Archived News Items

AgrowKnowledge News RSS

Register Today to Attend InfoAg 2009

7/1/2009

Springfield, Ill., (AgPR), July 1, 2009 — Individuals interested in precision agriculture should register today to attend July 14 - 16 InfoAg 2009 precision agriculture conference being held at the Crowne Plaza in Springfield, Illinois.
 
The complete program may now be viewed online at www.infoag.org.
 
InfoAg 2009 is organized by the International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI) and the Foundation for Agronomic Research (FAR), with exhibits coordinated by CropLife and the conference coordinated by Quentin Rund of PAQ Interactive.
 
InfoAg 2009 will present a wide range of educational and networking opportunities for manufacturers, practitioners, input suppliers, producers, Extension and NRCS personnel, and anyone interested in agricultural site-specific techniques and technology.

more information

Cotton's use of natural resources

6/30/2009


Cotton Incorporated has released data on the U.S. cotton industry’s use of natural resources.

• Land: Cotton is very land efficient; meeting about 40 percent of the world’s textile needs on less than 3 percent of agricultural land resources. Cotton is expected to meet future increased fiber demand on fixed-land resources due to continued yield increases (more cotton per unit of land). 

• Water: In the U.S., 36 percent of cotton acreage is irrigated. Most is applied to supplement rainfall. Cotton is a natural drought and heat-tolerant crop. It provides a source of income for small growers around the world in places where no other crops can be grown. 

• Energy: From field to bale, cotton produces more energy than is required for its production due to the energy stored in the cottonseed. 


more information

AgCareers.com & AgrowKnowledge Release Valuable Report on Skilled Labor

6/12/2009

CLINTON, N.C. (June 12, 2009) – There is a need for an increase in the awareness, education and recruitment of skilled professionals within the agriculture industry, according to the results of a recent survey of employers, educators and active skilled professionals.
 
The survey was conducted jointly by AgCareers.com, the leading supplier of human resource services to the agriculture industry, and AgrowKnowledge, the national resource center for agriscience and technology education, to assess the current state of industry-wide skilled labor training and employment.
 
The survey data was compiled and released in a free report called the Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources Skilled Labor Outlook Report. It is available on AgCareers.com with no charge to encourage agriculture professionals to use the information. Here is the URL: http://www.agcareers.com/skilled-labor.cfm.
 
“The information we gathered is valuable to our industry because it can be utilized as companies plan for future recruitment needs,” said Ashley Collins, education coordinator for AgCareers.com. “The data can also be used to determine best recruitment and retention practices.”
 
Director of AgrowKnowledge, Rick Parker, said the report is also beneficial to faculty and staff at two-year educational institutions because it will help to generate ideas on effective methods for attracting employers to their campuses.
 
"Students enroll in technical education programs to gain the skills and knowledge to obtain a job, so it’s critical that the faculty fosters connections between the students and industry professionals,” Parker said.
 

more information

New Ag related lesson posted at www.esri.com/arclessons

6/10/2009
A new and improved agriculture spatial analysis lesson is on:
 
http://edcommunity.esri.com/arclessons/lesson.cfm?id=416
 
In this activity, you will analyze soybeans, cotton, wheat, and corn grown in the USA in a spatial context within a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) environment, and consider some global connections.
 
This lesson and data can be used in secondary, university, and informal educational settings.
 
I posted it last month but have just improved both the data and the questions.  Plus, I received some wonderful suggestions from Dr Phil Gersmehl which I incorporated.

more information

2008 Agribusiness Job Report Available

6/3/2009

As the leading online job board for agriculture, food, biotechnology, and natural resources, AgCareers.com wants to share some industry insight reflected by our job board statistics. Recently, AgCareers.com conducted an analysis of the activity on the site, and developed the 2008 Agribusiness Job Report. The report provides the trends that we are noticing and hearing about from our clients. Statistics and information are based on analysis of jobs posted on AgCareers.com over the past year.
 
This information can be a great tool as you recruit students to your programs, advise them through the career search process, and as you teach career trends for the agriculture industry. This report is available at no cost to you, for you to utilize as an educational resource.
 
Highlights from the 2008 Agribusiness Job Report:
 
·         There were approximately 30,000 total job postings in the US and Canada
·         The Midwest region of the United States had the most jobs posted was, with more than 18,000 jobs postings in 2008
·         The US jobs posted encompass several industry sectors, such as agronomy, crop protection, management, etc
·         The Canadian jobs posted encompass several industry sectors, such as general agriculture, equipment/machinery, agronomy, etc
·         The largest number of jobs posted in Canada are from the Prairie provinces with nearly 600 job postings in 2008
 
 Job posting activity increased in the months of June and October. Job views are typically at their highest during these two months

more information

Potential Funding Opportunity for Two-Year Community and Junior Colleges

4/29/2009

Within the Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service (CSREES), is currently working on preparing an RFA for posting on our web site (http://www.csrees.usda.gov/business/business.html), hopefully by early May, for community colleges in rural areas (probably will be defined as an area with less than 50,000 inhabitants) to be known as the New Era Rural Technology Competitive Grants Program (RTP).RTP will make grants available to a community college or advanced technological center, located in a rural area, for technology development, applied research, and training.
 
Under the RTP grants program, awards will support the fields of: (i) bioenergy; (ii) pulp and paper manufacturing; and (iii) agriculture-based renewable energy resources, in order to help ensure workforce opportunities critical to rural communities. We’re excited about the bioenergy and renewable energy aspects of this legislation, and feel many rural community colleges will greatly benefit from this opportunity to develop curricula and respond to State and regional employer needs.

more information

ESRI Business GIS Summit

4/10/2009

From Monday, May 04, 2009 to Wednesday, May 06, 2009 at the Westin Tabor Center, Denver, CO

From employees and customers to facilities and the supply chain, every business asset is geographically dispersed and needs to be managed. In today’s marketplace, many of the world’s leading commercial organizations are relying on geographic information systems (GIS) to enhance awareness and improve efficiency in how they operate now and plan for the future.

more information

Agricultural Resources and Environmental Indicators

4/10/2009

Agricultural Resources and Environmental Indicators, 2006 Edition describes trends in resources used in and affected by agricultural production (including natural, produced, and management resources), as well as the economic conditions and policies that influence agricultural resource use and its environmental impacts. Each chapter provides a concise overview of a specific topic with links to sources of additional information.

What Is the Issue?
Agricultural production both depends on and influences a wide range of natural and other resources. These include land, water and genetic material as well as knowledge, production technologies and management skills. Concise and accurate information on these resources can help public and private decision-makers better understand the complex interactions between public policies, economic conditions, farming practices, conservation and the environment.

What Did We Do?
Agricultural Resources and Environmental Indicators, 2006 Edition describes patterns and trends in land, water, biological resources, management skills and commercial input use; reports on the condition of natural and other resources used in the agricultural sector; and describes public policies and programs as well as economic factors that affect resource use, conservation and environmental quality in agriculture. Each chapter synthesizes, updates, and provides links to more detailed information available in ERS reports, data products and briefing rooms on the ERS website.

more information

Nano- Bio-Tech for Algae Biofuel

4/10/2009

Algae is widely touted as the next best source for fueling the world's energy needs. But one of the greatest challenges in creating biofuels from algae is that when you extract the oil from the algae, it kills the organisms, dramatically raising production costs. Now researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory and Iowa State University have developed groundbreaking "nanofarming" technology that safely harvests oil from the algae so the pond-based "crop" can keep on producing.
 
Commercialization of this new technology is at the center of a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement between the Ames Laboratory and Catilin, a nano-technology-based company that specializes in biofuel production. The agreement targets development of this novel approach to reduce the cost and energy consumption of the industrial processing of non-food source biofuel feedstock. The three-year project is being funded with $885,000 from DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, and $216,000 from Catilin and $16,000 from Iowa State University in matching funds.
 
The so-called "nanofarming" technology uses sponge-like mesoporous nanoparticles to extract oil from the algae. The process doesn't harm the algae like other methods being developed, which helps reduce both production costs and the production cycle. Once the algal oil is extracted, a separate and proven solid catalyst from Catilin will be used to produce ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) and EN certified biodiesel.

more information

International Biomass Conference and Expo

4/10/2009


Biomass power is the use of biomass to generate electricity. These technologies include direct firing, cofiring, gasification, anaerobic digestion and other technologies. While many biomass power plants today use direct-fired systems, more advanced approaches—many including combined heat and power—are being deployed worldwide. In combined heat and power (CHP) systems, for example, a power plant's spent steam is also used for manufacturing processes and/or building heat, boosting the overall efficiency of the system.

Program Tracks

    * Crop Residues
    * Dedicated Energy Crops
    * Forest and Wood Processing Residues
    * Livestock and Poultry Wastes
    * MSW, Urban Wastes & Landfill Gas
    * Food Processing Residues

For more details and to register visit their website:

http://www.biomassconference.com


more information

3rd National Conference on Facilitating Sustainable Agriculture Education

4/20/2009

Registration is now online for the 3rd National Conference on Facilitating Sustainable Agriculture Education, July 15-17, 2009
 
The Sustainable Agriculture Education Association (SAEA) is proud to announce our 3rd National Conference held at Iowa State University. Come join us in the heartland to learn about key issues of the  sustainable agriculture education research and practice community!
 
Students and faculty in the Graduate Program in Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University, in cooperation with Marshalltown Community College and Michigan State University, have organized three days of cutting-edge, participatory-based programming.

more information

Ag Discovery

4/10/2009

Ag-Discovery is an outreach program to help students learn about careers in animal science, veterinary medicine, agribusiness and plant pathology. 

This two week program allows participants ages 12-17 to live on a college campus and learn about Agricultural science from university professors, practicing veterinarians and professionals working for the U.S. Government.
more information

Agricultural and Food Traceability Conference

4/10/2009


Registration is now open for the Agricultural and Food Traceability Conference, jointly sponsored by the Value-Added Agriculture program, the Iowa Beef Center, and the Iowa Grain Quality Initiative. The two day conference will be held on June 9 and 10, 2009 at the Renaissance Savery Hotel in Des Moines. An additional workshop will be held on June 11 for those who are interested in the specific details of the profitable integration of traceability protocols into food and agricultural businesses. Both events will feature speakers from business, research, and regulatory environments. Program content will emphasis three major topics:

• Risks and rewards of adopting traceability in business operations
• Standards, legislative actions and other compliance factors related to traceability
• Processes and management strategies which could assist businesses in the implementation of traceability protocols


more information

Career Opportunities in Agriculture

3/26/2009

Finding and knowing of the new careers in agriculture, food and natural resources (AFNR) is key to the success of AFNR postsecondary programs. During the course of AgrowKnowledge's history we have conducted conferences on defining emerging careers in agriculture. Now under a new partnership with AgCareers.com you can attend one of two HR Roundtables offered this year. These Roundtables are an excellent opportunity to network with industries and educational institutions in agriculture, food science, natural resources and biotechnology.

By attending you will learn of new career opportunities, how to link colleges and universities to industries, and how to prepare students. We have some pre-paid registrations and we have some funding for travel to these Roundtables. You can choose from these two AgCareers.com HR Roundtables:

more information

Celebrate 36th Annual National Ag Week

3/12/2009

The 36th annual National Ag Day (March 20, 2009), celebrated in classrooms and communities across the country, is part of the week's events. The National Ag Day program encourages all Americans to understand how food and fiber products are produced; appreciate agriculture's role in providing safe and affordable products; value agriculture's role in maintaining a strong economy; and consider career opportunities in the agriculture, food, and fiber industries.  Learn more at www.agday.org.


more information

Top 10 Jobs from Yahoo! HotJobs

2/19/2009

A listing of the top 10 jobs from Yahoo! lists two jobs that should be of interest to AgrowKnowledge members:

Environmental Science and Protection Technician
As more companies, businesses, and governments need to go green, the number of people who can monitor pollutants and wastes will increase dramatically. As an environmental science technician, you'll help find new ways to alleviate environmental stress on the planet. An associate's degree in applied science may be all you need in some instances for this quickly growing profession, which paid an average of $42,190 in 2007.

Veterinary Technologist and Technician
Veterinary technologists and technicians serve as nurses to pooches and felines. You may also work in an aquarium or a zoo. A two- or four-year program in veterinary technology can provide you with career training in this quickly growing profession, which paid $28,920 on average in 2007.

more information

The Present and Future of Wind Power in the U.S.

2/18/2009
18 February 2009
 
Although the economic disaster that plagues the country doesn’t appear to be getting improving as of yet, there is one achievement that can turn our heads to the sky. The U.S. is currently number one in the installation of wind power as a means of alternative energy.
 
A report at the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) Web site released Feb. 9 confirmed the stats. The U.S. topped Germany, which previously held the title for wind domination (23, 903 MW), with an impressive 25,170 MW usage. The new installations were an increase of 8,358 MW from 2008. Over 50% of that energy source was created using wind power alone. Honorable mention goes to China, who pumped out a total of 12,210 MW at the end of 2008.
 
Steve Sawyer, secretary general of the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), mentioned that wind energy is seen as the prime opportunity for power generation technology because it can cut CO2 emissions undoubtedly. And the market for jobs created within this sector has already boasted 85,000 in the U.S.

more information

Applications Now Available! For the New Century Farmer Conference and International Collegiate Agriculture Leadership (I-CAL) Program

2/18/2009


New Century Farmer Conference
Do you know what it will take to help your production agriculture operation continue to be successful in the new century?  The New Century Farmer program is designed to assist you create a vision for your operation and then provide you with the tools needed to help you reach that vision. 

International Collegiate Ag Leadership (I-CAL) Program
The best way to learn about international agriculture is to experience it!  The I-CAL program is designed for students to learn more about international grain marketing, global agriculture and acquire a unique cultural experience.


more information

InfoAg 2009 Returns to Springfield, IL

2/16/2008
The InfoAg Conference returns to Springfield, Illinois this summer July 14-16, 2009. It will be held at the Crowne Plaza.

more information

New Center: GeoTech

2/17/2009

The National Science Foundation has a new National Center of Excellence and it’s closely related to AgrowKnowledge!. A geospatial center has been a long time in coming. I can actually remember having discussions on the feasibility and need for a GIS center before having discussions on a national center for agriculture!
 
GeoTech has several connections to AgrowKnowledge. Its role in geospatial technology should complement and supplement AgrowKnowledge’s own work in the precision agriculture. GeoTech has similar objectives: a clearinghouse of educational resources, a national organization to support technician education, an enhanced technician education with professional development workshops, and capacity building for technician education. 
 
Another connection is our website. If you look at the GeoTech website (www.geotechcenter.org) you may seem some similarities in the design. PAQ interactive, AgrowKnowledge’s webmaster, has designed GeoTech’s website also. We should be flattered that they thought highly enough of our website to duplicate parts of it.

more information

Sustainable Agriculture to Take Center Stage at Inaugural - Growing a 21st Century Agricultural Revolution

2/17/2009

Industry leaders from public, private and non-profit sectors will converge to share best practices in sustainable food production and identify resources for collaboration
 
White River Junction, VT, Feb. 16, 2009 – The Sustainable Food Lab, a global network of business, public sector and civil society leaders working together to accelerate sustainability in mainstream food and agriculture, in conjunction with Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI) Platform and Field to Market: The Keystone Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture, today announced the debut of “Growing a 21st Century Agricultural Revolution”, a three-day conference.

The inaugural event will take place at the Lansdowne Resort from March 18-20 in Lansdowne, Virginia. The highly interactive conference will bring together the world’s leading food providers to develop practical and affordable solutions designed to accelerate the knowledge of sustainable agriculture practices to meet the future needs of global consumers.  Players throughout the industry will be better able to align their goals, identify best practices, and measure results.

more information

Importance of Ag Biotechnology

2/17/2009

Farmers around the world continue to enthusiastically embrace genetically engineered (GE) crops according to a report released by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA).

The ISAAA report, The Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops: 2008, says a record 13.3 million farmers in 25 countries are using agricultural biotechnology today. Ninety percent (12.3 million) of these are resource-poor farmers in 15 developing countries. 

