Nominate cattle producers for beef quality award

DENVER, Colo. — Applications for the third annual National Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) Award are now being accepted. The National BQA Award will recognize one outstanding beef and dairy producer that best demonstrate animal care and handling principles as part of the day-to-day activities on their respective operations.
A common trait among all contest entrants must be a strong desire to continually improve BQA on their operations while encouraging others to implement the producer education program.

The National BQA Award is funded by Safeway’s Rancher’s Reserve beef brand and Cargill, and supported by the beef checkoff. The program promotes beef quality assurance in all segments of the industry, including commercial cow-calf, seedstock, stocker operators, feedlots and dairy operations.

Two National BQA award winners will be selected by a committee of representatives from universities, beef councils and affiliated groups. Nominations can be submitted by any group or individual on behalf of a U.S. beef producer.

Individuals and families may not nominate themselves; however, the nominees are expected to be involved in the preparation of the application. For further information on the award or to download the application, visit www.bqa.org

Purdue honors nine Distinguished Ag Alumni

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Nine Purdue University graduates were recognized as Distinguished Agriculture Alumni during a campus ceremony in March. The award honors mid-career Purdue Agriculture graduates who have made significant contributions to their profession, or society in general. The award program started in 1992.

The 2010 honorees represent a broad range of career fields, said Jay Akridge, Purdue’s Glenn W. Sample Dean of Agriculture. This year’s honorees include:

•David D. Anderson of Carmel, Ind., global director of seeds operations for Dow AgroSciences in Indianapolis. Anderson leads a company team responsible for developing and producing parent and hybrid seed for alfalfa, canola, corn, sorghum, soybeans and sunflowers. Anderson earned a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics from Purdue in 1986.

•Gregory W. Deason of West Lafayette, Ind., vice president of real estate and research park development and director of Purdue Research Parks, Purdue Research Foundation. He leads the foundation’s efforts to maintain a progressive and vibrant environment at Purdue’s four research park facilities in order to recruit and retain high-tech companies. Deason earned a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics from Purdue in 1986.

•Eric Jon Gustafson of Rhinelander, Wis., research ecologist, project leader and director of the Institute for Applied Ecosystem Studies, USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station. His research focuses on the ecological implications of historic and projected changes in the composition and structure of landscapes. Gustafson earned a doctoral degree in landscape ecology from Purdue in 1992.

•Douglas E. Hoerr of Chicago, a senior partner with Hoerr Schaudt Landscape Architects LLC. Hoerr has designed more than 500 private gardens across the country. Hoerr earned a bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture from Purdue in 1979.

•Patricia L. “Patsy” Houghton of McCook, Neb., founder, owner, general manager and president of the McCook-based Heartland Cattle Co. Heartland is a professional heifer development and research center, where beef producers retain ownership of their replacement heifers as the animals are synchronized and artificially bred according to customer specifications. Houghton earned a doctoral degree in ruminant nutrition from Purdue in 1986.

•Janis E. McFarland of Chapel Hill, N.C., head of North American regulatory affairs for Syngenta Crop Protection. McFarland leads Syngenta’s NAFTA Regulatory Affairs Department, which is responsible for all agricultural chemical registrations in the United States, Canada and Mexico. McFarland earned a master’s degree in plant pathology-molecular virology from Purdue in 1982 and a doctoral degree in plant physiology-herbicide modes of action in 1986.

•Craig S. Pikaard of Bloomington, Ind., the Carlos O. Miller Professor of Plant Growth and Development in the departments of Biology and Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry at Indiana University. He is a noted researcher whose work has advanced the understanding of the regulation of ribosomal RNA transcription, epigenetic mechanisms of gene silencing and the discovery of a new kind of RNA polymerase. Pikaard earned a doctoral degree in plant physiology from Purdue in 1985.

•Edward P. Vondell of Mexico City, Mexico, director of project engineering and quality for Chrysler in Mexico and Latin America. He leads a team of more than 150 engineers that designs the corporation’s car and truck platforms. Vondell earned a bachelor’s degree in agricultural engineering from Purdue in 1985.

•Mona Baker Wolf of Cincinnati, founder and president of The Wolf Group, which provides sensory testing of products for such companies as Burger King, ConAgra and Procter & Gamble. Sensory testing services help manufacturers determine the consumer acceptance and market viability of new and existing products. Wolf earned a bachelor’s degree in food science from Purdue in 1972.