New Jersey-based PortaScience Inc. (PSI) recently was awarded a grant from Feed the Future Partnering for Innovation (FFPI) to commercialize a milk quality test for small farms in Africa.

The American Bankers Association Center for Agricultural and Rural Banking will present Wisconsin banker Samuel J. Miller with its annual Bruning Award, honored for his leadership and dedication to providing credit and financial guidance to farmers, ranchers and businesses in rural America.

In recognition of his commitment to the animal health industry and inspiring students and others in veterinary medicine, Merck Animal Health and the American Association of Bovine Practitioners (AABP) presented Dr. Robert H. BonDurant, D.V.M., with the Mentor of the Year Award at the recent AABP Annual Conference.

Landmark Services Cooperative (LSC) recently hosted “Planting for Production Forage Producers Field Seminar” in Stoughton, Wisconsin. Nearly 200 crop growers and producers attended the annual seminar to hear crop forecasts, market outlooks and management advice from industry experts.

Late this summer I had the opportunity to travel across the country with a group of faculty and graduate students from five different universities. We began in the Carolinas, traveled across Tennessee, then up through Missouri, into Kansas, Oklahoma and eventually Texas. Our goal was to study grazing lands systems in different environments, and the tour included cow-calf, stocker and dairy operations with conventional and local and/or organic end-points.

Brad Pfaff, state executive director for Wisconsin’s Farm Service Agency (FSA), encourages agricultural producers to consult with FSA and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) before breaking out new ground for production. Without prior authorization, a producer’s federal farm program benefits may be in jeopardy.

A nearly year-long project to renovate and expand the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s Soil Testing and Research Laboratory is underway. The facility’s receiving and laboratory buildings will be replaced with new and larger ones and the existing office wing will be improved.

Investment in U.S. farmland is still competitive with alternative investments, but the era of extremely low interest rates and extraordinarily high commodity prices is drawing to a close, according to a new report from the Rabobank Food & Agribusiness Research (FAR) and Advisory Group.

New lines of power tools are now available from Bostitch and Porter Cable (PC). Designed for the professional and built to last, according to the company, the new Bostitch line includes corded and 18V cordless tools.