The ISAAA report further illustrates what we have known all along, that biotechnology is a key component contributing to sustainable agriculture. Ag biotech provides solutions for today's farmers in the form of plants that yield more per acre, resist diseases and insect pests and reduce farmers' production costs, and 'inputs'. 

When you look at the rising number of acres of biotech crops planted each year (309 million in 2008 compared with 282 million in 2007) and the increasing number of farmers who have chosen this technology (13.3 million in 2008 compared with 12 million in 2007), it's obvious that biotech crops are delivering value to more and more growers around the world. 

In the United States more than 154 million acres of biotech crops were planted in 2008, up from 143 million acres in 2007. The primary biotech crops grown in the United States are corn, cotton, canola and soybeans, but also squash, papaya, alfalfa, and sugarbeet.

more information

Belgium Opens Antarctic Station

2/17/2009

Belgium has opened a new 20 million euro ($26 million) "zero emissions" polar science station in Antarctica, returning to the continent to study climate change 42 years after closing its first base there.
The Princess Elisabeth research hub is totally energy self-sufficient and also aims not to emit any carbon dioxide emissions, according to the Belgian-based International Polar Foundation (IPF) that runs the base. The octagonal, spaceship-like base sits on stilts on a ridge a few miles (kilometers) north of the Soer Rondane Mountains. It will focus on analyzing nearby deep ice shelves.
 
The station's roof is covered by solar panels, designed to provide the bulk of energy needed to run the isolated post. Other energy sources will come from large wind turbines. The base is expected to have a lifespan of 25 years and will conduct research in climatology, glaciology and microbiology. Teams of scientists, including glaciologists, are already at work there from Belgium, Japan, France, Britain and the U.S.

more information

AgrowKnowledge 2009 Annual Conference

3/26/2009

JOIN US AT HI-TEC 2009

This year the annual AgrowKnowledge conference will be held in conjunction with the HI-TEC national conference – a conference on advanced technical education where technical educators, counselors, industry professionals, and technicians can update their knowledge and skills. HI-TEC uniquely explores the convergence of scientific disciplines and technologies such as these four groups:
  • Geographic Information Systems and Agricultural Technology
  • Information and Communications Technologies, Biotechnology, and Cybersecurity
  • Manufacturing, Engineering Technology, and Telecommunications
  • Microsystems, Nanotechnology, and Biotechnology
WHO SHOULD ATTEND HI-TEC 2009?
• Community College & University Faculty
• High School Teachers
• Workforce Development Advocates
• Counselors
• Industry Professionals
• Technicians


 
HOW DO YOU ATTEND?
 
AgrowKnowledge has a limited number of registrations in the conference. If you are interested in attending, contact Dr. Rick Parker, Director at rick.parker@agrowknow.org. Some travel funds are also available.
 

more information

WEBINAR - Remote Sensing Teaching Module - FEB 10

2/2/2009
Agriculture Remote Sensing Teaching Module - Biomass
Date: Tuesday, February 10, 2009 - 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM CST
more information

WEBINAR - CAD Data Conversion to ArcGIS FEB 17

2/2/2009
WEBINAR - CAD data conversion and integration into ArcGIS
more information

DEKALBŪ Ag Youth Scholarship

2/2/2009

Application deadline for the DEKALB® Ag Youth Scholarship is February 17, 2009.
 
Visit www.dekalbwingwear.com to apply now!
Ten, $2,500 scholarships will be awarded to high school and college students who are pursuing agricultural-related degrees and demonstrate strong leadership skills and community involvement.
more information

Cost cuts sweeten outlook for cellulosic biofuels

1/23/2009
A patented Michigan State Univ. process to pretreat corn-crop waste before conversion into ethanol means extra nutrients don't have to be added, cutting the cost of making biofuels from cellulose.

The AFEX (ammonia fiber expansion) pretreatment process, developed by Bruce Dale, University Distinguished Professor of chemical engineering and materials science, uses ammonia to make the breakdown of cellulose and hemicellulose in plants 75 percent more efficiently than when conventional enzymes alone are used. Cellulose in plants must be broken down into fermentable sugars before they can be turned into biofuel.

"Doctoral student Ming Lau and I have shown that it's possible to use AFEX to pretreat corn stover (cobs, stalks and leaves) and then hydrolyze and ferment it to commercially relevant levels of ethanol without adding nutrients to the stover," Dale said. "It's always been assumed that agricultural residues such as corn stover didn't have enough nutrients to support fermentation. We have shown this isn't so."

"The research also shows that the chemical compounds created when the stover goes through the AFEX process can improve the overall fermentation process," Lau added. "This is at odds with the general perception that these compounds are detrimental and should be removed."

The research is published in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.


more information

Internship Opportunities

1/16/2009
AgCareers.com is excited to bring you these internship opportunities In order to apply to these internships you do not have to be a member of AgCareers.com. You can simply click on the corresponding logo or link and you will be directed to the posting where you can apply.
more information

Renewable Energy Technology Conference

1/7/2009

The National 25x'25 Alliance, the American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE) and other partnering organizations are joining forces to present the Renewable Energy Technology Conference and Exhibition, or RETECH 2009, which will be held in Las Vegas, NV on February 25-27.
 
RETECH 2009 is expected to be the largest all-renewables gathering in the United States in 2009, with an attendance anticipated at more than 5,000 people. The event is planned to increase in scale in coming years to 10,000 attendees and 500 exhibitors, which will make it the largest event of its kind worldwide.
more information

Agrowknowledge Cited as National Award Finalist

1/6/2009

AgrowKnowledge highlighted for being “change agent” in agricultural education.
A creative educational initiative based at Kirkwood Community College has made it to the finalist category in a national competition. The AgrowKnowledge center at Kirkwood is one of ten finalists for the Bellwether Awards from the Community College Futures Assembly.
 
The national consortium of colleges and universities draws from the expertise of educators, researchers and business partners alike to build new course materials, teaching methods and innovative instructors to advance improvements in agriculture teaching at the high school, two-year college and university levels.

AgrowKnowledge Director and Co-Principal Investigator Rick Parker says the national consortium is based on shared information and new ideas. 

“Kirkwood had the foresight and benefit of widespread support to launch AgrowKnowledge seven years ago. As a group of educators and industry partners, we have learned a lot and had great opportunities since 2001. We appreciate the vote of confidence of the Futures Assembly by choosing us as a finalist from so many good programs and projects in the U.S.,” he said.

more information

A Christmas Wish

12/19/2008

Like no other time of the year, our thoughts turn to friends, family, memories and good times during the Christmas Season and the approaching New Year. We tend to be more mindful of the circumstances of others, more grateful for our own circumstances and more hopeful for the future with more determination to improve. We at AgrowKnowledge extend our appreciation to individuals, partners, and industries who have given support and direction to our efforts, and we wish the very best that the Season and the New Year have to offer to everyone.

The Staff at AgrowKnowledge:
Terry Brase, Principal Investigator (PI)
Rick Parker, Co-PI & Director
Ron Bunch, Partner Liaison
Deb Klopp, Curriculum Specialist
Brian Johnson, Instructional Designer/Technologist
Holly Feldmann, Office Coordinator
Jerry Bolton, Agriculture Sciences, Kirkwood

more information

'Green Collar' Jobs Grow

11/25/2008
During the presidential campaign, Barack Obama proposed an economic plan that would create 5 million jobs in environmental industries. These so-called "green collar" jobs do, in fact, present the next frontier for U.S. manufacturing, says a new report from Duke Univ.

Highlighting the direct linkages between low-carbon technologies and U.S. jobs, Duke researchers say U.S. manufacturing is poised to grow in a low-carbon economy. Their report, "Manufacturing Climate Solutions," provides a detailed look at the manufacturing jobs that already exist and would be created when the U.S. takes action to limit global-warming pollution.

"Until now, there was no tangible evidence of what the jobs are, how they are created and what it means for U.S. workers. We are providing that here," says Gary Gereffi, Duke professor of sociology and lead author of the report. "We don't guess where the jobs are; we name them. Our report uses value chains to show that clean technology jobs are also real economy jobs."

Led by Gereffi, researchers at Duke's Center on Globalization, Governance & Competitiveness (CGGC) assess five carbon-reducing technologies with potential for future green job creation: LED lighting, high-performance windows, auxiliary power units for long-haul trucks, concentrating solar power, and Super Soil Systems (a new method for treating hog wastes).

They conclude that hidden economic opportunities exist within the supply chains that provide parts and labor for these five industries. The report includes a snapshot of the opportunities for U.S. manufacturing jobs, with a detailed breakdown of the supply chains and maps highlighting the location of companies positioned to support green jobs. States that stand to benefit most from jobs in these sectors include Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, North Carolina, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and California.
more information

Biogas Distribution Network Approved

11/24/2008
Source: Dairy Herd News, November 20, 2008
The first biogas distribution network in the nation has been approved in Kern County California. This project will link up nine farms to generate electricity for California homes. The project is headed up by BioEnergy Solutions in Bakersfield, Calif. Construction will begin in early 2009.
 
Three of the nine farms have already agreed to supply biogas to the network:  C&R Vanderham Dairy, Whiteside Dairy and Vermeer and Goedhart Dairy. The combined herd of 6,500-cows is expected to produce 615,000 cubic feet of natural gas a day, enough to generate power for 3,000 California homes.
 
BioEnergy Solutions will construct an underground pipeline linking the dairies. Biogas from the farms will be transported through the pipeline to an upgrade facility located at the Vermeer and Goedhart Dairy in Shafter, Calif.
 
Manure will be mixed with water and flushed into a large covered lagoon on each farm.  As the manure breaks down methane gas will be captured and delivered through an underground pipeline to the purification facility to remove its corrosive materials and upgrade it to utility standards. The resulting renewable natural gas, more than 99 percent pure methane, will be pressurized and delivered into the Pacific Gas & Electric pipeline for use in the production of energy for residential customers in northern and central California.

more information

Agriculture and Forestry Poised to Take Significant Role in Reduced Carbon Economy

11/21/2008

The following is extracted from the latest in a series of monthly feature stories from 25x'25 that highlight the challenges and opportunities presented by the pursuit of a renewable energy future.  This is a complex issue with political, social, and scientific considerations. Everyone needs to be informed.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee in October released a 461-page "discussion draft" of legislation that would impose mandatory reductions in emissions that contribute to climate change. The draft is the culmination of a year of hearings and a series of "white papers" issued by the committee on various aspects of global warming and comes in anticipation of next year's climate change debate to be taken up by the new Congress and an Obama administration. The House proposal differs some from the Senate version by setting lower emission limits in the earlier years of the program to allow, supporters say, for the development of new clean energy and carbon-capture technology. The impact on House climate change proposals next year as the result of the recent elevation of Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) to chairman of the House Energy Committee, succeeding Rep. John Dingell (D-MI), remains uncertain.

Adding to the momentum for action is a Supreme Court decision last year that found that greenhouse gases are pollutants under the Clean Air Act - a ruling that puts pressure on federal environmental regulators to take action.


more information

AgrowKnowledge Expands its Reach to Seattle, WA

11/20/2008

Part of being a National Resource Center involves expanding our reach to other community colleges in the United States. August provided an opportunity to do just that by collaborating with Seattle Central Community College (SCCC) in offering a Planning Institute and a DACUM, August 20-21. SCCC. After receiving a favorable review from the National Science Foundation (NSF), SCCC submitted the formal project proposal, "Project SAGE - Sustainable Agricultural Education." The goal of their project is to create an Urban Food Systems certificate program related to agriculture in an urban setting.

SCCC is located in the heart of the Seattle metropolitan areas. The development of a curriculum dealing with urban agriculture and the need for sustainable farming on a small scale is very applicable in today's growing cities.
 
Rebecca Hartzler, interim dean for science and mathematics at SCCC, contacted AgrowKnowledge about sharing the work they were doing and seeking information related to our experiences in operating a NSF funded Center. After phone calls and online meetings Rick Paker and Deb Klopp traveled to SCCC to meet with the SCCC team of Jason Neibler, Grace Sparks and Katie Gagnon to help conduct an AgrowKnowledge Planning Institute and DACUM.

more information

Agricultural Biotech a Critical Link to Sustainability around the Globe

11/20/2008
Nov 20, 2008
Adapted from Farm Press

Agricultural biotechnology is making substantial footholds in small and large countries worldwide and must remain a part of sustainable agriculture so farmers and consumers can reap the benefits.

Sharon Bomer-Lauritsen, executive vice president, food and agriculture section, Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), Washington, D.C., says U.S. farmers grow biotech crops on about 300 million acres — about 48 percent of the harvested crop acreage.“Biotechnology has saved the fruit and vegetable industry from destruction,” said Bomer-Lauritsen. 

In U.S. agriculture, biotechnology is utilized in 86 percent of cotton, 92 percent of soybeans, and 80 percent of corn, Bomer-Lauritsen says. Corn yields have increased by 30 percent and soybean yields have climbed 17 percent over the last decade due to biotech and practices incorporated by farmers. Similar trends are expected to continue.

Sustainability is becoming the buzzword among public opinion leaders worldwide. According to the University of California Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program, sustainable agriculture includes three main goals: economic productivity, environmental health, and social and economic equity. Its success, Bomer-Lauritsen says, must include technologies including biotech.

 “The challenge is to ensure that technology, including biotechnology, pesticides, and pest control, is not excluded from any definitions or standards in achieving sustainability,” the biotech advocate said. “These technologies help our farmers become sustainable.”

Yet the road to sustainability has included a few chuckholes. Bomer-Lauritsen told  about an invitation-only meeting held last year at the University of California, Berkeley, designed to discuss sustainable agriculture. The meeting included draft voluntary standards developed by the Leonardo Academy for possible inclusion by the standard-writing American National Standards Institute.

“The standards developed by the Leonardo Academy are what I would consider organic plus,” Bomer-Lauritsen said. “To be certified in sustainable agriculture you either need certification under the USDA’s National Organic Standards Program or you were converting to organic acreage.”

According to Bomer-Lauritsen, the 1990 farm law requires an integrated system to satisfy human food, fiber, and fuel requirements to meet the world’s growing population.

more information

Corngrass: Youthful Plant May Quicken Biofuels Research

11/8/2008
Corngrass, a little-known variation of your typical towering cornstalk, might hold the key to fast, cheap, eco-friendly ways to squeeze more ethanol from tomorrow's biofuel crops. 
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists at the ARS-University of California-Berkeley Plant Gene Expression Center in Albany, Calif., are investigating corngrass traits that might be moved into other plants, to make them stand-out biofuel crops. 
For example, corngrass has tender, youthful leaves that contain less lignin, a component of plant-cell walls, than does the tougher foliage of conventional corn plants. 
That's a plus for corngrass, because the lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose in cell walls present stumbling blocks for efficiently producing what's known as cellulosic ethanol. These cell wall components aren't easily degraded into the fermentable sugars from which ethanol is made.

more information

AgrowKnowledge Free Webinars!

11/6/2008
INTRODUCTION TO SMS SOFTWARE

November 12, 2008
4:00-5:00 p.m. Central

Learn how SMS precision agriculture software is used by farmers and agronomists to make management decisions. During this webinar you will see the “easy to use” features and powerful ‘analytical” capabilities of this software package.


Presenter: Michael Vos, Ag Leader

Register Now!


CROP SENSING TECHNOLOGY

November 19, 2008
4:00-5:00 p.m. Central

Holland Scientific is the recognized as a world leader in active light reflectance crop sensing technology. Learn the basics of this new technology and of second-generation active light reflectance sensor products.


Presenter: Kelly Kopsa, Ag Leader

Register Now!

more information

Cheaper Biofuel from Biomass

10/27/2008
Oct. 27, 2008

Cobalt Biofuels, a startup based in Mountainview, Calif., has developed a cheap way to make butanol from biomass. Last week, the company announced that it had raised $25 million to expand from a small laboratory-scale production to a pilot-scale plant that can produce about 35,000 gallons of fuel per year.

"Our models tell us it is a very low-cost process that can be competitive with anything on the market today," says Pamela Contag, the company's founder and CEO. The process is cheaper because it uses improved strains of bacteria to break down and ferment biomass, as well as improved equipment for managing fermentation and reducing water and energy consumption, she says.

