April Ag Research Spotlight: Neil Knobloch

The Ag Research Spotlight shines each month on an individual whose work reflects our commitment to the six strategic themes that guide Agricultural Research at Purdue. The April spotlight is on Neil Knobloch, Youth Development and Agricultural Education, whose work underscores the theme, "Facilitating informed decision making to improve economic and social well-being".

Full story: https://ag.purdue.edu/arp/Pages/SpotlightKnobloch.aspx#.U5dftvldV8E

May Ag Research Spotlight: Xiaoqi Liu

The May Ag Research Spotlight is on Xiaoqi Liu, Biochemistry, whose work underscores the theme, "Utilizing molecular approaches to expand the frontiers of agriculture and life sciences."

Full story: https://ag.purdue.edu/arp/Pages/spotlightliu.aspx#.U5djovldV8F

Graduate Research Spotlight: Hui Yan

The Graduate Research Spotlight highlights graduate students and their work. This month’s spotlight is on Hui Yan, Animal Sciences; advisor Kola Ajuwon.

Full story: https://ag.purdue.edu/arp/Pages/Graduate-Student-Spotlight.aspx#.U5dkaPldV8F

Schutz to lead Extension's ag and natural resources programs

Purdue Extension dairy management specialist Mike Schutz has been appointed director of Extension's agriculture and natural resources programs in Indiana. In this role, which took effect on June 1, Schutz oversees Purdue Extension programs in such areas as farm management and safety, livestock, crops, energy, youth in agriculture, environmental stewardship and wildlife. "Dr. Schutz has earned the respect of county Extension educators, campus specialists and Purdue partners through his dairy Extension programs," said Purdue Extension Director Jason Henderson. "His collaborative leadership style will strengthen those relationships, which are essential to delivering world-class research-based education programming to build vibrant communities, strong families and profitable businesses on Main Street and at the farm gate."  Dr. Schutz succeeds Jim Mintert, who is now director of Purdue's Center for Commercial Agriculture.

Full story: http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2014/Q2/schutz-to-lead-extensions-ag-and-natural-resources-programs.html

Wetzstein appointed new head of HLA department

Hazel Wetzstein, professor of horticulture at the University of Georgia, has been appointed professor and head of Purdue University's Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture. The appointment is effective August 1. Dr. Wetzstein succeeds Robert Joly, who is returning to the faculty after serving eight years as department head. "Dr. Wetzstein is a respected scholar and thoughtful leader," Dean Akridge said. "She made a deep and positive impression on the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture and the college during her visits here, and I could not be more excited about the future of the department under her leadership."

Full story: http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2014/Q2/wetzstein-appointed-new-head-of-purdue-hla-department.html

Extension Southwest District Director named

Purdue Extension Director Jason Henderson announces that Julie Hart, Extension Director in Parke and Vigo counties, has accepted the position of Southwest District Director starting July 1, 2014. He says that Julie’s passion and enthusiasm for Extension showed throughout the interview process. Her experience in both rural and urban counties in the Southwest District and her demonstrated ability to mentor new educators in Vigo County will be tremendous assets to the Southwest District.

Looking to the next 100 years of Extension

As the Cooperative Extension Service nationwide celebrates its centennial this year, Purdue Extension director Jason Henderson discusses what the next 100 years may hold in this interview for Connections Now! The article is part of a series commemorating the 100th anniversary of the 1914 Smith-Lever Act, which created the Cooperative Extension Service at land-grant universities across the United States.

Full story: http://www3.ag.purdue.edu/Connections/NOW/Pages/100_years_of_Extension_2.aspx#.U5hRJPldV8F

John Connor, Professor Emeritus of Agricultural Economics, will be presented with the Alfred E. Kahn Award for Antitrust Achievement on June 19 at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. The award is the highest honor given by the American Antitrust Institute.

