Applications sought for Ag Voices of the Future program

ST. LOUIS, Mo. — The American Soybean Assoc. (ASA) is accepting applications for the Ag Voices of the Future program, sponsored by Valent USA. This program is for young people interested in improving their understanding of major policy issues that impact soybean farmers, the importance of advocacy and careers that can impact agricultural policy.

The Ag Voices of the Future class will be held in conjunction with the ASA Board Meeting and Soy Issues Briefing, July 9-12, in Washington, D.C.

The U.S. agriculture industry needs more leaders in Washington who understand the needs of farmers and the agriculture industry, especially as it relates to the development of policies and regulations that impact farm productivity. Positions on Congressional staffs, regulatory agencies and services groups within the federal government are often filled with individuals who have a limited understanding of farming and the needs of the agriculture industry.

Ag Voices of the Future is designed to expose young people with a connection to the farm to an education on major policy issues and advocacy. The program will also encourage these future leaders to consider careers within agriculture associations and industry, as well as government regulatory and legislative positions.

To apply, students must be at least 18 years old. This program may be especially appealing to students majoring in agriculture, political science, communications and business. Program sponsors will cover all travel, lodging and meal expenses for the students selected for this program.

Class size is limited. Visit ASA's website and find Ag Voices of the Future under the "learn" tab or go to https://soygrowers.com/learn/ag-voices-of-the-future for more information and to complete an online application. All applications must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. on June 1.

UT Agriculture selects Blasingame Chair of Excellence

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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture welcomes Dr. Andrew Muhammad as the recently named Blasingame Chair of Excellence in Agricultural, Food and Natural Resource Policy.

Muhammad brings considerable experience and research to the position, where his focus will be assisting the state’s and nation’s agricultural decision makers in the evaluation of potential policies and programs dealing with agricultural commodities, food and nutrition, natural resources and international trade, as well as advocating for state and regional agricultural opportunities.

Previously serving as the associate director of the Market and Trade Economics Division and the chief of the International Demand and Trade Branch at the USDA Economic Research Service, he has developed a large network of trade policy experts and forged solid working relationships with decision makers in the public and private sectors.

Muhammad has written 49 refereed journal articles and approximately 30 reports and other publications, and has served as the principal investigator or co-PI on funded research and outreach activities totaling $2.7 million. His accolades include the professional contribution award from the Southern Agricultural Economics Assoc.

He earned his doctorate in food and resource economics from the University of Florida, a master’s of science in agricultural economics from the University of Missouri and a bachelor’s in agribusiness from Southern University. The Blasingame Chair of Excellence was made possible by Bernard and Margaret Blasingame who established the endowment in 1989.

DOE grants $10.6M to U of I for more biodiesel, biojet fuel

URBANA, Ill. — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) awarded the University of Illinois a $10.6 million, five-year grant to transform two of the most productive crops in America into sustainable sources of biodiesel and biojet fuel.

The new research project, Renewable Oil Generated with Ultra-productive Energycane, or ROGUE, kicked off on Feb. 25 with a team meeting held in conjunction with the 2018 Genomic Sciences Program Annual Principal Investigator Meeting in Tysons, Va.

“The U.S. continues to enjoy cheap, abundant energy but more than 80 percent of it is derived from natural gas, coal and petroleum,” said ROGUE Director Stephen Long, an Ikenberry Endowed Chair at Illinois. “Heavy, diesel-powered semi-trailers and the aviation industry desire other options, but electric batteries are not feasible, and current biofuel crops cannot meet demands for biodiesel and biojet fuel.”

ROGUE will engineer energycane, a bioenergy crop derived from sugarcane, and miscanthus to produce the oil that is used to create biodiesel and biojet fuel. The work is guided by computer models, which project that these crops can achieve 20 percent oil content in the plant – a dramatic increase from natural levels of less than a tenth of 1 percent.

“If fully successful, these crops could produce as much as 15 times more biodiesel per unit of land compared to soybeans, a food crop that currently produces half of our nation’s biodiesel,” said Long, who leads the project’s efforts at the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology.

Previous work, funded by the DOE Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), achieved 8 percent oil accumulation, and now ROGUE will further increase oil production and target oil accumulation in the stem where it can be accessed more easily with ROGUE’s patented extraction technologies.

“According to our models, ROGUE crops will be much more productive and profitable per acre than corn or soybeans,” said Vijay Singh, director of the Integrated Bioprocessing Research Laboratory, who will lead the project’s techno-economic analyses and processing technologies.

ROGUE is a collaboration amongst researchers from Illinois as well as Brookhaven National Lab, University of Florida and Mississippi State University, with support from the DOE Office of Science (Office of Biological and Environmental Research).

Agunga awarded grant to improve ag extension in Pakistan

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Dr. Robert Agunga, associate professor in Ohio State University’s Department of Agricultural Communication, Education and Leadership (ACEL) in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES), has been awarded a grant for $455,239 from The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine for an international development research project titled "Improving Agricultural Extension in Pakistan through Communication for Development.”

The purpose is to pilot-test a communication strategy for improving aid effectiveness. Agunga’s award was one of 14 projects awarded grants under Phase 7 of the Pakistan-U.S. Science and Technology Cooperation Program and 220 proposals reviewed for funding in 2017.