Butanol could help increase the use of biofuels, since it doesn't have the same limitations as ethanol, the primary biofuel made in the U.S. It has more energy than ethanol: a gallon of butanol contains about 90% as much energy as a gallon of gasoline, while ethanol only has about 70% as much. What's more, while ethanol requires special pipelines for shipping, butanol can be shipped in unmodified gasoline pipelines. And butanol can be blended with gasoline in higher percentages than ethanol without requiring modifications to engines.

Cobalt Biofuels joins a handful of other companies developing biobutanol. The biggest such effort comes in the form of a partnership between DuPont and BP: the companies plan to be selling commercial quantities of butanol made from sugar beets by 2010. Other companies developing biobutanol are Gevo, a startup based in Englewood, CO, that is commercializing advances from UCLA, and Tetravitae, based in Chicago, which is commercializing advances from the University of Illinois. In spite of their progress, Andy Aden, a research scientist at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, in Golden, CO, says that no company has demonstrated yet that it can make butanol cheap enough to compete in the market.

more information

Iowa State University Receives NSF Grant for Biorenewables

10/20/2008
A new five-year, $18.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation will create the NSF Engineering Research Center for Biorenewable Chemicals at Iowa State University, which ISU President CBiRC logoGregory Geoffroy says serves as a sort of stamp of approval of Iowa State's to-date biorenewable technology research that will allow the university to continue serving as a leader in the creation of a sustainable chemical industry. The goal of the center will be to develop technologies that can transform the petroleum-based chemical industry into an industry that utilizes plants and other biorenewable technologies, as well as to develop undergraduate and graduate students who will become creative leaders in the field.
more information

Discovering Drugs and Biofuels in Tropical Seas

10/15/2008
The National Institutes of Health has awarded $4 million to a group of Philippine and American scientists led by Oregon Health & Science University to aid in the discovery of new molecules and biofuels technology from marine mollusks for development in the Philippines.

The project will concentrate its research in the Philippine archipelago whose waters are inhabited by an estimated 10,000 marine mollusk species, or about a fifth of all the known species, and are regarded by marine biologists as the world’s epicenter of marine biodiversity. Mollusks are among the most diverse of marine animals and include shelled creatures like snails, clams and slugs.

more information

Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) Innovators Win Nobel Prize in Chemistry

10/15/2008
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2008 jointly to Osamu Shimomura, Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) and Boston University Medical School; Martin Chalfie, Columbia University; and Roger Y. Tsien, University of California, San Diego, "for the discovery and development of the green fluorescent protein, GFP".

The brightly glowing green fluorescent protein, GFP, was first observed in the jellyfish, Aequorea victoria in 1962. Since then, this protein has become one of the most important tools used in contemporary bioscience. With the aid of GFP, researchers have developed ways to watch processes that were previously invisible, such as the development of nerve cells in the brain or how cancer cells spread.

Osamu Shimomura first isolated GFP from the jellyfish Aequorea victoria, which drifts with the currents off the west coast of North America. He discovered that this protein glowed bright green under ultraviolet light.

more information

Biotech Crops Directly Tied to Higher Yields

10/3/2008
By Terry Wanzek

Source: GEN, September 15, 2008 (http://www.genengnews.com)

The antibiotechnology crowd has adopted a new talking point, claiming that biotechnology does not increase yields. Have these people never been to a farm to see what weeds and insects do to crop yields?

Activist groups are highly skilled at finding a fact and distorting it for their agenda. For this new talking point, they have twisted an April 2006 report from the United States Department of Agriculture. The USDA report is highly supportive of biotechnology, but the activists found part of one paragraph they could exploit. Here’s the quote they like to cite:

“Currently available (genetically engineered) crops do not increase the yield potential of a hybrid variety. In fact, yield may even decrease if the varieties used to carry the herbicide-tolerant or insect-resistant genes are not the highest yielding cultivars.”

They ignore the rest of the paragraph, which states: “However, by protecting the plant from certain pests, GE crops can prevent yield losses compared with non-GE hybrids, particularly when pest infestation is high. This effect is particularly important for Bt [Bacillus thuringiensis] crops.”

more information

USDA Agricultural Education Challenge Grants Program Proposal Deadline December 15, 2008

10/3/2008
This is a matching-funds grant available to three categories of recipients: Ag in the K-12 Classroom, secondary schools (grades 9-12) and Junior or Community Colleges (2-year postsecondary programs). Single-institution awards may be up to $35,000 and joint project awards may be up to $50,000. Recipients are required to match awarded funds on a dollar-for-dollar basis (cash or in-kind).

The application submission due date is December 15, 2008.  (This is one month earlier than last year’s date.)

more information

Kirkwood Searches for Dean of Agriculture

9/23/2008

DATE: 08/27/2008
POSITION TITLE: Dean, Agricultural Science- August 27, 2008 Click here to apply
CLASSIFICATION: Administrative
DEPARTMENT: Agricultural Science
REPORTS TO: Vice President
GENERAL JOB SUMMARY:
Kirkwood’s Agriculture department has grown a nationally ranked two-year curriculum that serves more that 700 students each year. Students choose from 15 agriculture-based programs and receive hands-on experience on a 400-acre working farm with the latest GIS/GPS technology. Two highlights on campus include the premier Iowa Equestrian Center and a new Horticulture and Floral Careers facility, with four spacious greenhouses. Kirkwood is also home to the National Science Foundation National Center for Agriscience and Technology Education.

The Dean reports directly to the Vice President of Instruction and is responsible for administering all 15 programs in the department in the areas of (1) Agriculture, (2) Animal Health, (3) Horticulture and (4) Floral Careers as well as the Agrowknowledge, Iowa Equestrian Center and college farm lab enterprises. Will hire, supervise and evaluate all faculty, technicians and staff members and will manage the department and enterprise budgets.


more information

Pigs to be Bred for Human Organ Transplants

9/17/2008
Source: Pig Production News
9 September 2008

Lord Winston, the UK fertility expert, is to start breeding pigs in order to produce hearts, livers and kidneys for transplanting for humans. Winston believes genetically modified organs provide the best solution to tackle the shortage of organs needed. A record number of almost 8,000 British patients are waiting for an organ.

Highly controversial
The highly controversial method of transplanting animal organs – xenotransplantation – has been tried before with limited success. Many of the organs were rejected by the patients' immune system. The pigs will be bred with approximately six human genes to prevent patients rejecting their organs. Winston's team will need to prove that the pig organs can be sufficiently modified to survive long-term in the human body.

Winston said: "Pigs' organs are the right size for human transplantation, and they work similarly to human organs. Of course this raises a moral problem, but it is much more ethical to use a pig to save a human life than to use it for relatively unnecessary meat eating."

more information

ESRI GIS Education Community on Facebook

9/15/2008
GIS educators and GIS education mentors wanting to connect with other GIS educators, may want to consider joining the newly created ESRI GIS Education Community on Facebook.   www.facebook.com.
more information

AgrowKnowledge and AgCareers.com Form Partnership

9/12/2008
AgCareers.com and AgrowKnowledge are working together to connect technical trained professionals with employers to meet the needs of the agriculture industry. AgCareers.com is the leading online job board and human resource service provider for those same industries; it seems the partnership is a natural fit.
 
“Many companies are finding that an increasing amount of positions within their company require a two year degree or technical training,” said Eric Spell, president of AgCareers.com. “In the last 10 to 15 years, recruiting efforts were not as focused on this demographic. This has resulted in a lack of employees for these positions and a greater difficulty in attracting students to this educational field. Our partnership with AgroKnowledge will be proactive in addressing this issue.”
           
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 80 percent of the new jobs created between 2002 and 2012 will require an Associate’s degree, applied technology training, or college experience other than a bachelor’s degree.
 
"This statistic is concerning because many students aren’t aware of the various technical positions available in the agriculture industry," said AgrowKnowledge Director Rick Parker. According to Parker, "the partnership with AgCareers.com will help increase awareness and benefit both the students and employers."

Check out the AgCareers.com link on the lower left of the AgrowKnowledge page.

more information

AgrowKnowledge Interest Inventory Tool & Employment Corner

8/28/2008
If you haven't noticed AgrowKnowledge has made some changes to the navigation of its website. We have recently added in an "Employment Corner" to provide visitors with readily available information about careers in Agriculture through partnering agency,  AgCareers.com.  We have also added an "Interest Inventory Tool" that was developed in part by a AgrowKnowledge Technology Grant to Bismarck State College. Feel free to explore the Interest Inventory Tool and tell us what you think!

more information

Bioenergy Conference to Highlight Agriculture’s Role in a Sustainable Energy Future

8/26/2008
KIRKSVILLE, MO – Recent trends in energy prices and policy have made it clear that agriculture will play an important role in America’s energy future. However, concerns over the growing use of biofuels and biomass, their impact on food availability and price, and their broader environmental impact have generated debate about the sustainability of current bioenergy developments.
 
National experts will confront these issues at a Bioenergy Conference to be held December 5, 2008, at Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri. The conference will provide professional development training targeted to high school and college agriculture faculty members, extension personnel, natural resource and conservation agency personnel, community leaders, and anyone interested in a sustainable energy future. 

Conference registration is $50 and includes a resource notebook, DVD, lunch, and refreshments. Additionally, a waiver of the registration fee plus a travel scholarship of $200 will be awarded to each of 40 applicants who plan to use this information in educational or outreach activities. Funding for the conference is provided by a Professional Development Program grant from USDA’s North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (NCR-SARE).
 
View the full conference program and download a registration/scholarship application at http://bioenergyconference.truman.edu. Registration deadline is October 25, 2008. Scholarship application deadline is October 1, 2008 and scholarship recipients will be notified by October 25, 2008.

more information

Free Agri-Entrepreneur Lesson Plans

8/19/2008
The LifeKnowledge Center for Agricultural Education has developed twelve Agri-Entrepreneurship lessons based on the latest brain-based teaching theories and methodologies; focusing on engaging all types of learners by using hands-on and interactive learning techniques to uncover students’ individual interests.

The lessons are available at: http://www.ffa.org/index.cfm?method=c_programs.AgEntrepreneurship

more information

AgrowKnowledge Welcomes New Office Coordinator

8/19/2008

Holly Feldman will assume the position as the AgrowKnowledge office coordinator filling the position vacancy created when Josie Bosie moved. We are looking forward to Holly working with the staff and members of AgrowKnowledge. As the office coordinator she will be the “first contact” in the Cedar Rapids office on the Kirkwood Community College campus. Holly is originally from Farmersburg, IA -- a very small town up in northeastern Iowa, population 300.


more information

Register Now for Biotechnology Workshop

7/9/2008

AgrowKnowledge will hold a national faculty development workshop on biotechnology at Redlands Community College, El Reno, OK on July 23rd - 25th, 2008. This workshop will focus on agricultural biotechnology. Participants learn about the use of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), protein fingerprinting, DNA extraction and bio-informatics. Participants become aware of sources for equipment and support.

Registration is $100 and AgrowKnowledge provides a $300 travel stipend. Some meals and breaks included.


more information

Food-Fiber-Biofuel Chain Poster Available

7/8/2008

At its annual Ag Day celebration held at the USDA’s Whitten Building in Washington, D.C. on March 11, 2008, the Ag Council of America unveiled its new Food/Fiber/Biofuel Chain poster. The poster shows all the industries involved in the production, processing, and distribution of feeding, clothing, and fueling the American consumer.


more information

Uncover the Secret World of Soil: Smithsonian Soils Exhibition Opens July 19

6/30/2008

There are more living creatures in a shovel full of rich soil than human beings on the planet. Yet more is known about the dark side of the moon than about soil. These are just a few of the fascinating facts visitors can learn at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History's (NMNH) new exhibition, "Dig it! The Secrets of Soil," opening July 19, 2008.

The 5,000-square-foot exhibition will reveal the complex world of soil and how this ecosystem underfoot supports nearly every form of life on earth. Developed by the museum and supported by Founding Sponsor the Soil Science Society of America, "Dig It!" will include interactive displays, hands-on models, videos, and 54 soil monoliths representing soils from each U.S. state, territory and the District of Columbia.


more information

Opportunity for Study Tour in Denmark

6/5/2008

AgrowKnowledge and CCID (Community Colleges for International Development, Inc.; www.ccid.cc) invite you to join them in the international faculty and student exchange opportunities with Denmark, focused mainly on agriculture and farming. We are working with Dalum Agriculture College located in Odense, Denmark, to begin the exchange with a short (10-14 day) study tour/ professional development program for the college faculty and staff to be scheduled either in the fall 2008 or early spring 2009. This would be a great opportunity for faculty and staff in agriculture, food and natural resources (AFNR) to familiarize themselves with the farming and agricultural systems in Denmark, which is one of the largest hog producers in the world, as well as famous for its nationwide use of renewable energy (including biological sources).


more information

AgrowKnowledge 2008 Photo Contest Starts "The Future of Agriculture" - Cash Prizes Awarded $50 to $150!

5/1/2008

AgrowKnowledge’s 2nd Annual Photo Contest starts accepting photo submissions on May 1st. The purpose of this photo contest is to select 12 photos that will be featured in our 2009 AgrowKnowledge calendar. The photos will also provide educators and students with a wide range of photography free of charge that otherwise may not be readily available for use. These images will be available through the AgrowKnowledge website (free registration required to access images) and allow photographers to showcase their work. The topic for the photo contest is “The Future of Agriculture” Participants can to submit up to ten photos illustrating what they think best represents “The Future of Agriculture."

http://www.agrowknow.org/photo/


more information

Registration for AgrowKnowledge National Faculty Development Workshop Open!

5/1/2008
http://www.agrowknow.org/Workshops/WorkshopMain.php?CID=19

The first of AgrowKnowledge’s nationally recognized 2008 Faculty Development Workshops is now open for registration. June 16th - 17th, 2008, (just prior to the NAAE Region III Conference) in La Crosse, WI.  Participants will receive an overview of entrepreneurship including innovation and creativity, opportunity recognition/idea evaluation, marketing/market research, finance, and business operations as they relate to agriculture.

more information

Iowa State, ConocoPhillips and National Renewable Energy Lab to Cooperate on Biofuels Research

4/17/2008

Iowa State, ConocoPhillips and the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory have reached a Memorandum of Understanding to identify promising cellulosic biomass conversion technologies.

To find out more go to the website by clicking on "More"

more information

Breaking News on AgrowKnowledge Conference Scholarships

4/10/2008

Due to a software glitch on our website, scholarship applications for travel costs to attend the AgrowKnowledge National Conference – “Case Study: Agriculture, Merging Math, Science and Technology,” May 29-30, 2008 were lost. We apologize for the inconvenience.

If you applied before April 9, 2008 please resubmit your application. If you have not yet applied, please apply now here. The new deadline is April 30th.


more information

Request for Proposals: Funded Opportunity to Develop a Three-credit Introduction to Biofuels College Course

4/7/2008

AgrowKnowledge seeks proposals from individuals interested in developing an online, three-credit introduction to biofuels, a semester- long, college- level (100 to 200) course. The course will include: a syllabus with learning objectives (competencies), topical outline and assessment methods; lesson plans and class activities for 60 hours of instruction (classroom and laboratory); PowerPoint presentations; readings (URLs for readings on websites or PDFs) for each topic in the outline; discussion topics; assignments; case studies; quizzes and tests. Content of the course should reflect the current knowledge of the production and future of biofuels.


more information

2009 International Farm Management Congress

3/19/2008

“Agriculture: Food, Fiber and Energy for the Future" has been selected as the theme for the International Farm Management Congress.

Agriculture in the United States, and for sure in other regions of the world, has always had a focus on food and fiber. Now, as corn and other biomass crops are being used for the production of ethanol, and soy oil is becoming a greater factor in the production of diesel fuel.

 

A good deal of the program during the 2009 Congress will address the elements of the theme. There will be a great many academic papers presented and the subjects of those presentations will springboard off the food, fiber and energy for the future.


more information

Alternative Energy and Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education

3/10/2008

Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) just completed (Feb. 2008) a 20-page bulletin "Clean Energy Farming: Cutting Costs, Improving Efficiencies, Harnessing Renewables." See http://www.sare.org/publications/energy.htm for the full-text pdf.