Steve Weller, Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, and his collaborators received $50,000 from the Trask Innovation Fund to support "Diagnostic Tools for Detection of Glyphosate Resistance in Giant Ragweed." The technology could provide information to farmers and growers to improve their herbicide selection for weed management of glyphosate-resistant weeds in glyphosate-resistant cropping systems during the planting season.The Purdue Research Foundation-managed Trask Innovation Fund is a development program to assist faculty and staff whose discoveries are being commercialized through the Office of Technology Commercialization. The Ag Alumni Seed Improvement Association Inc. will award an additional $10,000 to Weller and his team to develop their diagnostic tool.

Connie Foster, main office receptionist in the Department of Agronomy, received this "Thumbs Up" acknowledgement from Dr. Jeff Volenec: "Your able assistance in helping us find rooms where we can spread stuff out and work on proposals over the last month has been very helpful. While this might seem relatively minor to some and go unnoticed, it is incredibly helpful to have the needed space and some amount of isolation so we can have quality time on these important tasks."

Sarah Correll, a junior in Agricultural Education, has been appointed to the student position on the Indiana Commission for Higher Education. She will serve a two-year term, beginning July 1. The Indiana Commission for Higher Education is a 14-member public body created in 1971 to define the missions of Indiana's colleges and universities, plan and coordinate the state's post-secondary education system, and ensure that Indiana's higher education system is aligned to meet the needs of students and the state.

Emily Erickson, a senior in Biochemistry, has been awarded a second Astronaut Scholarship of $10,000. She plans to earn both a doctor of medicine degree in oncology and a Ph.D. in cancer biology to help develop more effective methods of breast cancer treatment. Emily was an intern in the summer of 2013 at the National Institutes of Health in Washington, D.C. The Astronaut Scholarship is funded by the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, a nonprofit organization created by the Mercury 7 astronauts in 1984. 

Purdue gets funding for commercializing PICS bags in Africa

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has funded a project to develop a program that will put the crop-saving PICS bags into the hands of more farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa countries to improve their food security and income. The award for the five-year PICS3 project moves the Purdue Improved Crop Storage bags from research and applications for only one crop to commercialization involving multiple crops. The hermetic triple bagging - a chemical-free storage method developed by Dr. Larry Murdock, Entomology - enables farmers to store a variety of major crops for more than one year after harvest. The technology helps improve food availability and increase income of smallholder farmers. When using PICS bags, farmers no longer need chemicals to control grain storage pests.

Full story: http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2014/Q2/purdue-gets-funding-for-commercializing-pics-bags-in-africa.html

Purdue hosts third Borlaug institute on global food security

The third Borlaug Summer Institute on Global Food Security is being held on campus through June 21 for 30 graduate students from across the country taking on the challenge of helping to find solutions to world hunger. The two-week program, hosted by the Purdue Center for Global Food Security, combines lectures, practicums, small-group work and visits to farms for 30 students selected from  22 U.S. universities, including Purdue. Students represent nine countries - Singapore, Ecuador, India, Uganda, Nepal, Kenya, Honduras and Pakistan in addition to the United States - and eight academic disciplines, including plant pathology, agronomy, economics and conflict resolution. "The goal of the summer institute is to provide participants with a holistic understanding of the conceptual challenges around global food security, with a focus on cross-disciplinary problem solving of real-world development challenges," said Gebisa Ejeta, director of the Center for Global Food Security, distinguished professor of agronomy and the 2009 World Food Prize laureate, is among the featured speakers at the institute.

Full story: http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2014/Q2/purdue-to-host-third-borlaug-institute-on-global-food-security.html

Purdue, Feed the Future thinking beyond crop harvesting in Africa

Purdue researchers will lead a $5 million, five-year effort to help countries in sub-Saharan Africa reduce hunger and poverty fueled by food waste. By improving processing and marketing of key crops, those in developing countries can make better use of food that already is being produced but is simply lost through poor storage or processing technologies and management practices.The Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Processing and Post-Harvest Handling is funded by Feed the Future, the U.S. government's Global Hunger and Food Security Initiative led by USAID. Led by project director Betty Bugusu, Food Science, nine researchers from Purdue and 11 from other universities in the United States and Africa will conduct research that will support and strengthen crops' "value chain," the process by which crops go from farm to market to fork.

