John Deere announces new Registered Apprenticeship Program

MOLINE, Ill. — John Deere has received approval from the U.S. Department of Labor for its new Registered Apprenticeship Program and is making it available to its Agriculture & Turf and Construction & Forestry dealers.

The program will help address a widespread shortage of service technicians, especially in rural areas across the country, by providing dealers with a formalized, on-the-job and technical training plan to help them develop more highly skilled employees.

Through participation, dealers formally commit to developing additional talent in an earn-while-you-learn program. A participating apprentice benefits from structured, on-the-job training in partnership with an experienced mentor. As training progresses, apprentices are rewarded for new skills acquired.

Dealers can collaborate with any number of local organizations as part of the Registered Apprenticeship Program. These include, but are not limited to, the John Deere TECH Program, K-12 schools, community colleges, labor organizations, economic development groups, foundations, and workforce development boards.

In addition, dealers can select other occupations for the apprentice program, including sales professionals, parts professionals, accountants, or many other occupations, and develop appropriate work processes for those jobs.

For more information about the John Deere Registered Apprenticeship Program, visit your local dealer.

Champions crowned at Indiana State Fair 4-H Grand Drive

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — An elite group of 4-H exhibitors finished as Grand and Reserve Grand Champions during the 2019 Indiana State Fair Grand Drive presented by Farm Credit Mid-America.

Held in the Indiana Farmers Coliseum, 4-H members showed livestock of various species, weights, and classes, demonstrating the final product of many long hours spent working with their animals this summer. Categories included dairy steers, meat goat wethers, meat goat wether dams, sheep, rabbit meat pen, Best of Show rabbit, market barrows, beef heifers, and market beef.

The Grand Champions are:

•Dairy Steer: Whittlee Singleton, Marshall County

•Meat Goat Wether: Spencer Goettemoeller, Heavy Weight, Randolph County

•Meat Goat Wether Dam: Nash Hensley, Middle Weight, Madison County

•Market Lamb: Lane Slaton, Hampshire, Hamilton County

•Rabbit Meat Pen: Jessica Gauck, Decatur County

•Best of Show Rabbit: Marley Heritier, Whitley County

•Market Barrow: Erika Newhouse, Crossbred, Grant County

•Beef Heifer: Clint Main, Sim-Solution, Jackson County

•Market Beef: Harlee Henney, Crossbred, Steuben County

Reserve Grand Champions are:

•Dairy Steer: Kameron Laux, Whitley County

•Meat Goat Wether: Skyler Michel, Middle Weight, Wabash County

•Meat Goat Wether Dam: Sarah Brown, Heavy Weight, Parke County

•Market Lamb: Gabrielle Raute, Hampshire, Hamilton County

•Market Barrow: Vade Dishman, Duroc, Henry County

•Beef Heifer: Payton Farmer, Maine-Anjou, Jackson County

•Market Beef: Hadley Hendrickson, Reserve Crossbred, Randolph County

About $120,000 is raised by the Indiana State Fair Foundation, the Indiana State Fair’s nonprofit arm, to provide monetary awards for winners. Top-placing 4-H members will be recognized for their hard work at the Celebration of Champions event, at 7 p.m. on August 18 in the Coliseum.

To learn more about donation opportunities available with the Indiana State Fair Foundation, visit www.indianastatefairfoundation.org

Illinois fellowship builds capacity for digital ag careers

URBANA, Ill. — In its efforts to feed a growing population, the U.S. agriculture industry is incorporating advanced digital technologies and increasingly relying on statisticians to process “Big Data.” Traditional statistics degree programs typically do not provide a background in agriculture or plant science.

A new undergraduate fellowship at the University of Illinois, funded by the USDA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, fills the gap with an immersive training program in agriculture and statistics.

All crop science majors are eligible to receive the expenses-paid statistics fellowship, including juniors in the new combined Computer Science + Crop Sciences major, which is offered in conjunction with the Department of Computer Science at Illinois.

The fellowship is also open to incoming juniors at Illinois State University and Northeastern Illinois University, and entering transfer students from Parkland College.

The two-year fellowship will include student-directed hands-on experimental design, data collection, and statistical analysis experience under the mentorship of faculty advisors specializing in statistics. Program leaders hope to provide a pipeline into graduate school by offering graduate school counseling and covering fellows’ costs for graduate school entrance exams, as well as professional conferences. The program also offers a stipend of $14,500 for each fellow over two years.

To learn more about the fellowship, contact Carrie Butts-Wilmsmeyer at 217-300-7560 or cjbutts2@illinois.edu