SARE’s approach in the bulletin was to address several aspects of energy use and generation on the farm, including improving efficiency, farming practices to reduce energy use, generating energy on the farm, and growing feedstocks. The bulleting contains a glossary (page 19) that distinguishes between biodiesel, biofuel, bioenergy, etc., and a full page of links to additional information (page. 20).


more information

Technology, AgrowKnowledge and CSI Featured on Local TV

3/4/2008

Jim Wilson, AgrowKnowledge member and instructor at the College of Southern Idaho (CSI) was featured in a news story on the local TV (Channel 11, KMVT) March 3, 2008. AgrowKnowledge and John Deere are also mentioned. Here is the text from the story:

“Today is the first day of a special Agricultural Technology Training course at the College of Southern Idaho.

Thanks to groups like AgrowKnowledge, John Deere and the College of Southern Idaho, local farmers can be trained in how global positioning systems can change fieldwork.



more information

Conference Scholarship Applications due April 14

3/3/2008

Apply for a scholarship towards the travel costs of attending the AgrowKnowledge National Conference – “Case Study: Agriculture, Merging Math, Science and Technology,” May 29-30, 2008

Click here to complete and submit your application.


more information

California Transforms Sewage into Drinking Water

2/8/2008
A new facility daily transforms 70 million gallons of treated sewage into drinking water for 2.3 million residents of coastal, central and northern Orange County. To water-starved Californians it is a benefit. The $490 million facility, which covers 20 acres, provides Orange County with a reliable source of locally controlled water that will help make the county drought-proof and stabilize the water supply. Once the system is at full capacity, officials say it will be able to reclaim 130 million gallons of water daily.
more information

Agriculture and Carbon Credits

2/7/2008

The Idea: Individuals can neutralize the rest of their pollution—through offsets or carbon credits. When individuals buy offsets, they essentially pay someone to reduce or remove global warming pollution in their name. For example, when an individual buys 10 tons of carbon offsets, the seller guarantees that 10 fewer tons of global warming pollution (carbon dioxide, methane) go into the atmosphere. While the pollution the individual produces is the same, the individual gets the credit for that 10-ton reduction.

Agriculture and Carbon Credits: Farmers Union’s Carbon Credit Program allows ag producers and landowners to earn income by storing carbon in their soil through no-till crop production, conversion of cropland to grass, sustainable management of native rangelands and tree plantings on previously non-forested or degraded land. In addition, the capture of methane from anaerobic manure digester systems can also earn carbon credits. Farmers Union has earned approval from the Chicago Climate Exchange to aggregate carbon offsets (carbon credits) and sell them on behalf of producers. National Farmers Union’s Carbon Credit Program earned more than $2.5 million for producers in its first year of operation.


more information

Job Training for the Energy Industry

2/7/2008
The U.S. Department of Labor requests proposals for High-Growth Job Training Initiative Grants for the Energy Industry and Construction and Skilled Trades in the Energy Industry. Through this initiative, DOL seeks the implementation and replication of high-impact, industry- driven training solutions that address identified workforce challenges in the energy industry or in the construction and skilled trade occupations that support the energy industry.  Each solution must take place in the context of a regional talent development strategy designed to contribute to a strong regional economy.  $10 million expected to be available, individual awards NTE $1 million each. Responses due 3/25/08.
more information

Free Online: Renewable Fuels: Challenges and Opportunities in 2008

2/5/2008

FREE ONLINE SEMINAR FEBRUARY 21 at 2:30 PM CST.

DTN Refined Fuels Editor Brian Milne and DTN Trading Markets Product Manager Michael Browne will discuss strategies to manage these challenges:

• Assessing the impact of the new renewable fuels standard 

• Overbuilding ethanol production capacity

• Spiking commodity prices driving input costs higher

• Progress in addressing continuing logistical issues

• How soaring energy prices drive demand for renewable fuels

Register for this free seminar click HERE



more information

SkillsUSA Geospatial Technology Competition

1/31/2008

SkillsUSA instituted a college/postsecondary-only contest in Geospatial Technology in 2005.  The Third Geospatial contest will be held at the 2008 SkillsUSA Championships in downtown Kansas City, Missouri  June 23 -June 27, 2008.  College/postsecondary students studying GIS, RS and GPS from across the United States will be invited to compete.

Who qualifies?  All registered US College or US University GIS students.

How do I sign up for this contest?  First, you must register for the contest on line @ www.digitalquest.com/SkillsUSA08 .  Registration opens Feb. 15, 2008.
more information

Garmin Enters the Cell Phone Market

1/31/2008

GPS maker Garmin unexpectedly announced the nuviphone late on January 30, 2008, which combines a cell phone with GPS technology -- or, in Garmin's case, vice versa.

As of now, the nuviphone is a phone in search of a carrier. No partnerships were announced. Users should expect it in the third quarter of 2008 at an undisclosed price.


more information

Biotechnology Provides Alternative Energy Source

1/23/2008

Scientists have genetically engineered E. coli that is highly efficient in producing butanol, a promising new type of biofuel. This new technology could speed up the development of butanol biofuels into a cost-effective alternative to ethanol.

Butanol has many attractive properties. Because butanol packs more energy per gallon than ethanol does, cars running on butanol get better mileage. And, unlike ethanol, it doesn't mix with water, so it can be shipped in existing petroleum pipelines without causing problems.


more information

NCSR Professional Development Opportunity

1/22/2008

The Northwest Center for Sustainable Resources (NCSR) will conduct a professional development institute July 13 – 18, 2008 –“The Impact of Land Use Change on Environmental Quality.” The institute will be held at Chemeketa Community College in Salem, Oregon. It will feature laboratory and field activities designed to facilitate 2 and 4-year faculty adaptation of NCSR curriculum materials to their natural resource programs and ecosystem-based support courses. Attendance will be limited to 20 participants so early application is advised. NCSR will provide all materials, lodging, most meals and a $600 stipend as part of the Institute.


more information

Apply Now – Deadline February 15

1/10/2008

The Integrated Geospatial Education Technology and Training (iGETT) project offers two-year college faculty professional development opportunities that will enhance existing Geographic Information Systems (GIS) programs by integrating remote sensing and Global Positioning System (GPS) data in ways that support workforce needs.

Make application now for the 2008 opportunity by going to this website: http://igett.delmar.edu/


more information

Opportunity with CORD

1/10/2008

Ag instructors are needed to assist with curriculum design and development tasks. $2500 will be provided to instructors to assist in compiling and reviewing various curriculum materials. If you need or like to review new curriculum materials, here's your chance to get paid for it!! Anyone that feels they would be a good candidate for the project can go to the STEM Transitions webpage (www.stemtransitions.org). Instructors will be selected in each of the career cluster areas.


more information

Industry Council Meeting

12/12/2007
Notes from Industry Council Meeting held December 6th and 7th in Cedar Rapids.

more information

Welcome members

12/7/2007
This is a short message

more information

AgrowKnowledge Photo Contest Winners Announced

12/3/2007
Congratulations to all the participants and winners of AgrowKnowledge’s First Annual Photo Contest.  Over 300 photos by 53 photographers were submitted to the contest, with the final photos being chosen by the staff at AgrowKnowledge. The winning photos can be found on AgrowKnowledge’s website http://www.agrowknow.org/Photos.php. This year's photo contest's theme was "What is Agriculture."
more information

Geospatial Go to Meeting

11/29/2007
Go to Meeting for Geospatial Resource Team Members, 2:30 ct., November 29
more information

Agricultural Biotechnology Curriculum Development

11/6/2007


more information

President Bush to nominate Edward T. Schafer as USDA Secretary

11/1/2007

On October 31, 2007 President Bush announced his intention to nominate Edward T. Schafer to serve as the next U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. The grandson of Danish immigrants who farmed throughout their lives, Governor Schafer gained extensive experience with the agriculture industry during two terms as North Dakota's governor. Agriculture is North Dakota's leading industry. According to the North Dakota Agriculture Department, nearly 24 percent of North Dakota workers are farmers and ranchers or are employed in farm-related jobs.
more information

Impact and Progress

10/31/2007

Sometime we need to spend a little time reflecting, and that is exactly what we did as we prepared to submit our proposal to the NSF for AgrowKnowledge to become a resource center. While Deb Klopp analyzed the data from our past workshops, annual conferences and technology grants, she came up with some enlightening facts about the impact of AgrowKnowledge over the past seven years:

  • Total participation in AgrowKnowledge faculty development workshops, technology grants, planning institutes and annual conferences exceeds 1,541 individuals representing 122 two-year colleges, 203 high schools, 38 universities and 16 middle/elementary schools. Participants have come from 41 states, the Ukraine and Canada. Additionally, students have actively participated in AgrowKnowledge planning institutes and conferences.
  • Faculty development workshops have a high (more than 90 percent) rate of satisfaction. Partner colleges have hosted 28 workshops in 12 states with a total of 561 instructor-participants from 38 states. Of these participants, 58 percent came from postsecondary institutions and 33 percent came from high schools. Interestingly, only 23 percent of the workshop participants were from partner colleges. If you consider each of these instructors teaching two sections of their discipline with 25 students in each class, they potentially impacted 28,050 with some of the workshop content.
  • Since 2002, AgrowKnowledge technology grants funded 52 initiatives at 19 colleges. These technology grants allow colleges to explore new ways of enhancing their curriculum with math, science and technology.

more information

AgrowKnowledge Photo Contest

9/18/2007

AgrowKnowledge is now running its first annual photo contest. The purpose of this photo contest is to select 13 photos that will be featured in our 2008 AgrowKnowledge calendar. The photos will also provide educators and students with a wide range of photography free of charge that otherwise may not be readily available for use. These images will be available through the AgrowKnowledge website (free registration required to access images) and allow photographers to showcase their work. The topic for the photo contest is “What is Agriculture?” Participants can to submit up to ten photos illustrating what they think best represents the “new” agriculture.

Read more about the photo contest at http://www.agrowknow.org/photo
more information

AgrowKnowledge Welcomes New Staff Member

8/16/2007

The AgrowKnowledge Center at Kirkwood Community College is pleased to welcome Josie Bosse. She officially started her position as Office Coordinator on August 16, 2007

Josie grew up in rural Arkansas City on a commercial cow/calf farm of about 150 head. After graduating from Arkansas City High School she started college at Emporia State University. She transferred to Kansas State University her sophomore year after realizing she wanted her degree to be agricultural based. She was very involved with K-State’s Block and Bridle chapter and also with National Agri-Marketers Association. While attending K-State she completed three internships. She was a Marketing Intern for Country Stampede, a Marketing/New Product Development Intern for Cattlesoft, Inc. and a Records Intern for Kansas Wheat Office.
more information

Father of the Green Revolution Honored

7/26/2007

Norman Borlaug, originally an Iowa farm boy, was awarded the Congressional Medal by President Bush on Tuesday, July 17, 2007 in the Capitol Rotunda. He is one of only five people in history to receive the Congressional Gold Medal, the Nobel Peace Prize, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The other individuals are Mother Teresa, Elie Wiesel, Martin Luther King, and Nelson Mandela.

Borlaug, known widely as the “Father of the Green Revolution” for his work on high-yield disease-resistant varieties of wheat, is credited with saving up to a billion lives. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970, and in 1986 founded the World Food Prize, an annual $250,000 award to individuals whose work increases the quality, quantity, or availability of food in the world.


more information

What is Leadership?

7/3/2007

For years, I had a sign in my office that said, “Do something. Lead, follow or get out of the way.” As I look back now, that sign reminds me of four traits of leadership. First, good leaders are good followers. They understand the need to support the leader. Second, people recognize leaders. Even though they cannot quantify leadership characteristics they know it when they see it. (Sort of like my former English teacher. He could not tell me what was wrong with a paper I had written, but he told me that when I got it right he would recognize it!) Third, leaders will always have those who either need to “get with the program” or step aside. Fourth, leadership is active. Leaders do things.

Leadership means having a vision - a vivid, imaginative conception or anticipation, the act or power of anticipating that which will or may come to be. With a clear vision of what is to be, leaders push forward to make the vision reality. After nearly 35 years, I can still remember a speech that I heard Bill Lear give during a college seminar. He told us of the night in his home when he reorganized the kitchen chairs in their living room to create the vision of a small corporate/business jet. With his ability to share that vision with others, he successfully led the development of the LearJet.

 

Are leaders born or developed? We hear things like “born to lead,” or “natural born leader.” To some extent leadership probably has some genetic basis. But like so many of the genetic traits, the environment also plays a tremendous role in fulfilling a genetic potential. Leadership can be learned or developed just like we can learn a technical skill or a talent. Many organizations promote leadership development and identify the traits of leadership that can be learned. A quick Google of the World Wide Web leads to this conclusion. The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) developed some leadership competencies. (Anyone familiar with technical education should recognize the use of competencies to develop skills.) Briefly, the AACC identifies five competencies include:


more information

Celebrating Six Years

6/1/2007


This is the six year anniversary of AgrowKnowledge – the national center for agriscience and technology education. AgrowKnowledge moves toward a common vision by concentrating on three key strategies:

1. Curriculum development
2.  Faculty development
3.  Capacity building
 

The Vision:

Forging partnerships to educate and prepare workforce-ready graduates to use emerging technologies for businesses and industries in agriculture, food, and natural resources (AFNR)



more information

What is a National Resource Center?

5/23/2007
 
A national resource center is an organization that has shown an ability to provide resources and support to community colleges in a specific discipline. AgrowKnowledge has been a National Center of Excellence for almost six years. Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) with $6 million, almost $700,000 in financial and in-kind support from industry, and an incalculable amount of support from educational partners, the center has become recognizable for supporting agriculture technology on a national basis. Strategies to develop faculty skills, provide curricular resources, and build capacity of schools to provide a seamless education for their students are the core of the Center’s success..
 
So with all of these activities, has AgrowKnowledge made an impact?  We can show that many teachers have additional skills to teach science, math, biotechnology and geospatial technologies. There is a model program of study and plans of study to guide teachers and colleges to build rigorous programs and to help students plan for a career in agriculture. We are helping to build a seamless education system through our planning institutes and assistance with development of Agricultural, Food and Natural Resources knowledge and skill statements.  The clearinghouse is becoming a dependable resource for sharing and distributing instructional materials. But is this impact? What difference have we made on the science, math and technology skills of students? Are business and industry satisfied with the technological quality of the graduates they are hiring because of AgrowKnowledge? These are ultimate outcomes that we need to answer and that we are striving to evaluate and prove.

more information

CHS FOUNDATION AWARDS 50 SCHOLARSHIPS

5/9/2007

ST. PAUL, MINN. (May 7, 2007) — Fifty agricultural students recently received scholarships from the CHS Foundation’s expanded Two-Year College Scholarship Program. The CHS Foundation is the major giving entity of CHS Inc., a leading energy and grain-based foods company with a stewardship focus on building vibrant communities.  
 
“This is an impressive roster of promising agricultural students from some of America’s top two-year schools,” says William J. Nelson, CHS Foundation president. “The CHS Foundation is proud to help educate and train tomorrow’s producers, scientists, teachers, agronomists and agribusiness leaders.”
 
An independent, external committee selected recipients based on essays, transcripts and reference letters. Under the expanded Two-Year College Scholarship Program, awards were increased to $750 and are applied toward students’ second-year costs. Also new this year, CHS Foundation scholarship winners will have increased connections to valuable opportunities such as internships, professional or leadership development programs, career openings and international experiences.

more information

Wisconsin Technical College System - Vision 2020 Planning Institute

5/16/2007
During the spring 2005, Wisconsin was invited to participate in the AgrowKnowledge Vision 2020 Planning Institute at Vincennes University. Based on that experience and in consultation with leaders with the National Center-AgrowKnowledge and Vision 2020 national project specialist Dr. Curt Shumaker, planning was undertaken to involve the technical colleges, universities and secondary schools in Wisconsin toward the objective of articulation planning in agriculture, food and natural resources systems education. 
 
The principal point of contact for Wisconsin has been provided by the Wisconsin Technical College System. Beginning with the WAAE (Wisconsin Association of Agricultural Educators) annual summer conference in June 2005, face to face consultation and planning occurred between and among technical college agriculture and natural resources program coordinators, high school instructors and agricultural teacher educators from the University of Wisconsin (three institutions-River Falls, Platteville and Madison). 
 