Full story: http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2014/Q2/purdue,-feed-the-future-thinking-beyond-crop-harvesting-in-africa.html

Drop in global malnutrition depends on ag productivity, climate change

Global malnutrition could fall 84 percent by the year 2050 as incomes in developing countries grow - but only if agricultural productivity continues to improve and climate change does not severely damage agriculture, Purdue researchers say. "The prevalence and severity of global malnutrition could drop significantly by 2050, particularly in the poorest regions of the world," said Tom Hertel, Agricultural Economics. "But if productivity does not grow, global malnutrition will worsen even if incomes increase. Climate change also adds a good deal of uncertainty to these projections." Hertel and doctoral student Uris Baldos developed a combination of economic models to predict how global food security from 2006 to 2050 could be affected by changes in population, income, bioenergy, agricultural productivity and climate.

Full story: http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2014/Q2/drop-in-global-malnutrition-depends-on-ag-productivity,-climate-change.html

Study identifies enzymes that help fix cancer-causing DNA defects

Purdue researchers have identified an important enzyme pathway that helps prevent new cells from receiving too many or too few chromosomes, a condition that has been directly linked to cancer and other diseases. Mark Hall, Biochemistry, found that near the end of cell division, the enzyme Cdc14 activates Yen1, an enzyme that ensures any breaks in DNA are fully repaired before the parent cell distributes copies of the genome to daughter cells. This process helps safeguard against some of the most devastating genome errors, including the loss of chromosomes or chromosome segments. "It only takes one cell to start a tumor," Hall said. "This study gives us a platform for figuring out exactly what these enzymes are doing in human cells and how they impact genome stability and the avoidance of cancer."

Full story: http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2014/Q2/study-identifies-enzymes-that-help-fix-cancer-causing-dna-defects.html

Termite genome lays roadmap for 'greener' control measures

A team of international researchers has sequenced the genome of the Nevada dampwood termite, providing an inside look into the biology of the social insect and uncovering new genetic targets for pest control. Michael Scharf, Entomology, who participated in the collaborative study, said the genome could help researchers develop control strategies that are more specific than the broad-spectrum chemicals conventionally used to treat termite infestations. "The termite genome reveals many unique genetic targets that can be disrupted for better termite control," said Scharf, who is the O. Wayne Rollins/Orkin Chair in Molecular Physiology and Urban Entomology. "Depending on which gene or protein that is targeted, we could disrupt termites' neurological processes, molting, digestive factors or cuticle formation. We're just limited by our imagination."

Full story: http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2014/Q2/termite-genome-lays-roadmap-for-greener-control-measures.html

Armyworm showing up in specific, at-risk cornfields

While armyworm captures haven't been as high in Indiana as they have in other states to the south, Purdue Extension entomologists say there has been some concentrated armyworm egg-laying in specific, high-risk cornfields. High-risk fields are those where there is still dense grassy vegetation, such as wheat, grass hay or grass cover crops. Farmers who planted no-till corn into a grass cover crop, especially annual rye, need to scout their fields right away for signs of armyworm feeding. "Hatched larvae will move from the dying grasses to emerging and emerged corn," said Christian Krupke. "There is nothing else that resembles armyworm feeding at this time of year." Krupke and colleague John Obermeyer said that even if farmers have planted Bt corn hybrids with insect resistance, they need to pay close attention to signs of armyworm.

