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Campus Chatter - June 19, 2019

Nominations sought for Beard Research Excellence Award

TUCKER, Ga. — USPOULTRY and the USPOULTRY Foundation are accepting nominations for the Charles Beard Research Excellence Award through July 1. The goal of the award is to recognize outstanding completed research projects funded by USPOULTRY or the USPOULTRY Foundation, which have made a significant positive impact on the poultry industry.

The nominee may be recognized for multiple completed USPOULTRY research projects, all focused on the same subject area. Nominations can be accepted from the universities and research institutions that conduct poultry research, as well as from anyone in the research community or any USPOULTRY member, staff, and sponsored committee. Self-nominations are also allowed.

Nominations should focus on research projects completed within the past five years but may include projects completed at an earlier time if a project’s impact has only recently become recognized. To submit a nomination, email a letter to Dr. John Glisson (jglisson@uspoultry.org), Vice President of Research, which includes the nominee's name, a brief description of their research accomplishments, and the impact of the research.

The recipient of the Charles Beard Research Excellence Award will be the primary researcher who conducted the recognized research project(s) and will receive round-trip transportation to, and two nights lodging at, the International Production & Processing Expo in Atlanta, Ga. A cash prize of $1,500 will also be awarded.

Maghirang leading U of I Ag and Biological Engineering

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URBANA, Ill. — Ronaldo Maghirang has been named head of the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering in the College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences (ACES) at the University of Illinois.

Maghirang comes to this position from a 25-year career at Kansas State University, where he served as the associate dean of research and graduate programs for the College of Engineering. He was an administrator of the Engineering and Leadership Innovation program at KSU.

He maintained an acclaimed research program focused on improving the scientific understanding of air-quality issues associated with animal feeding and grain handling operations, and he has received several national awards.

Maghirang received a bachelor’s degree in agricultural engineering and a master’s degree in agrometeorology, both from the University of the Philippines Los Baños, and a Ph.D. in agricultural engineering from Pennsylvania State University.

Southern Weed Science Society honors UT’s Steckel

(mug in 6510)

JACKSON, Tenn. The Southern Weed Science Society (SWSS) recently honored Larry Steckel, a professor with the University of Tennessee Department of Plant Sciences, with the Outstanding Educator Award.

The award is presented annually to a weed scientist who has made significant contributions to the SWSS and the discipline of weed science through education. Steckel has served as UT extension weed specialist since 2003. His responsibilities include conducting statewide educational programming and research in weed management for row crops.

In this role, his calendar stays full speaking at many field days, extension workshops, seminars or short courses, and making farm visits to meet with producers individually to answer questions and assess a situation. He coordinates an annual weed tour for farmers and industry and uses social media tools to quickly communicate new research with producers and extension agents.

A recent weed challenge in Tennessee involved dicamba herbicide drift. Steckel was charged with developing a training module to address the issue. Thanks in part to his extensive training efforts, Tennessee reported a significant reduction in dicamba-damaged crop acres in 2018.

Schools awarded $7,000 USPOULTRY student recruiting grant

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TUCKER, Ga. — The USPOULTRY Foundation awarded a $7,000 student recruiting grant to the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University. The grant was made possible in part by an endowing Foundation gift from the Cooper Family Foundation.

A portion of the funds will be used by the Animal Sciences department to recruit potential students, as well as introduce current students to poultry-related opportunities in education, research, and employment.

The Foundation also awarded $7,000 to the School of Agriculture at Tennessee Tech University. The grant was made possible in part by an endowing Foundation gift from Hubbard Farms Charitable Foundation. The majority of the funds will be used to recruit potential students to the School of Agriculture, specifically drawing interest to the school’s Poultry Production course.

Another $7,000 was awarded to Iowa State University, made possible in part by an endowing Foundation gift from West Liberty Foods. The Poultry Interest Group at ISU focuses its attention on encouraging interest among the students in the university’s Animal Science Department. The funds will be used to fund the club’s recruitment efforts.

The USPOULTRY Foundation awarded recruiting grants totaling $328,300 for the 2018-19 school year to 34 colleges and universities across the United States with either a poultry science department or a poultry studies program.

DR. MICHAEL D. CRESSMAN (right), assistant professor in the OSU Department of Animal Sciences, along with several poultry science students, receiving a $7,000 student recruiting grant from the USPOULTRY Foundation.

(Photo provided)

U of I researcher leads $1M grant to reduce food insecurity

URBANA, Ill. — Millions of Americans struggle with food insecurity. To help food assistance agencies provide consistent access to nutritious food, the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) awarded a $1 million Seeding Solutions Grant to Feeding America. This will evaluate the Regional Produce Cooperative model's effectiveness in reducing food insecurity.

