Blair named STEM director for Lone Oaks Farm

MIDDLETON, Tenn. — Ron Blair, University of Tennessee extension director for Henderson County, was named to the position of director of the STEM program at Lone Oaks Farm by the extension administration. He takes over programming in STEM – science, technology, engineering and math – at the new campus in West Tennessee that will welcome K-12 students from across the nation.

Blair has worked for UT extension as a county director, agricultural agent and 4-H leader, now in his 38th year with the organization. He started in Henry County, and has been director in Henderson County nearly 30 years.

The great outdoors is a particular interest for Blair. He’s served as one of extension’s statewide pond specialists, and led O.W.L.S. camp for kids, which stands for “Outdoor, Wildlife, Leadership and Service.”

At Lone Oaks Farm, he will develop activities with an emphasis on educational opportunities involving the area’s lakes, forests and fields. Lone Oaks Farm is a stunning tract of 1,200 acres in Hardeman County. It’s also a working farm with 90 head of cattle, a few chickens and gardens.

“One of the big opportunities kids have is they get to come to a working farm, a safe environment with beautiful natural resources,” Blair said. “We want every young person who comes here to leave a mark at Lone Oaks.”

The STEM program at Lone Oaks is a partnership with the Hardeman County schools. Educators want kids to have fun learning here, but on a more serious note, they are preparing them for the future. The STEM-related jobs of tomorrow should pay well.

‘We are so excited about the potential of this program to increase the pipeline of students entering STEM careers,” said Dr. Ben West, with UT extension and director of Lone Oaks. “By working with public, private and homeschool teachers from across the mid-South, we think that over 30,000 students will visit Lone Oaks Farm each year, and be exposed to how STEM works in the real world.”

Plans are underway at Lone Oaks to use existing buildings for STEM programs and to build new cabins and other facilities to host more students in the future. Already the site includes a livestock and equestrian area, a museum and a lodge. The timetable to build the cabins is roughly three years away, but already Lone Oaks is hosting students.

DMI largest supporter of College Aggies Online scholarship

ROSEMONT, Ill. — The Animal Agriculture Alliance’s annual College Aggies Online (CAO) scholarship competition began Sept. 10, with Dairy Management, Inc. (DMI) as its largest supporter.

“We are thrilled to have DMI return as our largest sponsor for this year’s College Aggies Online program,” said Kay Johnson Smith, president and CEO at the Alliance. “DMI brings so much value and excitement to the students participating and we can’t wait to make this year the best yet.”

Collegiate clubs and individuals will compete for more than $16,000 in scholarships and mini prizes while engaging online and in person about food and agriculture. The program presents a unique opportunity for students to network with leaders from a wide variety of companies and organizations representing the animal agriculture community.

DMI is not only involved in the individual competition of CAO, but will provide resources and support for the club competition with its “Undeniably Dairy” challenge. For this, clubs will host a booth on their campus and hand out pizza or tacos to fellow students to promote and engage about the nutritional benefits of cheese and dairy, while also sharing how dairy gets from the farm to the store. Clubs can also host a booth at an athletic event while handing out chocolate milk for muscle recovery.

Collegiate clubs and individuals interested in promoting agriculture and becoming confident communicators are invited to sign up through Oct. 1 at http://collegeaggies.animalagalliance.org

This year’s sponsors include DMI, the National Pork Industry Foundation, CHS Foundation, Pork Checkoff, Monsanto, Domino’s Pizza, Inc., Biotechnology Innovation Organization, Kuhn North America and the Ohio Poultry Assoc.

Applications open for global agriscience competition

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Entering its 13th year, the Alltech Young Scientist (AYS) program is considered one of the world’s most prestigious agriscience competitions for university students. Applications are now open for rising agriscientists who wish to take part in the 2018 competition.

Undergraduate and graduate applicants will compete first within their home regions of North America, Latin America, Asia-Pacific or Europe/Africa. Regional winners will be invited to attend an all-expense-paid Alltech Young Scientist Discovery Week in Lexington, where they will compete in the global competition during ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference (ONE18), May 20-23, 2018.

The prizes include a fully funded Ph.D. position and $5,000 for the global undergraduate winner and a fully funded postdoctoral position and $10,000 for the global graduate winner.

“Lifelong learning is a core value within Alltech and we are proud to invest in young, bright minds through our Alltech Young Scientist program,” said Dr. Aoife Lyons, director of educational initiatives and engagement at Alltech. “It provides a global stage for students to present their research and have the opportunity to further their education and join the Alltech team.”

Registration will close on Oct. 31. Students must be nominated by a professor in order to participate, and may submit scientific papers on topics such as animal health and nutrition, crop science, agriculture analytical methods, food chain safety and traceability, human health and nutrition and other agriscience-related sectors.

Paper submission may be completed online through Dec. 31, and regional winners will be announced in March 2018. For more information and to register for the Alltech Young Scientist program, visit www.AlltechYoungScientist.com

Three selected to receive North Central Region SARE grants

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Three faculty members at Purdue University have been recommended to receive grants from the North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (NCR-SARE) for their individual research projects.

Eileen Kladivko will receive $74,680 for the project Midwest Cover Crops Council – Cover Crop Decision Tool. "Cover crops can provide many soil health and environmental benefits, and lack of information is one of the most important limitations to cover crop use,” she said.

“The professional development through building consensus recommendations for cover crop practices and extending these recommendations to statewide educators will provide individualized cover crop strategies for farmers across the Midwest.”

Tamara Benjamin will receive $194,663 for her project, Organic Transition and Certification: Supporting Indiana Grain Farmers' Capacity to Meet Market Demand. "This project will facilitate Indiana farmers' access to a high-value, rapidly growing organic grain market by identifying major constraints, as well as drivers to organic transition and certification,” she explained.

A peer mentoring and outreach component will coordinate farmer-to-farmer interactions to increase knowledge transfer among our farmers and educators. We will improve the economic viability and sustainability of crop farms in Indiana by understanding the communication and marketing gaps between growers and buyers.”

Wenjing Guan at Purdue in Vincennes, Ind., will receive $200,000 for the project Improving Seedless Cucumber Production to Diversify High Tunnel Crops in the North Central Region. "Farmers in the North Central region who consistently grow tomatoes under high tunnels need additional high-value crops for rotation,” said Guan.

“Seedless cucumber provides an option; however, low soil temperature in the early season, as well as pest problems, limit cucumber production. This project uses grafting and intensive leaf pruning techniques to address these challenges, with the ultimate goal of increasing cucumber production and diversifying high tunnel cropping systems in the region.”

These grants were awarded as part of NCR-SARE's Research and Education Program, which is a competitive grant program for researchers and educators involved in projects that explore and promote environmentally sound, profitable and socially responsible food and/or fiber systems. Research and Education projects include a strong outreach component and significant farmer/rancher or other end user involvement from inception of the idea through implementation of the project.