In mid-December 2005, two day-long Institutes were conducted, one in north central Wisconsin (December 13th, at North Central Technical College-Wausau) and another in southern Wisconsin (December 15th,) at Blackhawk Technical College-Janesville). AgrowKnowledge staff, a faculty member from Iowa State University and a guest from North Dakota participated in one or both events. Altogether there were over 100 persons in attendance including teachers from over 30 high schools, eleven technical colleges, five campuses of the University of Wisconsin, and a number of industry representatives.
 
The strategy for follow-up for this Vision 2020 Articulation Planning Institute process was developed around six scenarios: careers in agriculture, science in agriculture, natural resources, agribusiness and production agriculture, and veterinary technology. Members of the discussion groups in each location had developed conceptual and practical follow-up strategies to achieve their vision of seamless career preparation toward their vision of the year 2020. 
 
James L. Gibson, Ph.D., Education Director,
Agriculture and Natural Resources

more information

College of Southern Idaho Partner Host Two Workshops

5/1/2007

Through our partnership with AgrowKnowledge, College of Southern Idaho (CSI) will host two faculty development workshops this summer. The first is a regional GPS and GIS workshop for Idaho high school agriculture instructors. This workshop was at the request of several area high school instructors to gain more knowledge of GPS and GIS which is one of the things AgrowKnowledge does so well.

The dates for the workshop are July 12 and 13, 2007 here on our campus in Twin Falls. AgrowKnowledge’s principal investigator, Terry Brase, will be in Idaho to conduct the training and at the same time provide instruction for  faculty to become certified trainers.  The University of Idaho (U of I) holds a teacher in-service and this training will take place during the last two days of their workshops.  The U of I AEE department is helping with finances and registrations.
 
In July, CSI is hosting a Math and Science AgrowKnowledge faculty development workshop on the fertilizer industry. The dates for this workshop are July 25-27.  I thought this was a great opportunity to showcase the Idaho Phosphate industry and all the math and science that goes into the making of fertilizer. The workshop will be held in Pocatello, Idaho with travel to a mine and tours through several processing plants. Pocatello is over 100 miles from our campus and a good effort has been made in schedule all the phases of the workshop. Dr. Ross Spackman has been a great asset in assisting with planning. He is teaching the Texas Instrument calculator section the first day and has helped get speakers and tours scheduled. Please join us in July. The area of Idaho we will visit is beautiful.
 
Jim Wilson, Partner
College of Southern Idaho

more information

FFA Collegiate Inter Position Available

4/24/2007

The National FFA is seeking applications from qualified individuals interested in a 6 month internship at the National FFA Center in Indianapolis, IN. The position will start no later than June 11, 2007 and end no later than Dec 14, 2007. The National FFA Collegiate Programs will use this position to promote opportunities and develop relationships from across the country through activities and events on college campuses. The primary responsibility for this position would be to organize and facilitate five collegiate tailgates at college football games in strategic locations. They would promote programming and integrate the sponsor into all activities at the events. This position would also provide trainings and attend collegiate events throughout their time on staff. This position would assist in collegiate convention activities at the National FFA Convention in October.
 
Education/Experience Requirements
 
Education:
Enrollment in post-secondary studies preferred
 
Experience:
Knowledge of agricultural education and Collegiate Agricultural Organizations are important State or National experience preferred
 
Travel
30% Travel required, including weekend travel
 

more information

Celebrate Agriculture

3/13/2007

Celebrate National Agriculture Day!
 
National Agriculture Day activities will begin next week (March 18 through 24). The purpose of this national celebration is to honor agriculture for providing safe, abundant, and affordable products; a strong economy; a source of renewable energy; and a world of job opportunities.
 
The Agriculture Council of America (ACA) provides this spotlight on the agriculture, food, and fiber industry on March 20th, the first day of spring (National Ag Day), to help consumers understand not only how food and fiber products are produced, but to celebrate accomplishments in providing safe, abundant, and affordable products.
 
As part of this annual event, the ACA hosts an essay contest for 7th through 12th grade students. The students are invited to submit an original essay of 450 words on the importance of U.S. agriculture. This year's theme was "American Agriculture in 2025."
 
More information on Ag Day/Week activities is available at http://www.agday.org/
 
Share some interesting facts about American agriculture from the Ag Day website. Read on.

more information

Scholarships Available

3/7/2007

Five Grant Recipients Will Learn the Latest GIS Technology at the 2007 ESRI Education User Conference
 
Redlands, California—ESRI and Tele Atlas, a leading global provider of digital map data and dynamic content for navigation and location-based solutions, are teaming up to provide five educators from the United States and Canada with a trip to the 2007 ESRI Education User Conference (EdUC). Through the scholarship program, Tele Atlas will present recipients with $400 toward travel costs and ESRI will provide complimentary admission to the conference in San Diego, California, June 16–19, 2007.
 
To apply for a scholarship, please visit www.esri.com/educ for guidelines and instructions. All applications must be received by March 23, 2007. For more information about the ESRI EdUC, please visit www.esri.com/educ.

more information

2007 Faculty Development Workshops

3/27/2007

Register Now!

AgrowKnowledge’s highlight each summer is the opportunity for educators to upgrade their teaching methods and technology skills by attending one of our Faculty Development Workshops. Summer workshops are essential in the quickly evolving fields of biotechnology, renewable energy and precision agriculture methods. These and other cutting-edge knowledge and skills are needed in our modern Ag economy and crucial to educators preparing students of our nation's economic future. You should be a part of the future!
 
We are inviting you to take part in the AgrowKnowledge 2007 Faculty Development Workshops. From California to Iowa, Idaho to Oklahoma, creative and energetic educators will share ideas and best practices with industry professionals to impact the future course of agricultural education at the high school, community college and university levels.
 
When the worlds of education and industry change rapidly, successful educators adapt their instruction to incorporate the latest science, math, and technology tools. AgrowKnowledge is leading the way with a series of innovative summer workshops. AgrowKnowledge invites you to share innovative ideas and the ability to network with your peers and industry partners. Register now for one of our Faculty Development Workshops!
 
To register and obtain more details for our summer Faculty Development Workshops. Visit us online at www.agrowknow.org
 
The five workshops offered include:
  •  Bio-Link National Fellows Program; University of California, Berkeley, CA, June 4 – 8   

  • Biotechnology Level I; Redlands Community College, El Reno, OK, June 13 - 15

  • Tying Entrepreneurship Skills to Math, Science, Technology & Agriculture;  University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, June 27 - 29, 2007

  •  Alternative/Renewable Energy; Parkland College, Champaign, IL, July 18 - 20

  • Math, Chemistry & Geology of Phosphorus Fertilizer Production; College of Southern Idaho-Twin Falls, ID, July 25 – 27
more information

International Opportunity

2/15/2007
International Travel Opportunity for Students
 
Collegiate FFA programs will sponsor an international program and travel experience to Morocco and Egypt through generous funding provided by the U.S. Grains Foundation.
 
When and where are we going? The trip will take place in mid to late May of 2007. The expected departure is around May 18, and will return 12-14 days after that. Please allow for two to three day flexibility on the dates. We will travel to Morocco and Egypt during our time abroad.
 
How much will it cost? Currently, we are gathering information for the itinerary and program specifics. At this time we do not have an “official” trip cost. Estimates for this type of trip range between $3,000-4,000. A $2,000 scholarship will be provided to each of the selected student participants.
 
Why? The U.S. Grains Council and Foundation seek to build global markets for American grains. It is their wish to provide this opportunity for collegiate students to learn about how the global marketplace affects American agriculture. Students interested in pursuing international agriculture as careers are preferred.

more information

Scholarships Available

2/2/2007
CHS Foundation Expands Two-Year College Scholarship Program
 
ST. PAUL, MINN. — First-year agricultural students at two-year colleges are invited to apply for 50 $750 scholarships from the CHS Foundation, which recently expanded its Two-Year College Scholarship Program to provide greater financial assistance to more students. The CHS Foundation is the major giving entity of CHS Inc., a leading energy and grain-based foods company with a stewardship focus on building vibrant communities.
 
Scholarship amounts have been increased to $750. Students must apply before March 1 during their first year of study; funds will go toward to their second-year costs. An independent, external committee will select scholarship recipients based on essays, transcripts and reference letters. Students should visit www.chsfoundation.org for application forms and full details.
 
“Many leaders in agribusiness, cooperatives and production agriculture receive excellent early training from our nation’s fine two-year educational institutions,” says William J. Nelson, CHS Foundation president. “We’re proud to expand this scholarship program and help plant seeds for a strong future.”

more information

Change is happening.

1/9/2007
Change is here at AgrowKnowledge: Partner Leadership Training – July 8, 9, and 10, 2007

A major uniqueness of AgrowKnowledge resides in the concept of partnerships. Looking toward the sustainability of AgrowKnowledge we must carefully consider activities that make us unique. Many organizations offer annual conferences that cover topics similar to the AgrowKnowledge annual conference; for example in the area of teaching and education NAAE, ACTE, AAAE, and NACTA all hold annual conferences. Additionally, many conferences are available on specific technologies. (Check out the calendar on the AgrowKnowledge website for the dates and locations of many of these conferences.)

With these factors in mind we have determined to replace the annual conference with a Partner Leadership Training meeting. The intent of this training is to build self-sustaining partnerships. This will be a first class training event that will provide each partner with new tools and concepts to take a leadership role in enhancing math, science and technology in agriculture, food and natural resources programs, and in providing a quality workforce at the two-year college level.

This year’s Partner Leadership Training will be held July 8, 9 and 10 in Springfield, IL (same as the original time scheduled for the annual conference). Here is a tentative schedule:

more information

Did You Know

1/5/2007

Vigortone Ag Products provided financial support for substitute teachers for the secondary educators who attended the recent Iowa Planning Institute. This support was essential for the secondary educators to be able to attend and participate. See article on Iowa Planning Institute.
 
By Joining the AgrowKnowledge discussion group you can receive “news you can use,” and have access to useful files such as an AgrowKnowledge poster and a collection of photographs. Join the AgrowKnowledge news group by sending an email to: agrowknowledge-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
Then respond to a follow up email and you will be all set.
 
Join the AgrowKnowledge news group by sending an email to:
Agrowknowledge-suscribe@yahoogroups.com.
 
AgrowKnowledge scheduled three faculty development workshops for 2007:
 
June 27 to 29: Tying Entrepreneurship Skills to Math, Science, Technology and Agriculture; Pappajohn Business Center, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA.
July 18 to 20: Alternative Energy; Parkland College, Champaign, IL
July 25 to 27: Math, Chemistry and Geology of Phosphorus Fertilizer Production; College of Southern Idaho, Twin Falls, ID
 
Watch the website for details.

more information

Happy New Year

12/30/2006

Soon we will be in a month named after the Roman god Janus, an appropriate personification of the start of the New Year. This particular Roman god had two faces so that he could look ahead toward the future and back at the past at the same time. As we get leave an old year and look forward to a new one, we all try to be a little like Janus. We know through experience what we did wrong and what we did right, and hope to do better this year. Some people make ambitious New Year’s resolutions; others just take a deep breath and hope for the best.…
 
From the Staff at the AgrowKnowledge Center, here is to our best in the coming year.
 
Other thoughts on the New Year

more information

Holiday Season

12/8/2006


We all have memories we rely on to help us capture the spirit of the Season. Memories, images and visions that remind us the feelings of the Season are not something bought in a store.
 
It's our hope you make the effort at this special time of year to remember the special people that have meaning to you and, in so doing, rediscover the magic that makes the Season so special. Finally, it's our hope you'll commit to creating a few similar memories for those you love.
 
Happy Holidays from the AgrowKnowledge Center Staff in Cedar Rapids, Iowa
 

more information

AgrowKnowledge and John Deere Precision-Ag Instructors Report

11/29/2006
 
“John Deere Training is taking a page from the university approach as they welcomed two visiting instructors this summer. Jon Farquharson, Blue Mountain College in Pendleton, Oregon, and Gaines (Buddy) Miles, Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, had temporarily joined the John Deere Training staff – an arrangement that was facilitated by John Deere’s relationship with AgrowKnowledge™”. You can read the article at www.agrowknow.org/about/news/NewsletterDisplay.asp?MsgID=84
 
The internships were completed over the summer and the following are excerpts from the reports of the two participants:
 
Gaines (Buddy) Miles, Purdue University
The primary purpose of this internship was to enhance my knowledge of John Deere AMS (Agricultural Management Solutions) technologies, experience distance learning from a student’s perspective, and learn to make live presentations via the WWW. This was accomplished through web-based training from John Deere University, classroom and experiential learning at Deere facilities, personal study, opportunities to teach farmers/customers, and a limited amount of direct one-on-one instruction.
 

more information

Notes from the Director

11/13/2006
 
Last spring we asked students at Partner colleges to apply for scholarships provided by AgrowKnowledge and Pioneer. We received 65 applications for these scholarships. As one of the individuals assigned to score the scholarships I made some interesting observations.
 
The application required the students to write a short essay addressing educational and career plans, emerging technologies and the agricultural technologies of now and the future. This seemed to be appropriate topics since AgrowKnowledge focuses on emerging technologies.
 
Most of the students described their educational and career plans with a frame of reference that reflected the thinking of students from 20 or more years in the past. Very few of the applicants saw any new careers in agriculture as a result of emerging and changing technologies in agriculture. For example the applicants made comments like:
 
“I plan to return to the family farm and help my father. I will also have a secondary job possibly with an insurance company.”
 
“I hope to manage the family farm.”
 
“My plans are to move back to my home state, start a custom feeding operation and raise rodeo stock.”
 
“I will find a successful career in the agribusiness industry.”
 
“My parents work separate jobs to support the ranch. I plan to help when I graduate.”
 
“I will take over the dairy farm and use all the new technology.”
 
“I plan to be truck driver and help by hauling the grain from our farm to market.”
 
“When I graduate I will find a job in agriculture that suits me.”
 
Too many students indicated in their essay that farming also included holding another job!

more information

Defining Ag Career and Iowa Planning Institute Meetings

11/6/2006
November 8, 2006
Emerging technologies such as geospatial, biotechnology, and information technology have resulted in many new, emerging, and changing careers in agriculture, most of which are undefined.  Defining an emerging career means to identify it as a current or future need within the agriculture industry.  In addition the technical skills, fundamental science and math knowledge, and the advanced technology skills needed by employees will be broadly identified. 

Industry and education must work together to identify and define these new careers.  As a national center which focuses on agriculture, technicians, science & mathematics, technology and working with industry, it becomes the responsibility of AgrowKnowledge to start this initiative. The Defining Emerging Ag Careers is designed to build a list of emerging careers and identify the skill sets needed by technicians and specialists so colleges can adapt their curriculum to meet this need.
 
The process used for “Defining Emerging Agriculture Careers” (DEAC) is based on gathering information from industry representatives that have a broad overview of emerging careers.  Organizing the DEAC with educators allows communication on a consensus for goals of an effective educational system. 
 
Vision 2020-November 9, 2006
The one-day Vision 2020 Planning Institute is designed for site partnership team members of all levels of education and industry who are interested in developing strategies to: 1) improve the academic and technical performance of students at the high school and postsecondary level; and 2) ease the transition of students from high school to postsecondary education and on to successful careers. 

By improving academic and technical performance and easing student transitions, we help ensure an adequate pipeline of highly qualified individuals for employers in the Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources industry.

more information

News You Can Use Version 2

10/25/2006
This post contains a variety of useful information –news you can use. First off is the AgrowKnowledge Yahoo! Group. For more news you can use join the AgrowKnowledge Yahoo! Group.
 
Here are the details:
 
To subscribe to the news group send an email to: agrowknowledge-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
 
To send an email to the group send to: agrowknowledge@yahoogroups.com
 
Post messages, discussions and share information that can be useful to everyone. Join today! Items in the Yahoo Group will be similar to what you find in this posting on the AgrowKnowledge website.
 
