The Ag e-Dispatch

New highway for bachelor’s in agricultural education now open - The Ag eDispatch

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 16:24:00 -0500

Dr. Alton Thompson, the SAES dean, and Dr. Johnny Wynne, his counterpart at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at North Carolina State, have had an official signing ceremony for a new agreement between the Department of Agribusiness, Applied Economics and Agriscience Education at A&T and the Agricultural Institute at N.C. State. Students receiving Associate of Applied Science (A.A.S.) degrees from the Agricultural Institute in any of five fields can now transfer up to 64 credit hours toward a bachelor’s in Agricultural Education at A&T, and they can progress toward their bachelor’s via traditional on-campus classroom instruction, or via the 2 + 2 Online Studies Program. The five Agricultural Institute A.A.S. programs that are now official steppingstones toward a bachelor’s in agricultural education at A&T are: Agribusiness Management - Horticulture, Ornamentals and Landscape Technology, Turfgrass Management, General Agriculture, and Livestock and Poultry Management.

Guilford County’s largest classroom now has fitting Web presence - The Ag eDispatch

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 16:24:00 -0500

A new addition to the SAES Web site is up and ready to serve as a resource for faculty and staff: a URL http://www.ag.ncat.edu/farm/index.html for the University Farm and its beef, dairy, equine horticulture, poultry, small ruminant, and swine units. More than 30 photos of the farm units are part of the package, so if you’ve not had an opportunity for a first-hand inspection of some of the new and renovated facilities at the farm, here’s http://www.ag.ncat.edu/farm/index.html your chance.

Career steerage - The Ag eDispatch

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 16:20:00 -0500

A&T’s Office of Career Services is bringing more than 130 corporate recruiters, and representatives from government agencies and other employers to campus for the Spring Career Fair at Corbett Sports Center on Thursday, Feb. 21, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The faculty mentors of SAES students should note that the list of recruiters coming to campus includes a number of agribusiness firms, several state and federal agencies, food processing firms, and internship as well as employment opportunities. The SAES’s Office of Student Services gave some SAES students a jumpstart on thinking about careers by making arrangements for representatives from three agribusiness firms — pork producer Murphy-Brown LLC, Fort Dodge Animal Health and Cargill — to meet with animal sciences students earlier in February.

Savings grace - The Ag eDispatch

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 16:19:00 -0500

NC Saves Week is Feb. 24 to March 2. This is a statewide campaign to encourage North Carolina residents to commit to saving. Nationally, most families have low or no savings to fall back on, so they use credit cards to fill the savings gap. The NCSaves campaign asks individuals to enroll in the program by setting a savings goal. The campaign hopes to enroll 3000 savers during this week. Dr. Claudette Smith, family financial management specialist and program leader for The Cooperative Extension Program at A&T, wants you to be one of them. All partnering organizations have a goal to ensure the state goal is achieved; Dr. Smith needs your help. And everyone, considering today’s economy, should be thinking about building their savings. You can sign up using the MSWord form that can be e-mailed to her or delivered to her office at Coltrane Hall once it has been completed. You can also sign up online. Those who fill out the form and commit to a new savings plan during America Saves Week will receive a regular newsletter, the American Saver, which provides tips and motivational stories that will keep them pumped up for reaching their savings goal. Enrolling during NCSaves Week will also make you eligible for drawings for savings bonds donated by North Carolina financial institutions. Your information will not be shared or sold to marketers. NCSaves week is sponsored by the North Carolina IDA Collaborative, United Way of North Carolina, Office of the NC State Treasurer, Federal Reserve, N.C. Cooperative Extension, EITC Carolinas and the North Carolina Bankers Association, FDIC.

