Dow quarterly drops 3 percent

DETROIT, Mich. (AP) — Dow Chemical Co. reported a 3 percent drop in first-quarter profit because of higher feedstock and energy costs, but still managed to top Wall Street’s expectations.

The chemical giant said earnings slipped to $941 million, or 99 cents per share, in the January-March period from $973 million, or $1 per share, a year ago. A $2.2 billion increase in feedstock, or raw materials, and energy costs hurt quarterly results, the company said.

Midland-based Dow reported that revenue grew 19 percent to $14.82 billion from $12.43 billion. The company said it had 6 percent volume growth in emerging markets and higher growth in China, India, Russia and the Middle East. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had forecast a profit of 94 cents per share on sales of $13.6 billion.

“Dow delivered an exceptionally good quarter in which broad-based pricing initiatives, growth in our performance businesses, especially Dow AgroSciences, and our strong international presence counterbalanced ongoing weakness in the United States, and an unprecedented increase in purchased feedstock and energy costs,” Andrew N. Liveris, chairman and chief executive, said in a statement.

The company’s joint ventures also performed well, he said. Revenue for the agricultural sciences business grew 27 percent to $1.3 billion, mainly due to growth from recent acquisitions and ongoing favorable conditions in the global agricultural and food industry.

Dow, which makes chemicals, plastics and farm products, reported annual sales of $53.5 billion last year, up 9 percent from $49.1 billion in 2006. It employs 46,000 employees worldwide.

New officers will lead IARC

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — With farmers in the field and the beginning of another growing season, the Indiana Agriculture Resource Council (IARC) also launches a new season.

Four individuals from the 20-organization council will lead the organization this year. Justin Armstrong, barn director for the Indiana State Fair Commission, is the new IARC chair. Joining Armstrong on the 2008 leadership team are: Vice Chair Danica Kirkpatrick, Purdue University College of Agriculture; Secretary Sarah Ford, Indiana Pork Producers Assoc.; and Treasurer Mindy Reef, Indiana Farm Bureau.

The IARC is a partnership of agricultural, commodity organizations and state and federal agencies. Its mission is to unify, interpret and promote educational resources and events that may engage the general public in contemporary-based agricultural learning.
For more information, visit www.indag.org

Purdue Crop Center wins

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — An interdisciplinary group of specialists that lead the Purdue Crop Diagnostic Training and Research Center has won the university’s 2008 Agriculture Team Award.

Begun in 1986, the diagnostic center is recognized throughout the Midwest for its hands-on approach to teach the art and science of diagnosing and dealing with crop problems.

The core group of faculty and staff develop teaching curricula, design and establish in-field demonstration plots and conduct in-the-field workshops for producers, extension educators,
agronomists, crop consultants and professionals in the seed, fertilizer and agricultural chemical industries. Each year the team presents an average of 15 workshops from May-September and special workshops during the winter.

The center also is responsible for the extension publications Corn and Soybean Field Guide and the Forage Field Guide. Originally the guides were aimed only at Hoosier farmers; now they have been distributed to at least 20 states, as well as in Canada, Africa, Europe and Australia.

The other team members are Sylvie Brouder, James Camberato, Keith Johnson, Robert Nielsen and Gary Steinhardt of the Department of Agronomy; Bill Johnson, Glenn Nice and Greg Shaner of Botany and Plant Pathology; John Obemeyer of Entomology; and Russell Merzdorf, Chip Morrison and Kevin Leigh Smith of Agricultural Communication.

OSU gets national recognition
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio State University has been selected as a regional winner of the 2008 Outreach Scholarship W.K. Kellogg Foundation Engagement Award, which recognizes exemplary outreach and engagement partnerships implemented by four-year public universities.

OSU, cited for efforts to forge unique partnerships that have helped revitalize the nearby Weinland Park neighborhood, was among five universities to receive the award and is now a national finalist for the C. Peter Magrath University Community Engagement Award.
The Outreach Scholarship and Magrath awards were established in 2006 by the National Assoc. of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges. OSU also won a regional award in 2007 for new initiatives undertaken by the university with community partners, including the Schoenbaum Family Center at Weinland Park, Metro High School and the Battelle Center for Mathematics and Science Education Policy.

OSU established Campus Partners in 1995, a nonprofit community redevelopment organization to address the standing issues of crime, housing, community disinvestment and the quality of life for students and residents in Weinland Park and the University District. Economic revitalization projects, which included South Campus Gateway, and the investment of academic and university resources in community-based initiatives, were lauded as projects that embraced comprehensive engagement and consensus building through multiple partnerships.

Ohio State was honored along with Penn State University, Arizona State University, Tennessee State University and the University of Kentucky. Each will receive an award of $6,000 at the Outreach Scholarship annual conference in October.