For additional information go to the group home page: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/agrowknowledge
 
 
Other Items in this post include:
·         Sources of Free Lesson Plans and Labs
·         2007 RFA for Secondary and 2-Year Postsecondary Ag Ed Challenge Grants
·         New Book for PrecisionAg
·         Manpower, Inc White Papers
 

more information

Notes from the Washington, DC Summit

10/4/2006

The AgrowKnowledge team of Rick Parker, Carey Kopay, Esther Worker, and Shah Rahnema completed their first day at the “Leadership Summit to Effect Change in Teaching and Learning” on October 3. The Summit is being held at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC. Over 300 invited participants from colleges, universities, societies, organizations and industry are involved in the Summit. The discussions for the first day sought to answer these questions as we look to the future of agriculture:

more information

AgrowKnowledge Team Chosen for National Summit

9/8/2006
October Summit to Help “Define the Future of Undergraduate Education in Agriculture”
 
A team of four individuals from AgrowKnowledge, the National Center for Agriscience Education have been selected to participate in the National Academies “Leadership Summit to Effect Change in Teaching and Learning," October. 3 to 5 in Washington, DC. Members of the AgrowKnowledge summit team include:
  • Rick Parker, AgrowKnowledge Co-Principal Investigator and Director;
  • Shah Rahnema, AgrowKnowledge Partner and Chair at Ohio State University – ATI, Wooster, Ohio;
  • Carey Kopay, AgrowKnowledge University Council and Assistant Director, University of California -Davis Biotechnology Program; and
  • Esther Worker, AgrowKnowledge Industry Council, and Technical Educator, ESRI, Broomfield, Colorado.
          
Top, Shah; bottom left to right Carey and Esther


more information

Attaining Sustainability

8/30/2006
  
I’ve used the growth of an oak tree as an analogy to AgrowKnowledge. Adding to that analogy with another type of tree, we recognize that fruit trees that do not bear fruit are of little value and should be taken out of production. On the other hand, a productive fruit tree is recognized and sought after. For AgrowKnowledge, producing fruit is key to sustaining the center.
 
The fruit that AgrowKnowledge needs to produce is the resources that help instructors across the nation incorporate emerging technologies into their programs. Institutes and faculty development workshops are extremely successful. Clearinghouse and curriculum materials were developed, but this is where we need to further concentrate our energies if we are to attain sustainability.
 
Having a robust set of curriculum and instructional materials will have several favorable impacts for our center. It will draw educators to AgrowKnowledge to find needed resources. It will serve to leverage other financial resources to build additional resources. It will attract support from business and industry.
 
How do we build this robust set of curriculum? It is beyond the scope and ability of the AgrowKnowledge staff to write it all. We know that there are materials and resources that are already being used that can be shared. Submitting these materials to the clearinghouse is only a first step. Putting these materials into a format and structure that can be easily accessed by instructors is being developed. This will provide not only the resources but the accessibility to those resources that is needed by instructors.
 
I encourage you to take part in the growth of AgrowKnowledge and attaining sustainability by submitting material in the area of emerging technology to our website!
 
Terry Brase
Principal Investigator

more information

Programs of Study – A How To

8/22/2006
With the reauthorization of the “Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education (CTE) Improvement Act of 2006” new requirements for “programs of study” build on current initiatives to ensure that students have the academic and career and technical skills necessary to be successful in further education and careers, and can move seamlessly through the education continuum.
 
Did you know that the AgrowKnowledge web site Resource Clearinghouse has sample programs of study for the career clusters in agriculture, food and natural resources? Sample programs of study found in the Resource Clearinghouse on the AgrowKnowledge web site can be used to create your own.
 
Login to the AgrowKnowledge web site and check it out!
 
Click here to see the list of programs of study on the AgrowKnowledge web site.

more information

Free Webcast from ACTE on new Perkins Act

8/11/2006
Congress finally passed the reauthorization of the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act. The Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) is hosting a free webcast (August 15 at 11:00 a.m. EDT) to help career and technical educators understand the implications of the new law including key changes in store for local and state CTE programs and professionals. You are welcome to join the webcast. If you are not available to view the live webcast, it will be archived on the ACTE website for later viewing. From an ACTE news release here are the details.
 
The event will be moderated by ACTE president Bob Scarborough, and will be lead by Alisha Hyslop, ACTE’s assistant director of public policy, and Hans Meeder, former deputy assistant secretary of the federal Office of Vocational and Adult Education. Viewers will have an opportunity to submit questions before and during the Webcast.
 
The Webcast will be accessible from ACTE’s Website (http://www.acteonline.org/) on August 15th, and will be archived for those who are unavailable on the 15th.

more information

Senate approval of the “Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act of 2006”

7/27/2006
On July 26, 2006 on Capitol Hill the U.S. Senate voted to approve final reauthorization of the “Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act of 2006”.
 
The federal investment in high-quality career and technical education (CTE) is essential to meeting the needs of both specific employers and the economy as a whole as the nation’s education and workplace systems continue to evolve. This legislation sends an important message that career and technical education is critical to ensuring individuals have opportunities throughout their lifetimes to develop the knowledge and skills needed to keep the United States competitive. 
 
The current bill updates the terminology from “vocational education” to “career and technical education,” maintains state administrative funding at 5 percent of a state’s allocation, and maintains the Tech Prep program as a separate funding stream within the legislation.
 
Additionally, this bill reflects the positive changes being made and implemented in CTE programs across the country.  In particular, new requirements for “programs of study” build on current initiatives to ensure that students have the academic and career and technical skills necessary to be successful in further education and careers, and can move seamlessly through the education continuum. 

more information

Practical Remote Sensing Methods for Conservation Biologists

7/20/2006
Applications are now being accepted for a course entitled: Practical Remote Sensing Methods for Conservation Biologists. This course will be offered at the American Museum of Natural History's Southwestern Research Station located in the Chiricahua Mountains of southeastern Arizona from Monday 9 October to Friday 13 October 2006. The course will focus on the practical aspects of remote sensing with the goal of providing sufficient information so that participants will be able to download and display satellite imagery for their area of interest, learn to interpret the imagery by making the connection between abstract image information and the landscape, and use this information to support a range of conservation objectives. Participants will work with visual image products and an overview of the automated land cover classification process will be presented including an assessment of the advantages and drawbacks of these map products. The target audience is conservation researchers with little or no remote sensing experience.
 
For more information on this course and others taught through the American Museum of Natural History visit our web site http://geospatial.amnh.org.
 
The course involves a mix of lecture, computer lab applications, discussions, and field work. Each participant is encouraged to bring with them a project they would like to work on so lessons learned during the course can immediately be applied to a meaningful example. These projects can be discussed with the course organizers in advance to ensure they are appropriate. If participants do not have their own project one will be assigned to them during the course.
 

more information

News You Can Use

7/19/2006


The Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) is a good source of resources for science and technology. For example, CAST recently released a new Issue Paper, “Safety of Meat, Milk, and Eggs from Animals Fed Crops Derived from Modern Biotechnology.” This is the fifth in CAST’s nine-part series “Animal Agriculture’s Future through Biotechnology.” 
 
“The safety and availability of high-quality food and animal feedstuffs are critical to populations worldwide,” says Task Force Chair Professor Richard H. Phipps, School of Agriculture, Development and Policy, The University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom. “During the last decade the area of biotechnology-derived crops has increased dramatically from 4 to 90 million hectares/year, and crop varieties of corn, soybean, cotton, and canola are now widely used and are an important feedstuff in livestock production systems. It is essential, therefore, to consider the safety of meat, milk, and eggs obtained from animals fed crops derived from modern biotechnology.”
 
Written and evaluated by a Task Force of international scientists—from the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States, and Brazil—this timely CAST Issue Paper has the following objectives:
1.       To provide an overview of regulatory assessments of biotechnology-derived crops; and
2.       To summarize the empirical data generated for assessing the safety of meat, milk, and eggs from animals fed biotechnology-derived crops that express agronomic input traits.

more information

News from the Center

7/10/2006
 AgrowKnowledge received a renewal of the NSF grant until June 30, 2007. Looking back, other positives the last six months include: the successful 5th Annual Conference combined with a Partner Meeting and an NVC meeting, student scholarships provided, mini-grant RFPs and proposal submissions, three filled faculty development workshops, one additional workshop held in partnership with Bio-Link, presentation and attendance at NAAE, National PAS, and NACTA meetings, meeting with John Deere representatives on AMS technician training and future funding for technology grants and faculty development workshops, addition of conference materials to website, RSS on website, and investment and impact reports on all faculty development workshops and last year’s mini-grants.

Our successes of the past and some of our past misses chart the future. While we have accomplished much, much remains to be done. Besides the strategic plan for the next year, AgrowKnowledge must have a business plan to guide it into some type of a sustainable model over the next two years. Included in the plan should be items that will develop new partnerships, maintain partnerships and enhance the role and recognition of AgrowKnowledge as a national center. Continued involvement of our current partners will be vital to maintain and improve the quality of our annual conference, faculty development workshops, and our website. AgrowKnowledge will need to provide a better evaluation tool to measure its impact on educators and to determine effectiveness at the student level. Other emerging technology areas need to be explored and incorporated; for example food processing technology, bio-energy, RFID, and natural resources. The AgrowKnowledge website benefited from some major changes over the years, and still needs to be a larger part of everything we do. Partner colleges need to contribute more to the website. The website should take a more central role in distributing training and curriculum, and in connecting partners and individuals. For example the website will offer podcasting, short courses, webinars, and blogs.

Rick Parker
Co-PI and Director
rick.parker@agrowknow.org


more information

2006 Recipients of World Food Prize Announced

6/16/2006
The recipients of the 2006 World Food Prize were announced June 15, 2006 at the U.S. State Department, featuring Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and founder of the World Food Prize Dr. Norman E. Borlaug and hosted by Hon. Josette Sheernan Shiner, Under Secretary of State for Economic, Business, and Agricultural Affairs. The three men who will share the 2006 World Food Prize are former Brazil Minister of Agriculture H. E. Alysson Paolinelli and former Technical Director of EMBRAPA Cerrado Research Center Mr. Edson Lobato, both of Brazil; and Washington representative of the International Research Institute, Dr. A. Colin McClung of the United States.


more information

Leadership

6/1/2006
Leadership in the Classroom of Life (used by permission)
By Brad J. Schloesser
The AG ED Council President
 
This article was published in the Monday Morning Monitor, May 22, 2006, and we thought it should receive additional exposure. The concept of leadership is critical to the role and mission of AgrowKnowledge. We appreciate Brad Schoesser giving us permission to use his article.
  
Leaders arrive constantly in each of our classrooms on a daily basis. Where do they originate? Do we recognize these individuals and understand what makes them leaders? Can you identify the mixture used to develop leaders? Can you assist in developing leaders who don’t know they are (leaders) yet?

more information

New Booklets Illustrate Investment and Impact

6/2/2006

A glance back helps us check our progress as we move forward. This month AgrowKnowledge produced two new booklets that allow us to take a look back at our accomplishments and plan our course ahead. Both booklets review our investment and impact. The first booklet, reviews the investment and impact of 17 faculty development workshops provided to 372 instructors in 34 different states. Each faculty development workshop is briefly described in the booklet. The second booklet describes the investment and impact of last year’s six mini-grant projects (now called technology grants).
more information

New and Emerging Technology

5/25/2006
Iowa State University Engineer Testifies Before Senate on Biorenewables
 
Iowa State University Professor Robert C. Brown took the message of his Office of Biorenewables Programs to Washington testifying before the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry that corn and soybeans alone won't meet the country's renewable fuel needs going forward. Brown says switchgrass produces twice as much fuel as corn and that innovation and development of new technologies is the key to future success developing biorenewables. "The Department of Energy calls for renewable fuels to meet 20% of U.S. transportation demand by 2030," he told the Senate last Wednesday. "Currently ethanol represents only 3% of transportation fuels, but even the most optimistic scenarios do not predict grain ethanol to displace more than 6 to 8% of gasoline demand. Agriculture must think beyond corn and soybean production if it is to supply a significant fraction of U.S. transportation fuels."

more information

Do you know about RSS?

5/12/2006
Have you seen this symbol on websites? Have you seen it on the AgrowKnowledge website? Do you know what it means? 

Using RSS you can now be informed when new items are added to the AgrowKnowledge web site.
 
What is RSS?
 
RSS stands for Rich Site Summary, or Really Simple Syndication. RSS is a protocol, an application of XML that provides an open method of syndicating and aggregating Web content. Using RSS files data feeds are created that supply headlines, links, and article summaries from a website. This means that users can have constantly updated content from websites delivered to them via a news aggregator, a piece of software specifically tailored to receive these types of feeds.

more information

Register Now for the 2006 Faculty Development Workshops

4/28/2006

Each year, AgrowKnowledge offers Faculty Development Workshops to agriculture, food and natural resource instructors as way to expand their technological skills, experience advanced technologies, and discover new and innovative teaching methods. These workshops are partially supported by AgrowKnowledge and by registration fees. Workshop registration and stipend includes:
  • $300 travel stipend
  • Lodging for three nights
  • Meals
  • Copies of the educational materials used
To find our more, click on the titles for this year’s workshops:
 
Expanding Your Instructional Skills through Flash
 
Bio-Link National Fellows Program: AgrowKnowledge Track
Be sure you register on the AgrowKnowledge website for this workshop.
 
GIS for Agriculture Decision-Making
 
Math and Science: Investigating Plants and Soils
 

more information

Making Systemic Change

4/19/2006

As one would expect, this year’s AgrowKnowledge Annual Emerging Technology Conference featured keynote speakers, presentations, posters, and tours. But just as powerful as the organized events were the unplanned happenings — the spontaneous networking and side discussions. With each exchange came new thoughts and ideas, the kind that can lead to true change.    
 
I had several discussions with people in hallways, over dinner or at poster sessions. Though the topics varied, the general idea was the same — how do we make change? And what kind of change or impact are we going to have?
 
Are we going to change parenting and social structure so students get the support from home to succeed in school? Are we going to change the amount of money federal and state government invests in education? Are we going to increase the math and science scores on standardized tests? Are we going to impact discipline and other educational issues?
 

more information

University Credit Available for Workshops

4/13/2006

Through an arrangement with the University of Idaho, participants in any of the four AgrowKnowledge Faculty Development Workshops can receive one undergraduate (AGED 405) or graduate credit (AGED 505) for the workshops. At the time of the workshop participants wanting University of Idaho credit will pay a very reasonable fee for undergraduate or graduate credit, and they will complete a short (one page) registration form. Transcript request forms will also be available at the time of registration.

Spread the word to others you know who might be interested in the workshops.


more information

Biotechnology in the News -- Attend a New Workshop

4/5/2006

We just added an additional faculty development workshop to our list for this year. This fourth workshop is in conjuction with Bio-Link. Participants in this workshop will be able to attend Bio-Link's Annual National Biotechnolgy Fellows Program, June 3 - 8, 2006 at the University of California, Berkeley.

Here are some interesting stories in today's news showing the importance of biotechnology.

Double-Digit Growth Pushes Biotech Industry Revenues Over $60 Billion
4/4/2006
 
In the 20th anniversary edition of “Beyond Borders: The Global Biotechnology Report 2006,”  Ernest & Young reports that the revenues of publicly traded biotechnology companies surpassed $60 billion for the first time in the sector’s 30-year history.
 
“The global biotechnology industry’s revenues are growing at strong rates, product approvals are bringing innovative drugs to market, and the long-elusive goal of profitability is quickly approaching,” said Donn Szaro, leader, global biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors, Ernst & Young.
 
By virtually every performance indicator, the global biotechnology industry showed robust growth in 2005. Significant global milestones include: Revenues of the world’s publicly traded biotech companies grew 18% in 2005; as revenues increased, the industry’s net loss decreased by 30%; and the U.S., Canada, and the Asia- Pacific region collectively improved their bottom line by about $3 billion.
 
“Since our first report 20 years ago, we’ve seen historic scientific advances and dramatic changes in market conditions combine to produce a rapidly maturing industry,” said Szaro. “Companies from around the globe are pioneering new technologies, platforms, industry segments, and business models.”
 