NC Research Campus growing quickly into a facility to reckon with - The Ag eDispatch

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 16:18:00 -0500

On Thursday, Feb. 28, Dean Alton Thompson and his administrative team will have a special faculty summit from noon to 3 p.m. (lunch will be served) in the Godfrey Multipurpose room at Coltrane Hall. The first topic on the agenda will be the N.C. Research Campus in Kannapolis, the SAES’s Center for Post Harvest Technologies, and opportunities that the SAES slice of a $1 billion facility represent for SAES research, teaching and Extension faculty. Another topic on the summit agenda is the recently released report by the University of North Carolina Tomorrow Commission, established by Erskine Bowles, president of the UNC system, to formulate recommendations for how the 16-campus system can meet the needs of North Carolinians in the next 20 years. The report addresses some issue of strategic relevance for SAES Extension, research and instruction.

Animal magnetism - The Ag eDispatch

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 16:18:00 -0500

Controversies have been swirling around conventional approaches to animal agriculture at both the state and national levels in recent weeks. The Charlotte Observer began a six-part series of articles that was hard on the poultry industry on Feb. 10, and the largest beef recall on record gobbled up newspaper headlines the following Sunday. (Video footage from a slaughterhouse that had unsettling revelations about handling sick and injured animals sparked the recall.) With animal agriculture now hot on the public consciousness, the focus for the educational forums during Small Farms Week 2008 (March 31 – April 6) looks presciently timely. There will be programs on pastured swine and poultry, and goat herd management on Tuesday, April 1, that will be of special interest to small-scale farmers in view of the recent negative publicity for “corporate farming.” This heightened interest could translate to a surge in the return rate for Small Farms Week registrations. SAES faculty and staff are strongly encouraged to avoid getting shut out by completing their registration forms and returning them ASAP.

Inspection service has scholarship program that merits scrutiny - The Ag eDispatch

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 16:17:00 -0500

USDA’s Animal and Plant health Inspection Service (APHIS) has a scholarship opportunity for students enrolled in many agricultural studies programs that has a March 1 application deadline. Eligibility requirements include sophomore or junior status, a 2.5 GPA and available to work for APHIS during the summers and holiday breaks. Students selected may be eligible for up to $5,000 in financial assistance.

Family and Consumer Sciences professionals to gather in GSO - The Ag eDispatch

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 16:16:00 -0500

Registration is still under way for the 90th annual meeting of the North Carolina Association of Family and Consumer Sciences in Greensboro March 13 - 15. The early bird discount deadline has passed, and registration fees are now $165 for members and $185 for nonmembers. The three-day meeting, at the Greensboro Marriott Downtown, will have research presentations as well as educational sessions. Dr. Jane Walker of the SAES’s Department of Family and Consumer Sciences is currently First Vice President of the North Carolina Association of Family and Consumer Sciences, and also the planner for the annual meeting. Walker has a tip to pass along to faculty, staff and students who will be attending the conference. There’s an optional tour of historic Greensboro on the agenda that is going to be well worth the additional $21, even for longtime Greensboro residents.

Spring is in the air - The Ag eDispatch

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 16:15:00 -0500

The Guilford County Extension Center will be accepting orders through Feb. 28 for its annual 4-H plant sale. This year’s offerings include blackberries, blueberries, fig trees, muscadine grapes and heritage apples. All orders must be pre-paid, and picked up (at the Guilford County Extension Center, 3309 Burlington Rd.) March 7 or 8. Proceeds from the plant sale will go to reducing the costs for Guilford County 4-H’ers attending camp and National 4-H Congress.

Four openings coming to a close - The Ag eDispatch

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 16:15:00 -0500

The Department of Human Resources at A&T will be accepting applications until Feb. 28 for an animal research technician who will work at the Swine Unit at the University Farm. The Cooperative Extension Program at A&T has openings for 4-H Youth Development agents in both Wilson and Guilford counties. These positions require a bachelor’s in child development, family and consumer sciences or a related field. Applications will be accepted until March 4 for the position in Wilson County, and until March 11 for the Guilford County position. Extension is also looking for an animal sciences specialist, and the application deadline for that position is March 15. The search committee is looking for candidates with doctorates in animal sciences or veterinary medicine.

The Ag eDispatch: Worldly approach