This project, which seeks to improve agricultural extension in Pakistan through communication for development, is in partnership with Pakistan partner Dr. Badar Siddiqui, head of the Department of Agricultural Extension Education at the Pir Mehr Ali Shah (PMAS) Arid Agriculture University at Rawalpindi near Islamabad.

The project is aimed at finding a strategy for improving the effectiveness of international development aid. Success will require the inclusion of communication strategists in development programming under the rubric of Communication for Development (C4D), an emerging science aimed at addressing human dimension elements in development, such as participation, integration and capacity building. This new cadre of development professionals is currently nonexistent and will be trained.

In this project, Agunga and his Pakistani counterparts will implement a social science-based master’s degree program in C4D at the university level to improve development performance and strengthen agricultural extension in the field by promoting participatory development strategies.

I-BELIEF grant will train Illinois leaders in beef cattle nutrition

URBANA, Ill. — A new grant from the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture will provide more than $250,000 to train 20 undergraduate students in beef cattle nutrition research over the next four years.

The unique program, known as the Illinois Beef Experiential Learning and Industry Exposure Fellowship (I-BELIEF), pulls underrepresented students from four public agricultural universities across the state to leverage the research resources available within the University of Illinois system.

“One of the things we’re excited about is strengthening the relationship with our partner institutions: Illinois State University, Western Illinois University and Southern Illinois University. Illinois is unique in having four public institutions with programs in animal science and beef cattle,” said Josh McCann, assistant professor in the Department of Animal Sciences at U of I, and co-principal investigator on the grant.

Dan Shike, associate professor in the department and co-principal investigator on the grant, said they’re hoping the program will diversify beef cattle industry leadership in the long term.

“For example, we have a huge population of female undergraduates in the department, but there are very, very few female faculty members in beef nutrition and a pretty small number of female scientists in industry. We’re lucky to have female mentors in the program, but that trend has to change,” he added.

The program will admit five rising juniors and seniors each year, two from U of I and one each from the other three universities. The heart of the program is a 10-week summer research experience at the Urbana Beef and Sheep Research Field Laboratory, Dixon Springs Agricultural Center or Orr Agricultural Research and Demonstration Center. But the students will actively participate in the program throughout the year.

The students are spread out across the state, but they will come together on the U of I campus multiple times each year. During their summer research experience, they’ll go to the Illinois Beef Assoc. summer conference as a group, which will give them some good industry exposure. The school will also bring in alumni who are industry experts to help students figure out a career action plan.

Students will develop a research abstract and present their work at the Midwest Animal Science meeting the following spring. The result, according to Shike and McCann, will be well-prepared graduates ready to launch into graduate school or a career in beef nutrition.

Students have been accepted to the program for 2018, but interested students can contact McCann, Shike or faculty at the partner institutions to learn how to apply for the summer of 2019.

Extension offering testing of dial gauge pressure canners

URBANA, Ill. — Preserving foods at home by canning is a great way to have fruits, vegetables and meats year-round. A pressure canner is needed to process low-acid foods. But over time, calibration of a dial gauge on pressure canners can become inaccurate.

“If your pressure canner dial gauges are inaccurate, your foods may not reach the recommended pressure to be safely preserved,” explained Caitlin Huth, a University of Illinois extension nutrition and wellness educator.

Testing of dial gauge pressure canner lids and gauges is recommended once a year for safety in the canning and preserving process. Before you start canning for the season, have your pressure canner tested at an extension office near you. For more information, visit http://go.illinois.edu/fcs

Huth has also created a video on testing pressure canner lid gauges, available at www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIJMlrF790I

MSU Innovation Center recognizes faculty, student inventors

EAST LANSING, Mich. — The 2018 Innovation Celebration highlights ground-breaking technology from Michigan State University labs and startup companies from across campus.

The MSU Innovation Center recognizes the MSU Innovator of the Year, Innovation of the Year, Corporate Connector of the Year and an award for lifetime Technology Transfer Achievement. Commended for their perseverance and creativity at the MSU Innovation Celebration, awardees are presented with plaques and a cash prize.

The 2017 Innovation of the Year award goes to Dr. Donald Morelli, chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science. His work in thermoelectric materials converts waste heat sources into electricity.

The 2018 Innovators of the Year are Drs. Christoph Benning and John Ohlrogge, for their work in understanding how plants accumulate oil, via WRINKLED1 genetic research. Their key discovery, WRINKLED1 is the name for a ubiquitous regulator in oil-accumulating plant tissues.

Many plant species accumulate vegetable oil in their seeds as a major storage component, which provides carbon and energy for seedling development. These oils are a staple in the human diet and are increasingly important as renewable feed stocks for industry.

Benning is MSU Foundation Professor and director of the Plant Research Laboratory, and Ohlrogge is professor emeritus of Plant Biology and University Distinguished Professor at MSU.

With nearly 100 inventions disclosed, more than 400 peer-reviewed papers, 35 patents and 16 technologies licensed to industry, the 2018 MSU Technology Transfer Achievement Award goes to Dr. Lawrence T. Drzal, University Distinguished Professor in the Chemical Engineering and Materials Science. Applications for his expertise range from automotive and construction industries to fuel cells, batteries and electronics.

MSU's Corporate Connector of the Year is Dr. David J. Closs, the John H. McConnell Chair Professor of Business Administration in the Department of Supply Chain Management. His extensive work as an active mentor, connector and member on the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals has connected countless undergraduate and graduate students to future employers, and brought MSU's innovative research to real-world business challenges around the world.