Source: GEN Updates—Sticky Ends Online (http://www.genengnews.com/stickyends/article.aspx?sid=271)

more information

Delgado Community College Needs Your Help

3/29/2006

The Delgado Community College Horticulture program was devastated by the events associated with Katrina. They are still trying to recover and could use our helpful donations of the following:

 Student computers and printers w/ desks
 Reference books for Horticulture, Botany, Landscape Design, etc.
 Landscape equipment and tools
 Wheelbarrows
 Lawn & Landscape power equipment such as weed eaters, lawnmower, leaf blower, pruning equipment, etc.
 Hand tools, work gloves, measuring equipment for landscaping
 Soil, fertilizer, mulch, perlite, vermiculite
 Asst. pots and seed trays
 Seeds, plug trays, stock plant material
 Potting shed/ bench /storage bins
 Fans for small greenhouse
 Land line phone and a fax
 Any additional supplies not on this list are welcome! 

The next page tells who to contact if you have a donation and also on the next page is an open letter from Bettie Abbate.
more information

Registration now open for workshops

3/27/2006


As of today, you can register online for the four new 2006 AgrowKnowledge Faculty Development Workshops. To register and to get full details on the workshops click on this link:
http://www.agrowknow.org/faculty-development/2006/

Save your spot in the workshops and register early. Travel and lodging stipends are available for qualified instructors, and registration for participants includes tour, class materials, most meals, and other benefits. Carefully read the full descriptions for each workshop.


more information

News Flash! SkillsUSA Announces a New College Competition

3/24/2006


SkillsUSA will be offering new national college competitions for the following programs of study that support fast growing occupation:

Geospatial Technology (http://www.skillsusa.org/geospatial.html)  

These competitions are designed to provide colleges with an effective way to validate their technical programs and measure them against national standards. This new contest structure allows individual students to join SkillsUSA and enter a competitive event at the national level. An online exam will serve as a state qualifying system.

Online Qualifying Test
Students will be required to take an online qualifying exam to determine their contest eligibility. This test will be offered in March and April 2006. The online exam will test for academic knowledge, technical knowledge within the subject area, and general employability skills, in order to ensure a well-rounded individual.

National Competitions
Those with scores high enough to meet the national standard will be allowed to advance to the SkillsUSA Championships in Kansas City, Missouri for a three-day conference and competitive event in their technical area.

Industry recognition and medallions for winners will make this an exciting event that provides a career-enhancing opportunity for each participant. The contest will be planned and judged to industry standards for an entry-level worker in the field.

Events will be held on June 19-21, 2006 in Kansas City, Missouri. There will be opportunities to attend a general session with more than 12,000 participants at Kemper Arena, a hands-on competitive event, an awards ceremony, and an optional tour of the SkillsUSA Championships.

This is a demonstration event that allows students to compete at a national, $30 million event that has been hosted by business and industry for the benefit of technical students since 1967. The SkillsUSA conference currently offers more than 88 national competitions with nearly 5,000 competitors annually at the national level.

To register with SkillsUSA in order to receive additional information about these new events as it becomes available, go to: http://www.skillsusa.org/pscontestinfo.html


more information

AgrowKnowledge Awards Scholarships to 20 Students

3/16/2006

AgrowKnowledge, the National Center for Agriscience and Technology Education announced 20 scholarship awards for agriculture science students in 12 different states. The scholarships were funded by a grant from Pioneer Hi-Bred International.
         Scholarships were awarded to students at colleges throughout the U.S. They include: Thompson School of Applied Science, NH; Hawkeye Community College, IA; Joliet Junior College, IL; Bismarck State College, ND; Blue Mountain Community College, OR; Ohio State Agricultural Technical Institute, OH; Parkland Community College, IL; Southwest Wisconsin Technical College, WI; Great Basin College, NV; Lake City Community College, FL; Ridgewater College, MN; College of Southern Idaho, ID; Vincennes University, IN; and Muscatine Community College, IA.


more information

Don Aslett and Jay Lehr keynoters

3/14/2006
During the recent AgrowKnowledge 5th Annual Conference in Kansas City, Don Aslett, World’s #1 Cleaning Expert, spoke to the participants of the conference. He told them that to draw attention to agriculture and the new careers in agriculture we need to “ag-ize” everything we do. To do this he demonstrated how he took one of the least admired careers, a janitor, and made it fun and recognizable by “janitor-izing” everything he did. Don told us of janitor rodeos, fashion shows, unique business cards and as the photo below shows unique objects to draw attention to the career.
more information

Successful AgrowKnowledge Conference Ended

3/10/2006
As they say: "And the rest is history." The 5th annual Emergying Technology Conference, "Technology: The Heart of Agriculture," ended on March 3rd. Approximately 150 participants were rewarded for their attendence, and over the next few weeks we will highlight some of the conference events and speakers.

The conference kickoff was a keynote by Dr. Joe Jen, Under Secretary of the USDA. Dr. Jen's humor, knowledge, and focus on science and technology set the stage for the next two days of conference presentations and workshops.

Here Dr. Jen is telling the group about a DVD from the USDA that can be used to teach history using the history of agriculture.
more information

Plan to Celebrate National Ag Week

3/19/2006

National Agriculture Day, celebrated each year on or around the first day of spring, March 20th, is a time to celebrate American agriculture and honor the people who work to meet our everyday needs. 

This year’s celebration will kick-off on March 16, when associations, corporations, universities and government agencies will gather in our nation’s capital to educate Americans about how food, fuel and fiber products are produced and about the essential role of agriculture in maintaining a strong economy.

The Agriculture Council of America is coordinating events in Washington, DC, to highlight the importance of agriculture to America’s economy and society. With speakers from government and industry, the celebration will serve to educate citizens about an industry many take for granted.


more information

Last Minute Change from USDA

2/23/2006

Due to a last minute change of plans Dr. Pierson will not be speaking at the AgrowKnowledge reception after all. Instead, Dr. Joseph Jen, Under Secretary, will take his place. Dr. Jen is Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics.


Joseph Jen was sworn in as the under secretary for research, education, and economics by Agriculture Secretary Ann. M. Veneman on July 17, 2001.

He will oversee four agencies of the U.S. Department of Agriculture: the Agricultural Research Service, the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, the Economic Research Service, and the National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Jen is a widely recognized agricultural scientist and educator, with experience in both the public and private sectors. Since 1992, Jen has served as the dean of the College of Agriculture at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. In this capacity, Jen oversaw eleven departments with 3,500 students, 250 faculty and staff, and a budget in excess of $30 million.



more information

Deputy Under Secretary of Agriculture at Conference

2/16/2006

News Flash!

Dr. Merle Pierson, USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics, will address the AgrowKnowledge 5th Annual Conference reception at 6:30 pm on February 28th. After his remarks to the conference participants he will be available for questions.

Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns appointed Dr. Merle D. Pierson as USDA's Deputy Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics (REE) on July 15, 2005. He previously served as Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) from February 2, 2002 to December 1, 2004, and Acting Under Secretary for Food Safety from December 1, 2004 until his REE appointment. As Deputy Under Secretary, Pierson provides leadership to the four agencies that comprise the Research, Education and Economics mission area: the Agricultural Research Service; the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service; the Economic Research Service; and the National Agricultural Statistics Service.


more information

AgrowKnowledge Annual Conference in Kansas City

2/10/2006

Conference-at-a-glance. 
Please select sessions and tours.  

Last day to Register for the 5th Annual Conference. Enjoy these benefits:
- Stipends still available
- 26 workshops/presentation
- 40 industry and college booths
- Industry tours
- Free curriculum
- Inspiring and informative keynote speakers

Don't miss out! Do it today and make your room reservations while rooms are still available.
more information

Great Keynote Speakers

2/3/2006

Register for sessions through our Conference-at-a-Glance

Deadlines approaching for registration discount of February 1, 2006 and registration will end February 6, 2006.

“Technology, the Heart of Agriculture” on February 28 - March 3, 2006 in Kansas City

Come hear Don Aslett and Dr. Jay Lehr, the keynote speakers, on March 1 & 2. You will be rewarded for your time!

Don Aslett, an Idaho born and raised farm boy, organized a “cleaning company” to earn his way through college. His company, Varsity Contractors, Inc., became so successful that even after graduation he stayed in cleaning. Now Varsity is one of the nation’s leading companies in the Total Facility Services industry, over 75 million in sales. Don’s first book, Is There Life After Housework? firmly established him as the World’s #1 Cleaning Expert. Don has written over 40 books, ranging from business to self help, and of course cleaning and dejunking!


Don is a nationally known speaker and media personality as well as consultant and owner of several businesses. He has given thousands of speeches, seminars, and presentations that are inspiring as well as entertaining. For businesses, organizations, schools, and youth groups, Don is a sought after keynote speaker and is a main show attraction at home and garden shows. Clients include: Bell/GTE Telephone, AmX, Procter and Gamble, US Navy, McDonald Douglas, AT&T, Kodak, Rubbermaid. At the AgrowKnowledge Conference, Don will address the topic of “meeting challenges and seeing new perspectives on old problems.”

Don and his wife, Barbara, are the parents of six children and eighteen grandchildren. The couple spends time at their homes on Kauai, Hawaii and in McCammon, Idaho.

For the AgrowKnowledge Conference, Don Aslett is kindly sponsored by John Deere.






more information

Plan to attend the 5th Annual AgrowKnowledge Conference

1/9/2006

Register for sessions through our Conference-at-a-Glance

Deadlines approaching for registration discount of February 1, 2006 and registration will end February 6, 2006.

“Technology, the Heart of Agriculture” on February 28 - March 3, 2006 in Kansas City

AgrowKnowledge, the National Center for Agriscience and Technology Education, announced the dates and place for their 5th Annual Conference. This year’s conference will be held at the Clarion Hotel Sports Complex Kansas City, MO (816-737-0200). The conference theme is “Technology, the Heart of Agriculture.” 

Participants can choose conference sessions from these six different areas relating to education in agriculture, food and natural resources: geospatial technology, biotechnology, agricultural literacy, information technology, educational issues, career awareness, bioterrorism and food safety. Participants will enhance their curriculum and teaching skills through hands-on workshops, networking with other instructors, businesses, poster sessions, industry booths, and learning more about the opportunities provided by AgrowKnowledge.

Register early as the first qualified 100 college or secondary agriculture, math or science instructors will receive a stipend for conference meals, lodging expenses, and $300 toward travel expenses. To register (and for more information), go to the AgrowKnowledge Web site at www.agrowknow.org.  Please register today and so you will not miss out on this outstanding conference!

For questions about the registration process or for more information about the conference contact, Debi Orr at 866-424-5669 or debi.orr@agrowknow.org.


more information

AgrowKnowledge New Director Announced

12/6/2005
December 1, 2005 AgrowKnowledge welcomes Rick Parker as the Co-PI and Director of AgrowKnowledge. Rick has been involved with AgrowKnowledge for almost five years. During the past year and half he served as the Co-Principal Investigator for AgrowKnowledge. Rick brings a wealth of experience in education, writing, national leadership and curriculum development to AgrowKnowledge as the new director.
 
Terry Brase, Principal Investigator

more information

Agricultural GIS Education Symposium

11/29/2005

The Agricultural GIS Education Symposium will be held January 19 - 21, 2006 in Pismo Beach, CA.   Agricultural educators that teach GIS and other geospatial technologies are encouraged to attend this initial event.  It will provide excellent discussion on the newest technology innovations and teaching methods.  The conference website at www.agsensinged.org has program and registration information.  Travel scholarships are available.


more information

Industry Council Meeting

11/10/2005

The AgrowKnowledge Industry Council will be meeting on the 15 and 16 of November on the Kirkwood Community College campus the location of the national center.   The Industry Council will be updated on current projects and plans for the coming year.  The Council will also provide ideas and suggestions  for AgrowKnowledge on new projects, Faculty Development Workshops, and the Annual Conference.   


more information

2006 Annual Conference - Call for Abstracts

10/13/2005

Now is the time to start planning for the 2006 Annual AgrowKnowledge Emerging Technology Conference.  The upcoming conference will be held in Kansas City, Missouri, March 1-2, 2006.  The theme for this year’s conference is “Technology, the Heart of Agriculture.”  Conference plans are under way with information and updates to soon begin posting on the banner line of our website:  www.agrowknow.org.


more information

Emerging Technology Conference

9/15/2005
The AgrowKnowledge 5th Annual "Emerging Technology Conference" will be held in Kansas City February 28 to March 3, 2006.   The theme of the 2006 conference is "Technology, The Heart of Agriculture".  Reception and check-in will be on February 28th.  Mark your calendar and watch for further details and open registration.
more information

Update on Math, Science, & Technology Workshops

9/7/2005

One of the key strategies for AgrowKnowledge is to identify and/or build a curricular framework that incorporates mathematics, science, and technology and supports the careers in agriculture, food and natural resources. Two successful AgrowKnowledge Faculty Development Workshops have now been conducted showing how Texas Instruments (TI) 84 Silver Edition Plus graphing calculators, the CBL2s and various sensors/probes from Vernier (http://www.vernier.com) can be used in an agricultural, food, and natural resources curriculum to reinforce math, science and technology.


more information

Sensor Web Project

8/26/2005

Information provided by Dr. Kevin A. Delin, Jet Propulsion Laboratory who spoke at the 2005 Emerging Technologies Conference.

On the web site listed below, you can observe the project at Oregon with a new Sensor Web.  They are conducting irrigation studies on potatoes utilizing the Sensor Web in Agriculture.   http://www.malag.aes.oregonstate.edu/sensorwebs/ 

You can also access the material from the homepage of the NASA Sensor Webs Project: http//sensorwebs.jpl.nasa.gov


more information

GPS/GIS FACULTY DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP

8/3/2005

            Educators recently attended a national workshop on new agriculture-related technologies. In order to keep up-to-date on emerging and leading technologies, educators attended the AgrowKnowledge GPS Data Collection workshop held in Champaign, Illinois on June 28 - 30, 2005.

GPS is the Global Positioning System and GIS is Geographic Information System.  Both are used in precision agriculture, a new system of management that relies on collecting and analyzing data in areas smaller than an entire field.


more information

BioPharming:

7/19/2005
Pharming for the future July 20-22

AgrowKnowledge Program Gathers Educators, Experts from Around the Nation

A three-day program on a crucial, emerging agricultural/biotechnological industry is set for Kirkwood Community College this week. A faculty development workshop July 20-22 will focus on new ways of teaching about "BioPharming," led by staff of AgrowKnowledge, the National Center for Agriscience Education.

Biopharmaceuticals is the production and processing of pharmaceuticals from crops or animals that have been modified through biotechnology. Experts in the field not only tout cost-effective benefits of these technologies, but the possibilities of Iowa being a national/international leader in this new industry.

AgrowKnowledge Principal Investigator, Terry Brase calls the workshop a "key way we will prepare a new workforce" for biopharmaceuticals.

"There will be a major need for production technicians in the biopharmaceutical industry. Several thousand workers will be needed to carefully manage the production of these pharmaceutical crops, including recordkeeping and containment practices to assure environmental stability and a safe food supply," Brase said.


[Photo: Dr. Julio Baez of Fibrogen, Inc.]
more information

Openings for BioPharming FDW

7/6/2005

There is still room in the BioPharming workshop to be held at Kirkwood Community College, July 20 - 22, 2005.  The workshop features nationally recognized speakers from industry and education and free materials including a Bio-Rad DNA transformation kit.  

Click here to Register on-line


more information

Ventura Conference CDs Coming Soon!

6/29/2005



If you attended the AgrowKnowledge Emerging Technology Conference, Ventures in Innovations, watch your mail for a CD with participants, presentations, and photographs.  CDs will be mailed out soon!


more information

Value-Added Food and Agricultural Tours

6/29/2005

Tours of New York Agriculture in August and Holland Agriculture in September.

more information

GIS Instructor Position open, Assiniboine Community College

6/21/2005


GIS Environmental Technologies is a two-year diploma program developed to meet a growing need for practitioners with strength in geomatics technologies in agriculture and natural resource management.


more information

GPS Faculty Development Workshop

6/3/2005

The GPS/GIS Faculty Development Workshop at Parkland College is full.  However, if you'd like to put your name on a waiting list, please call 866-424-5669.

Summer Workshop in Beautiful Idaho

5/27/2005

Don't miss a July learning visit to Idaho!  Take back a wealth of ideas and activities to use in your classroom.  Sign up now for the AgrowKnowledge Faculty Development Workshop, Livestock Environmental Data Analyses, to be held July 13-15.

