The University of Illinois announced that Monsanto Company pledged a $250,000 grant to be put towards an initiative between the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) and the College of Media. The initiative will help establish an Agricultural Communications Program endowed chair that will strengthen communications for agricultural and rural development. The James F. Evans Endowed Chair in Agricultural Communications will provide leadership for the joint program between the College of ACES and the College of Media by serving current and future agricultural communicators through courses, service initiatives, research and relationship building.

What began as a few outdoor garden beds showcasing North Carolina’s agricultural legacy will soon blossom into a living, thriving exhibit at the N.C. Museum of History in Raleigh. The museum is partnering with Syngenta, located in Research Triangle Park and Greensboro, to make the exhibit grow.

The chronological exhibit History of the Harvest will connect the state’s agricultural past with today’s cutting-edge research and development by universities and companies such as Syngenta.

Though large areas remained stricken, the number of counties under drought conditions continued to shrink, according to Texas AgriLife Extension Service reports and the U.S. Drought Monitor.

From Interstate 45 to the east, most counties were either completely out of the drought or merely abnormally dry. Though most of the counties to the west of I-45 remained under drought, only about 25 percent were rated as being in severe or exceptional drought.

New research continues to show that the use of oxygen barrier films protects feedstuffs better than standard plastic coverings. Experiments to compare the effects of oxygen barrier films on the composition and losses from the upper layers of ensiled crops were carried out by a trio of European research institutions, in conjunction with Silostop. 

Lyle Yost was born on March 5, 1913, near Hesston, Kansas. He attended Goshen College in Goshen, Indiana, where he received his Bachelor's Degree in Economics in 1937 and a teaching certificate in 1942. In 1938, he married Erma Martin. In 1943, they moved to the family farm where his grandfather and father had lived, just north of Hesston.

National 4-H Council has received a $500,000 donation from the Monsanto Company to drive the continued expansion of the National 4-H Volunteer Initiative. This grant will fund vital volunteer training programs and the development of new volunteer recruitment and retention strategies.

The National 4-H Volunteer Initiative provides 4-H’s network of more than 540,000 existing volunteers with an extensive hands-on training experience - enhancing their abilities to effectively mentor youth with positive youth development opportunities to learn leadership, citizenship and other important life skills.

Dow AgroSciences has launched the Pretty Sure Photo Contest sponsored by SureStart herbicide. The contest features a website for sharing - and voting on - photos of unexpected moments on the farm. From a tractor stuck in mud to a tipped-over grain cart, growers can upload their Pretty-Sure photos for a chance to be selected as one of three winners.

Just when Arkansas forage and livestock producers thought they’d get a break after last year’s drought, their newly greened up pastures are falling prey to true armyworms, said Kelly Loftin, extension entomologist with the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.  

“We are seeing true armyworm damage in pastures across many areas of the state, but damage seem to be more concentrated in northeast Arkansas with some pockets in the southwest part of the state,” he said.

Rusty Harder has been appointed product manager for adjuvants at Wilbur-Ellis, an international marketer and distributor of agriculture products. He will be responsible for all operations related to the adjuvants products.

Today’s farmers and ranchers are so busy increasing their productivity to meet the needs of a growing world that they don’t have time to sit and visit with their neighbors like they used to. However, there is still great value in building relationships, sharing information and asking for advice. cropNAtion, the social media platform for agriculture which launched in 2011, allows farmers and ranchers to connect with each other whether they are across the country or across the section.