Full story: http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2014/Q2/armyworm-showing-up-in-specific,-at-risk-cornfields.html

Purdue webinars, tour to help farmers get into hops business

Farmers new to producing hops or considering getting started in it as the craft brewing industry continues to grow will learn about opportunities and risks through two Purdue Extension webinars and a tour of new research plots.The free webinars will be on June 19 and July 10, and the tour will be on Aug. 21 at Purdue's horticultural research farm known as Meigs at theThrockmorton Purdue Agricultural Center south of Lafayette. "Time is ripe for developing a hops industry in Indiana," said Lori Hoagland, Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, an organizer of the events. "The brewing industry is not only growing but there is significant interest by the brewers in offering clientele a Hoosier brew and, perhaps more interesting, a variety of products that are unique to Indiana because of the specific qualities of Indiana-grown ingredients."

Full story: http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2014/Q2/purdue-webinars,-tour-to-help-farmers-get-into-hops-business.html

Environmental conference provides toolkit for teachers to educate students about climate change

The Dynamics of Climate conference, which gives educators an opportunity to trade conjecture and learn the facts of climate science, will return to the Purdue campus June 18-20. The event will include a keynote lecture by Purdue chemistry professor Paul Shepson, panel discussions on climate change, and sessions that take participants through the implementation of a professional development toolkit for climate science education. Indiana State Climatologist Dev Niyogi, Agronomy, is co-organizer of the event. "The toolkit is designed to give a basic but a timely and important understanding about climate from a climate systems perspective," said conference co-organizer Dan Shepardson, professor of curriculum and instruction and earth, atmospheric and planetary sciences. "This will be a helpful resource for teachers and professional educators, with content geared especially for educating middle school and high school students."

Full story: http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2014/Q2/environmental-conference-provides-toolkit-for-teachers-to-educate-students-about-climate-change.html

Indiana farm tour to highlight exceptional management

This year's Farm Management Tour, organized by the Department of Agricultural Economics, will showcase five successful Indiana farms in Spencer and Dubois counties June 16-17. The tour, in its 82nd year, encourages a high level of management knowledge and skill among Indiana farmers. It is open to anyone interested in farm management and family farm businesses. A variety of farm-related topics will be highlighted in interviews with the host farmers and mini-tours at three of the southern Indiana farms. "The farmers will share their keys to successful farm management and explain how the management of their operations is changing in response to the vibrant agricultural economy and the changing circumstances of their families," said Alan Miller, Purdue Extension farm business specialist and coordinator of the tour.

More information: http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2014/Q2/indiana-farm-tour-to-highlight-exceptional-management.html

Top Farmer Conference helps farmers improve operations

Corn Belt farmers and agribusiness managers can learn strategies to adapt to a changing business environment at Purdue University's annual Top Farmer Conference July 15-16. Purdue and University of Illinois farm management experts will help participants look at their operations from a business standpoint ­and analyze their economic opportunities and challenges. "Midwest agriculture experienced an unprecedented boom from the mid-2000s through 2013, but margins in the crop sector could tighten significantly over the next several years," said Jim Mintert, agricultural economist and director of the Center for Commercial Agriculture, which hosts the conference. "We developed the sessions with that in mind. We want participants to focus on key decisions farmers will be making in this new environment."

Full story: http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2014/Q2/top-farmer-conference-helps-farmers-improve-operations.html

AgrAbility publication helps guard against back problems

Farmers, ranchers and anyone involved in agriculture and home gardening can learn how to reduce the risks of developing back problems with a new publication by AgrAbility. BACK on the Farm, BACK in the Saddle also includes information on how to manage existing back problems. "Back problems are consistently the most common disabling conditions reported by AgrAbility clients," said Paul Jones, AgrAbility project manager based at Purdue. "In fact, back problems are some of the most common complaints by workers in all industries, and they often result in lost work time. While back problems are challenging, they can be managed." The 21-page booklet, offered free of charge, discusses many back problems common in agriculture as well as preventing, managing and treating them.

Full story: http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2014/Q2/agrability-publication-helps-guard-against-back-problems.html