University of Illinois agricultural economist Craig Gundersen is principal investigator on the project, which has been matched with funding from U of I, Target, the Rachel Ray Foundation, and Feeding America, for a total $2 million investment.

Feeding America established Regional Produce Cooperatives in 2017 to direct a greater variety of produce to food banks at a lower cost. Currently, seven Regional Produce Cooperatives are operating nationally, and there is a growing demand for more.

FFAR’s grant will help Feeding America examine the effect of the Regional Produce Cooperative on the charitable food system. The research will use surveys and data analysis to determine the extent to which the cooperatives decrease food waste, shorten the time between source and distribution, and increase access to produce.

FFAR is a nonprofit dedicated to building partnerships that support innovative science addressing today’s food and agriculture challenges.

Schnitkey honored as Soybean Industry Chair in Ag Strategy

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URBANA, Ill. — Gary Schnitkey, a nationally recognized farm management expert, was honored as the Soybean Industry Chair in Agricultural Strategy in the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics during an investiture ceremony at the University of Illinois April 24.

Schnitkey, a professor of agricultural and consumer economics at U of I, specializes in crop insurance, farm management, and farmland economies, and is a leading expert in the economics of Midwest crop farms. He conducts research and has published extensively on finance and risk management topics. He has authored three book chapters, 49 scholarly articles, 578 farmdocDaily articles, and numerous blog posts.

His work directly impacts farmers and agribusinesses through innovative outreach programs, and he hosts 50 meetings annually with farmers and agribusinesses. Schnitkey earned his M.S. and Ph.D. in agricultural economics from U of I and spent 10 years on the faculty at The Ohio State University before returning to Illinois as an associate professor in 1998. He was promoted to full professor in 2005.

The Soybean Industry Endowed Chair in Agricultural Strategy was funded in 1996 by the Illinois Soybean Board.

Alltech gift expands capabilities of Illinois Feed Tech Center

URBANA, Ill. — The highly anticipated University of Illinois Feed Technology Center is set to greatly improve the university’s capabilities in animal nutrition. Now, with the gift of a Wenger extruder and auxiliary processing equipment from global animal health and nutrition company Alltech, those capabilities will be expanded further.

Researchers in the Department of Animal Sciences in the College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences, as well as other units across the university, will use the new Center to prepare and test experimental diets for animals. The facility – on which construction has just begun and should be complete by September 2020 – will also serve as a launch pad for bigger-picture work designed to advance precision animal agriculture throughout the industry.

Headquartered near Lexington, Ky., Alltech is a leading producer and processor of yeast additives, organic trace minerals, feed ingredients, premix, and feed.

The Climate Corp. invests in computer, crop sciences major

URBANA, Ill. — In an effort to build a talent pipeline, The Climate Corp., a subsidiary of Bayer, made a $500,000 investment in a new major at the University of Illinois. Leading the digital agriculture revolution, U of I launched a first-of-its-kind major combining computer sciences and crop sciences, which the Climate gift benefits.

Climate’s gift, which will provide scholarships to students in the new program, stretches over a five-year period and specifically aims to help grow the program. The undergraduate major, known as CS + CPSC and housed in the Department of Crop Sciences, admitted its first class of students last fall.

Over the next several years, the program is set to meet its capacity of 60-80 full-time students. It is one of several interdisciplinary computer science majors at Illinois, but CS + CPSC is the first to receive a significant investment from a private donor.

Students can learn more about the program by requesting information or scheduling a personalized visit at https://go.illinois.edu/CS_CPSC_info

Aubrey announces selection of Lael as summer intern

MONROVIA, Ind. — Sarah Beth Aubrey, principal of leadership and management consulting firm Aubrey Coaching & Training, LLC and founder of Elevate Ag LLC, the Peer Innovation Network, announces the selection of Luke Lael of Fort Wayne, Ind., as a summer intern.

Lael, a freshman at Purdue University, is majoring in agricultural communications with a minor in political science. Although he did not grow up on a farm, he is deeply rooted in agriculture and maintains his industry connection through the show ring by successfully exhibiting his own stock and training youth on fundamentals via clinics.

He is an active member in his NAMA Chapter and an executive member of Agriculture Communicators of Tomorrow (ACT). He aims to use the knowledge acquired from these experiences in his position with ACT. Lael will be based in the ACT headquarters, working on social media marketing, industry research, event planning, and supporting the launch of Aubrey’s next book.

 

6/20/2019