USFRA Educational Initiative – Discovering FARMLAND

Chuck Zimmerman

The U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance has announced a new education initiative that will provide high school students a first-hand glimpse into modern agriculture. The project has been created in conjunction with Discovery Education. Titled Discovering FARMLAND, the interactive resources allow teachers and students to experience the industry through the eyes of six young farmers and ranchers, all while learning …

Ag Groups, Audio, Education, USFRA

Alltech Young Scientists May Still Register Till Dec. 31

Kelly Marshall

Registration is still open for the world’s largest university-level competition in agriscience.  Until December 31st students have the opportunity to be part of the 2016 Alltech Young Scientist program, with 2016 promising to become the first edition to offer fully funded Ph.D. and post-doctorate positions to the winners. Students must be nominated by a professor in order to participate and …

Alltech, Education

#NAFB15 Scholarship Winners

Cindy Zimmerman

NAFB Convention Photo Album The first big event at the 2015 National Association of Farm Broadcasting annual convention Wednesday was the awarding of the NAFB Foundation Scholarship winners. The scholarships were presented during the NAFB Foundation Scholarship luncheon sponsored by the CME Group. A brand new award this year is the Grow Smart Scholarship presented by BASF, which went to …

Audio, Education, NAFB

Sustainable Ag Expo Educates Growers

Kelly Marshall

The 11th Annual Sustainable Ag Expo will be held November 16-17, 2015, at the Madonna Inn Expo Center in San Luis Obispo, California. The expo, hosted by the Vineyard Team, promises educational information for growers of many crops. “The Expo started as a way to explore various issues affecting different types of ag professionals,” said Kris Beal, Executive Director for The …

Ag Groups, Education, Energy, Events, pesticides, Soil, Sustainability, Water

Dr. Channaptna Prakash Accepts CAST Award

Joanna Schroeder

This year’s winner of the Borlaug CAST Communication Award was Dr. Channapatna Prakash, who gave a keynote presentation during the award ceremony entitled, “Everything I Know about GMOs, I Learned on Social Media”. Currently the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Tuskegee University, Prakash was instrumental in establishing the prestigious plant biotechnology research and training program at …

Agribusiness, Education, World Food Prize

USDA Releases Farm to School Program Data

Kelly Marshall

Data from the 2013-2014 school year for the USDA’s Farm to School Grant Program has been released.  The results show that a strong farm to school program encourages students to purchase breakfast and lunch at school, increases students positive food choices, and reduces waste.  The census also showed a 55 percent increase in the amount of food purchased locally by …

Education, Food, USDA

Ag Biologicals Can Play Starring Role in Productivity

Joanna Schroeder

Colin Bletsky, Vice President of BioAg, Novozymes was a participate in the panel discussion following the 2015 Gap Report release during World Food Prize. In an interview, he says that Novozymes came on board with Global Harvest Initiative because the company has a mission to help develop sustainable technologies. Bletsky is also passionate about this mission in his role as …

Audio, Education, Precision Agriculture, Soil, World Food Prize

#FeedNThrive Launched During #FoodPrize15

Joanna Schroeder

STEM was a hot topic during the World Food Prize in Des Moines with the kick-off session focused on how to encourage young women to go into STEM careers including science, technology, engineering and math. The STEM Food and Ag Council (SFAC) has launched Feed, Nourish, Thrive, a STEMconnector initiative that aims to inspire the next generation of innovators in …

AgCareers, Education, Video, World Food Prize

John Deere Int’l Mobile Training Unit Sees Success

Joanna Schroeder

During the during the World Food Prize I had the opportunity to learn about a new mobile training unit pilot program from Geoff Andersen,  director, Global Citizenship and Strategic Planning with John Deere. The unit was first used in Ghana and Kenya to help more than 60,000 farmers learn how to increase productivity. Andersen was in country to work with …

Agribusiness, Audio, Education, John Deere, Precision Agriculture, World Food Prize