunately, the major influencing factor is often the emotion associated with looking out the kitchen window at the damaged field every morning," he said. Nielsen's worksheet, which can be downloaded from the Purdue Agriculture Web site, requires the grower to provide cropping history information. The worksheet then takes that information and helps the grower "determine the damaged field's current yield potential if left untouched, its replant yield potential and the dollar returns, if any, from replanting the field," Nielsen said. read more Leading plant scientist at helm of Purdue botany and plant pathology Twenty-four years ago, Peter Goldsbrough arrived at Purdue University as a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, and now he's at the helm of the same department.
Randy Woodson, Glenn W. Sample Dean of Agriculture, said Goldsbrough was an outstanding choice for the position. "Peter has spent his career conducting significant, innovative research that can improve crops' abilities to withstand stresses, such as drought and harmful minerals in the soil," Woodson said. "He's also a wonderful and respected teacher who puts his students' needs at the forefront." read more Researchers developing food pathogen biosensors garner Agriculture Team Award An interdisciplinary team of scientists who are inventing new ways to protect our food supply from potentially deadly food pathogens has garnered the 2006 Purdue Agriculture Team Award. The Biosensor Detection Team's research focuses on rapidly determining whether such microbes as Listeria monocytogenes or E. coli exist in food, particularly meat and milk products. The technologies the team has developed include an innovative biochip that analyzes very small amounts of food and does it faster and less expensively than current methods. The researchers also have found a way to take large samples of foods and concentrate the microorganisms into small volumes to inject onto the chip. "We have a number of different platforms in the team's research because we have brought together many scientific disciplines," said Arun Bhunia, a microbiologist in the Department of Food Science. "This award is a highlight and a result of the teamwork. We could not have achieved the same results if just one research specialty had been involved." read more Farm Management Tour to showcase central Indiana agriculture The 2006 Indiana Farm Management Tour, scheduled for June 28-29, will showcase four farms in Madison and Hamilton counties. "The Farm Management Tour is designed to encourage and develop a high level of management knowledge and skill among Hoosier farmers by exploring the management practices of successful farm businesses," said Alan Miller, Purdue University farm management specialist. The 74th annual Farm Management Tour highlights producers in Hamilton and Madison counties who have dealt with limiting factors and hot issues around the state and adopted new methods or made changes to their operations. The event is free. More information about locations is available on the Farm Management Tour Web site. read more Upcoming Events June 3 -- Vintage Indiana Wine & Food Festival, Indianapolis June 14-16 -- Home and Family Conference, Purdue campus June 26-28 -- 4-H Youth Round Up June 28-29 -- Indiana Farm Management Tour
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Research involving a protein called BRICK1 is paving the way to a better understanding of cellular growth and development mechanisms that may result in designer plants with increased health benefits, according to Purdue University researchers.
"I'm very honored and excited to return to the botany department," said Goldsbrough, a plant molecular biologist who came to West Lafayette from Scotland via England . "We have a wonderful faculty, and I want to maintain the department's strengths in teaching, research and outreach in plant and weed science and plant pathology."