Next week, February 20-27, more than half a million students will celebrate the role of agriculture in our daily lives. National FFA Week encourages students to raise awareness and share the message of agriculture throughout the country. The week, chosen to encompass George Washington’s birthday, runs Saturday to Saturday. The weeklong tradition, which began in 1948, was designated by the …
Who Will FarmNext and How
Who will be farming next? What are their thoughts and concerns? These questions and more are dealt with in a new white paper published by YI Advisors. The paper was presented during last week’s FarmNext Summit in Washington, DC. I spoke with Tom Allison, Associate Director of Research for YI Advisors to learn more about the FarmNext Initiative and the …
National Collegiate Congress Offered for Ag Students
On April 2, 2016 college students will participate in the AgChat Foundation’s 2016 Collegiate Congress. Sponsored by Dow AgroSciences, and held at Dow’s headquarters in Indianapolis, the event offers students the opportunity to network with members of the industry while learning how to communicate with consumers to share their stories. “The inaugural Collegiate Congress provided a solid framework as I …
FamilyFarms Now Accepting Scholarship Applications
FamilyFarms Charities is offering two $1,000 scholarships to high school seniors planning to pursue college training in fields related to agriculture. Each recipient is then eligible for a $500 follow-up scholarship for the next three years of their undergraduate program provided they remain on a career path in agriculture and maintain good grades. The FamilyFarms Charities Scholarship was created to …
Scott Walker Addresses #DairyStrong
The second annual Dairy Strong conference, held earlier this month in Madison, Wisconsin, began its first full day with an opening address from Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. Though the Dairy Strong conference is internationally attended and focuses on global collaboration, there is no denying that Wisconsin is one of the dairy industry’s shining stars. Walker’s speech highlighted the value of …
New Foundation Launched by @USFRA
The U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) has launched a new foundation with a mission of furthering agricultural education and understanding of agriculture among America’s consumers including young people and millennials. The U.S. Farming and Ranching Foundation (USFRF) is the result of a collaborative effort led by the agriculture and food industry to expand the dialogue with consumers regarding food …
ASTA FuSE Blazing New Trails
The American Seed Trade Association’s Future Seed Executives (FuSE) subcommittee is blazing new trails for 2016. FuSE chair Sarah Neuharth with DuPont Pioneer says the goal of the committee is to educate and support seed industry professionals with fewer than seven years of seed industry experience. “I think a lot of people don’t understand or recognize that FuSE can be …
Record Student Participation at #ASTACSS
The American Seed Trade Association has stepped up its efforts to “Seed the Future” with a new generation of seed industry professionals, which resulted in a record number of students participating in the ASTA CSS 2015 and Seed Expo this week. “We designed the entire Thursday program this year to be a one day event for student track…and it just …
Plant Breeder Scholarships at #ASTACSS
Three graduate students received scholarships during the ASTA CSS 2015 and Seed Expo this week from the National Council of Commercial Plant Breeders (NCCPB). The organization presents the scholarships annually to outstanding graduate students in the field of basic, applied, or developmental research in genetics and plant breeding. The students recieve $2,500 for their education, plus a travel allowance to …
Lisa Shepherd Jenkins Remembered at #ASTACSS
Seed science advocate Lisa Shepherd Jenkins is being remembered in a special way this year at the ASTA CSS 2015 and Seed Expo. The life of this beautiful and brilliant young woman was cut short earlier this year at the age of 43 after contracting a very rare and incurable disease, but ASTA, Iowa State University Seed Science Center and …