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 AgComm
News Purdue Extension Purdue
Agriculture Purdue University 
Randy Woodson Olivia Maddox Cherryl Frederick  Agricultural Communication |
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February 2008 Welcome to Purdue Agriculture Report, an e-newsletter for business and community leaders on research, academics and Extension across Indiana and around the globe. High school students get Purdue Agriculture credit in life science A Purdue University program that is one of the first of its kind in the nation puts three agriculture courses on equal academic footing with traditional college-prep science classes. The three courses, "Advanced Life Science: Animals," "Advanced Life Science: Plants and Soil" and "Advanced Life Science: Foods," satisfy science requirements for both the Indiana academic honors diploma and the Core 40 diploma. Purdue credit can also be awarded to students who complete the courses. Introduced in 2004, this year, about 1,100 students in more than 100 Indiana high schools are taking the classes. We’ve learned that showing students relevant and practical science applications early on helps them get excited about science and career options in the life sciences.
Consumers usually reduce their purchases of goods and services if prices become too high. Buyers of United States corn, soybeans and wheat seem to be ignoring that economic principle, however, as the nation's grain stocks reach critically low levels, said Chris Hurt, a Purdue University agricultural economist. With global demand for grain and oilseeds at record levels and a weak U.S. dollar, foreign buyers are outbidding domestic buyers for American grain. While the higher commodity prices are good for crop agriculture, there are disconcerting downsides. "Food consumers worldwide are going to have to pay more," Hurt said. "We ended 2007 with our monthly inflation rate on food nearly 5 percent higher. I think we'll see times in 2008 where the food inflation rate might be as much as 6 percent. I also think we'll have discussions about food security in 2008. We'll have discussions about whether we should allow the foreign sector to buy our food. Is food a strategic item that we need to keep in our country?" Policies key as ethanol 'revolution' links agriculture, energy sectors The recent boom in production of ethanol from corn grain has tightly linked the agriculture and energy sectors in an unprecedented fashion. Purdue University researchers developed a model, based on a range of possible oil prices, that predicts impacts of federal economic policies on future consumer and government costs, ethanol production and many other aspects of the two sectors. "We are living through a revolution in American agriculture," said Wally Tyner, a Purdue professor of agricultural economics. Tyner presented his results at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Boston. Tyner said the prices of corn and crude oil, which prior to 2007 fluctuated almost independent of one another, have become more closely linked thanks to the use of massive quantities of corn to make ethanol. This year that's about one-third of the total national harvest. Loss of milk production booster could cost dairy farmers, consumers
Announcements by retailers, such as Kroger and Deans Foods, began the domino-fall that first hit mid-East dairy co-ops and then individual dairy producers. Starting in February, Kroger stores in Indiana and 12 other Midwestern and Southern states will sell their store brand milk as not coming from cows treated with recombinant bovine somatotropin or rbST. Many other retailers have followed suit. Without the use of rbST, dairy producers expect to lose money, and for some it may cause them to go out of business, said Michael Schutz, Purdue Extension dairy specialist. "rbST was kind of an equalizer for farmers with smaller herds. It helped their operations be profitable."
A pig virus that exists worldwide has become more dangerous as the virus has mutated and then combined with other pathogens, according to Purdue University researchers. It's not known why a virus that has been known to infect swine for almost 40 years in North America suddenly started causing disease in young pigs in 1991 and then began mutating into more deadly forms. Evidence from research being conducted at the Indiana Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory on the Purdue campus has indicated that the most recent mutation of a group of viruses called "porcine circoviruses" can cause widespread acute disease. Other pathogens can combine with the virus to increase the fatality rate significantly. "Our goal is to help the hog industry by understanding porcine circoviruses better," said Roman Pogranichniy, a Purdue School of Veterinary Medicine virologist and a scientist with the lab. Publication helps consumers deal with economic hardship With incomes down, foreclosures up and a struggling economy, a Purdue University Extension specialist offers tips for dealing with financial difficulty. "Right now we're seeing layoffs and some jobs moving overseas," said Elizabeth Kiss, consumer and family sciences specialist. "These aren't the only reasons income can be lost, however. Many times income loss can be associated with divorce, natural disasters, illness or disability of you or your spouse. If your income suddenly drops when you're not prepared, the number one thing is to not panic because there are options and resources available to help." Purdue Extension experts have updated and released a series of fact sheets, "When Your Income Drops," with information about dealing with lost wages. The Purdue Extension fact sheets are available online at http://www.ces.purdue.edu/extmedia/CFS/CFS-704-1-W.pdf. Workshop outlines rural Indiana improvement program Rural America is lagging behind the nation's urban areas in household income and education, and improvements in both are necessary if rural communities are to remain viable places to live, said Sam Cordes, program leader for Purdue University Extension Economic and Community Development. "Median household income in rural America is less than 80 percent of what it is in urban America," Cordes said. "And rural America has a huge education deficit, which is a problem in a knowledge-based, innovation-type economy. About 29 percent of urban residents over the age of 25 have a college degree. That is nearly twice the percentage found among rural residents." Cordes will discuss what those numbers mean and how Indiana's rural areas stack up during a RISE 2020 workshop March 4 at the Purdue Extension Tipton County office. The workshop is free, but space is limited. To register, contact the Purdue Center for Regional Development at (765) 496-2090 or e-mail adthomas@purdue.edu. Upcoming Events
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