During this workshop you will learn about the importance of the animal environment.  Activities will include measuring, monitoring, and evaluating the environment. You will visit livestock production facilities to collect data about the environment and use a number of tools to analyze the data.

The tools include the TI83/84 Silver Edition Plus calculator and the CBL2 for data collection with the appropriate sensors to measure environmental parameters. Also, we will use GPS units to track the location of the production facilities, find exact spots for sampling, and calculate area (space) in large facilities.  We will also check air quality (odor)  with colorimetric tubes.  As an added bonus, Texas Instruments has donated a TI Presenter for a door prize. The TI Presenter allows you to project the screen of your TI84/83 calculator so your students can see what to do. It is a great teaching tool.

There are still a few slots left -- so register today! 

Student Scholarships Available (2006)

5/26/2005

The National Cattlemen’s Foundation (NCF) and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) announce the 2006 Beef Industry Scholarship program.

Twenty scholarships of $1500 will be awarded to youths pursuing careers in the beef industry. The program identifies and encourages talented and thoughtful students who have demonstrated a commitment to a career in the beef industry, either through classes, internships or life experience. Graduating high school seniors or full-time undergraduate students enrolled at a two-year or four-year college for the 2006/07 school year are encouraged to apply. 

A full description the scholarship program and submission requirements can be found at the National Cattlemen’s Foundation website: http://www.nationalcattlemensfoundation.org/scholarship.aspx or by calling 303-850-3347.

Faculty Development Workshops & Master Educator Program

5/12/2005


Interested in registering for the Faculty Development Workshops and our Master Educator Program?  Read below for a description of the Master Educator Program.

Click here for more information!


Exciting New Master Educator Aspect of the Faculty Development Workshops

5/10/2005


This year, five participants in the GPS/GIS Field Data Collection Faculty Development Workshop and five participants in the Livestock Environmental Data Analyses: Math, Science, & Technology in Animal Environments Workshop will have an opportunity to spend an extra day learning how to hold a similar workshop in their area of the country.  They will receive instruction and all instructional materials to help them do so.  AgrowKnowledge will cover their hotel and meals for the extra day and will provide $400 for local planning, as well as a $500 stipend upon completion of a local workshop.

If you're interested, call 319/398-5644 for more information.  Be sure to register by clicking the registration button for Master Educator.  There is no additional registration fee for this part of the workshop, but we are limited to five people in each Master Educator Session.


AGROWKNOWLEDGE HOSTS ANNUAL CONFERENCE: Over 200 Participants to Convene in Ventura, CA April 26-29 for Future-Oriented Agriscience Education

4/18/2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 

From satellite-based information technologies to combating “agroterrorism,” the focus will be on practical innovation and future planning at the AgrowKnowledge annual conference April 26-29. More than 200 agriscience educators, technical experts and corporate supporters will convene in Ventura, CA for four intensive days of education and collaboration.

Dozens of workshops and information sessions will highlight the conference at the Ventura Beach Marriott Hotel. The conference is being presented in cooperation with Ventura College, a lead partner in the AgrowKnowledge project. Additional support for the conference was provided by Pioneer Hi-Bred International.

Topics planned for these sessions include food safety and processing, natural resources, geographic information systems (GIS), biotechnology and alternative energy sources.

Another main focus of the conference will be the development of “next-generation” coursework and programs at the high school, community college and university levels. One key area is biotechnology, with sessions planned to assist educators in building biotech curriculum that is relevant to today’s career needs and adaptable to future developments.

In addition to the sessions at the site, learning tours are planned to visit local industries including alternative energy, cattle ranching and wineries.


more information

New Opinion Poll

3/31/2005
Check out the lastest opinion poll (lower righthand corner of the home page).  Log on to cast your vote.

Summer Workshops - Plant Molecular Biology

2/23/2005

The Dolan DNA Learning Center of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory is offering summer workshops in the teaching of plant molecular biology. The workshops are open to 2- and 4-year college faculty and are being held at the following locations:

·  June 20-24, 2005 in Palo Alto, CA
·  August 1-5, 2005 in Ithaca, NY
·  August 8-12, 2005 in Blacksburg, VA

The workshops, funded by NSF, provide participants with full instruction and a stipend. Course details are available through the NSF Chautauqua Faculty Development Program,  and applications can be completed at http://www.chautauqua.pitt.edu/application.html


Call for Abstracts

2/23/2005
The North American Agromedicine Consortium would like to invite submission of manuscripts addressing agricultural health and safety for the 18th Annual Meeting at Wintergreen Resort in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.  The conference component of the annual meeting will be held on June 27-28.  Click here for more information.

2005 Faculty Development Workshops

2/15/2005

AgrowKnowledge's series of highly regarded Faculty Development Workshops continue in 2005 with:

GPS/GISField Data Collection -June 28, 29, and 30, 2005.  ParklandCollege-Champaign, Illinois.

Livestock Environmental Data Analyses: Math, Science, & Technology in Animal Environments - July 13, 14, and 15, 2005.  College of Southern Idaho -Twin Falls, Idaho

BioPharmaceuticals, Pharming of the Future - July 20, 21, and 22, 2005. Kirkwood Community College -Cedar Rapids, Iowa
         
Click here for more information

Livestock Environmental Data Analyses: Math, Science, & Technology in Animal Environments - July 13, 14, and 15, 2005.  College of Southern Idaho -Twin Falls, Idaho

BioPharmaceuticals, Pharming of the Future - July 20, 21, and 22, 2005. Kirkwood Community College -Cedar Rapids, Iowa
         
Click here for more information


more information

Deadline for Conference Scholarships Extended!

2/3/2005

The deadline has been extended for the scholarship applications for our annual conference in Ventura, California.   

AgrowKnowledge had 100 scholarships for qualified registrants toward conference registration, a travel stipend, lodging, and meals. Only a few remain for instructors in agriculture, math, and science programs at community colleges and high schools.  Click here for more information on scholarships. Apply for a conference scholarship no later than March 1, 2005. 

If you receive a scholarship, your $50 registration fee will be reimbursed. On the last day of the conference, you will receive a reimbursement form for your qualified travel expenses. For more information, call toll free 866-424-5669 or 319-398-7108 or email debi.orr@kirkwood.edubi.orr@kirkwood.edu.  See you in Ventura.


Deadline for Scholarships Extended!

2/1/2005

The deadline has been extended for the scholarship applications!  We have a few scholarships left for our annual conference in Ventura, California.  Please register today.

AgrowKnowledge had 100 scholarships available to qualified registrants toward conference registration, travel stipend, lodging, and meals. There are only a few left for instructors in programs of Agriculture, Math, and Science from Community Colleges, and High Schools.  Click here for more information on scholarships. All scholarship applications must be registered no later than March 1, 2005. 

If you receive a scholarship, your $50 registration fee will be reimbursed. On the last day of the conference, you will receive a reimbursement form for your qualified travel expenses. For more information, call toll free 866-424-5669 or 319-398-7108 or email at debi.orr@kirkwood.edu.

See you in Ventura.


International Perspectives on Agriculture

1/25/2005


Community Colleges for International Development (CCID) announces an opportunity for community college students to earn college credit in Denmark this summer, studying agriculture.  Parkland College, an AgrowKnowledge Lead Partner, is one of the colleges involved in the consortium offering the opportunity. 

Click on the link below to review their brochure.
Link to the brochure

For more information, contact CCID at 319-398-1257 or check out their website at www.ccidinc.org.


From the Yuma Sun Newspaper...

1/24/2005

AWC technology students have become ‘the ag guys’

BY LINN E. CAROLEO, Staff Writer
Jan 16, 2005

 

ARIZONA WESTERN COLLEGE AGRICULTURE PROFESSOR Kurt Nolte (from left) works with students Andrew Daniel and Joe Piscopo to produce television and radio segments providing insight into the agricultural process. Photo by Carlos Moreno

If you like to watch "Ag Tech Minute" on KSWT-TV 13 or have heard "Sounds of Agriculture" on the radio (88.9 KAWC), you can thank Andrew Daniel and Joe Piscopo, both students at Arizona Western College, for their efforts.

Kurt Nolte, professor of agriculture at AWC, is the creative mind behind these productions, but Daniel and Piscopo do the work to put his visions into pictures and sounds.

The two technology students have found their creative niches with these programs.

"They started out as the ‘tech guys’ and now they are the ‘ag guys’ — it's kinda neat," said Nolte.

Nolte created these two separate yet related shows about local Yuma agriculture.
more information

Articulation Best Practices

1/19/2005
Check out the two new items in our clearinghouse from Wade Miller, our University Council member from Iowa State.  Wade offers a paper about best practices in articulation, as well as a sample articulation agreement.  (Scroll down to download them.)

National Association of Agricultural Educators Offers Internships

1/11/2005

NAAE will be offering two internships for rising college juniors, seniors and post-baccalaureate/graduate students in agricultural education during summer of 2005. The two links below include position descriptions for their communications and advocacy internships.  The announcement also includes the application procedure for the internships.  This information can also be found on their website at www.naae.org .

Advocacy Internship

Communications Internship

If you have any questions regarding these internships, please feel free to contact Samantha Alvis at the NAAE office at 1-800-509-0204 or via email at salvis.naae@uky.edu.


Wanted: Associate Partners

1/18/2005

We invite you to complete an application for your agriculture department to be considered as an Associate Partner with AgrowKnowledge.  Many community colleges already participate in AgrowKnowledge events; however, we want to formalize some of those partnerships and expand involvement.  We will be selecting 16 schools, each of which will be working with one of the 16 AgrowKnowledge Lead Partners. 

This is your opportunity to expand your professional development by working with other agriculture professionals across the nation, to develop additional collegial relationships, and to gain exposure to emerging technologies and practices in agriculture.  Click on the following links for more information:

What does it mean to be an Associate Partner?

Who is eligible to be an Associate Partner?

How do I apply to be an Associate Partner?

Is there an application form?

How will AgrowKnowledge select the Associate Partners?

 


Agroterrorism Workshop at Ventura

12/8/2004
The Agroterrorism Preparedness Center, which is housed at Kirkwood Community College, will be holding a Train-the-Trainer pilot session, Training for First Responders, in Ventura, California, on Monday and Tuesday, April 25 and 26 before the AgrowKnowledge Annual Conference.  If you're interested in participating, e-mail us at bonnie.callison@kirkwood.edu before you make your travel arrangements.  The session will run from 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. both days.
 
The session tentatively will include the following topics:
  • Introduction to Agroterrorism
  • Quarantine Procedures for Animal Disease Response
  • PPE Requirements for Animal Disease Response
  • Cleaning and Disinfecting Procedures for Animal Disease Response
  • Depopulation and Disposition of Diseased Animals
  • A Foreign Animal Disease Scenario

Conference Registration Now Open!

12/1/2004
Online Registration Now Available!

 

AgrowKnowledge's 4th Annual Emerging Technologies in Agriscience is open for registration!  Please join us in Ventura, California, for this dynamic conference.

 

You may click on the "Ventures in Innnovations" image at the top of the page  to register.  Several options will appear for registration.  The first 100 qualified registrants will receive a scholarship. 

 

 

 

 


Watch the AgDay Report

11/23/2004

 

 Large (8.4Mb)    Medium (2.5Mb)    Small (1.3Mb)

View with QuickTime


Faculty Internships

11/15/2004

Summer will be here before you know it!  If you're a faculty member interested in expanding your knowledge by working with a company in your area of specialization, check out the Faculty Internship area in the Educators' Corner.


New Areas of Study Opinion Poll

11/12/2004
Don't forget to respond to our new opinion poll in the lower righthand corner of this page!  If your response is different from one of the six listed, e-mail us to let us know the type of program you would start.  Log in to vote!

Looking for a Job?

11/11/2004

Students -- are you looking for a job when you graduate this winter or next spring? 

Don't forget to upload your resume on the AgrowKnowledge website.  Go directly to the Student Corner and click on "Post Resume."


Mini-Grant Proposals Due Today!

11/12/2004

Today, Friday, November 12, is the last day to submit a mini-grant proposal.  Your proposal must be e-mailed or postmarked by 11/12/04.  Don't miss your opportunity to have an impact on your program!

Check out the Request for Proposal (RFP).


Special Thanks to Industry Partners

11/5/2004

We'd like to extend special thanks to three industry partners who have supported AgrowKnowledge through funding and/or equipment donations this year:

Pioneer Hi-Bred International

John Deere

Diamond V

Thanks for helping us achieve our vision of educating and preparing workforce-ready graduates who can utilize emerging technologies in agriculture, food, and natural resources!


Congratulations!

11/1/2004

Congratulations to the following five attendees of the National FFA Convention in Louisville, Kentucky last week.  After signing up for a drawing at the AgrowKnowledge booth, they won a complete set of Pathways to Technology videos.

  • Bruce Moore, Alden High School, Iowa Falls, IA
  • Brad Schloesser, South Central Technical College, Mankato, MN
  • David Ritter, South Hunterdon High School, Lambertville, NJ
  • Wesley Wilson, Pahranogat Valley High School, Alamo, NV
  • Ethan Taylor, Monroe City High School, Missouri

Pathways to Technology, funded by NSF and produced by WGBH in Boston, features six successful community college graduates now working in a variety of technological fields, including precision agriculture and biotechnology.  We will be following up with each of the winners to see how they will use the videos in their programs.


Animal Science Image Gallery

10/20/2004

This just in from Rutgers University and UConn Animal Science:

 

Do you wish you had better images to use in your teaching or outreach? Do you have images that you are willing to share? 

 

Supported by a USDA HEC grant, we are creating an online gallery of images for faculty to use in their teaching. While the USDA grant underwrites images in nutrition and reproduction, the gallery can be expanded to include other subjects.  Maintained in perpetuity by the National Agricultural Library, the images will be available at no cost for teaching purposes.

 

Check out the gallery at http://cygnet.richmond.edu/image_gallery (Note: Gap between "image" and "gallery" is an underscore character).  This site is now accepting new images, and you may download images already on the site.  We hereby solicit images you are willing to share.  Each image (e.g., a photograph, an animation, a video, a Zip file, etc) and its description will be peer-reviewed to ensure quality.  We look forward to your submissions!  We especially encourage you to submit your images appropriate for use in teaching animal nutrition, behavior and/or reproductive physiology courses.

 

Harold D. Hafs

Project Administrator

Rutgers University

hafs@aesop.Rutgers.edu

(732)932-1168

 

John Riesen

Editor, Reproduction Gallery

UConn Animal Science

John.Riesen@UConn.edu

(860) 486-2541


more information

AgrowKnowledge/Pioneer Scholarships

10/19/2004

Please note that the deadline for the scholarship competition has been extended.  Student applications must now be postmarked by November 1, 2004.  See the attached application and cover sheet for more information.


Announcing the Mini-grant Request for Proposal

10/4/2004

Are you a faculty member or an administrator for an ag-related program at a community college? 

 

Have you attended an AgrowKnowledge conference or faculty development workshop in the past? 

 

If you can answer yes to both those questions, then you're eligible to submit a proposal for a mini-grant through AgrowKnowledge.

 

AgrowKnowledge will award a total of $25,000 to selected mini-grant applicants.  Click here to download a copy of the request for proposal (RFP).  Deadline for submission is November 12, 2004.


AgrowKnowledge/Pioneer Scholarship Competition

9/27/2004

AgrowKnowledge and Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. are proud to announce the 2005 Pioneer/AgrowKnowledge Scholarship Competition.  These sixteen $500 scholarships are designed to help secondary and post-secondary students further their agricultural science education at select community colleges across the country.

To be eligible for one of the sixteen scholarships, students must meet the criteria outline in the rules list and must submit the application form by November 1, 2004.


Agroterrorism Preparedness Center established at Kirkwood

9/27/2004
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has announced a grant of over $3.2 million to Kirkwood Community College. The funds will be used for Kirkwood to establish an "Agroterrorism Preparedness Center" on the campus. The Kirkwood program will be part of a larger, overall effort of the federal government to train local emergency and public safety personnel in measures to protect American agriculture and food supplies from possible terrorist threats.

The complete press release is available in Microsoft Word format