Dr. Osei Yeboah, an SAES associate professor who also serves as the interim director of the SAES’s International Trade Center, says that: “In the last two years, small producers, cooperatives, and small businesses have been facing historic energy, economic and environmental challenges. To address these issues, we are inviting program managers from USDA and state agencies to give an overview of their programs and funding opportunities available for producers and businesses.”

Members of the Cooperative Extension field staff, and professionals from other small-farm and rural business support agencies who are interested in registering to attend the forum should contact Yeboah.

Yeboah was part of a 100-member review panel selected to evaluate applications in September for the Department of Energy Biomass Energy Program at the agency’s Colorado field office. The DOE will be directing $500 million in stimulus funding to commercial-scale production of gasoline, jet fuel, and ethanol from corn, sugar, woody biomass and other feedstocks. ]]> http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/2009/11/saes-international-trade-cente.html http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/2009/11/saes-international-trade-cente.html Academic Departments Agribusiness, Applied Economics and Agriscience Education Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:08:06 -0500 At the 2009 Association of Career and Technical Education (ACTE) Region II Conference in Savannah in late September, Dr. Paula E. Faulkner of the Department of Agribusiness, Applied Economics, and Agriscience Education presented a paper covering her research into “Attitudes, Educational, and Career Choices of Food and Agricultural Sciences Institute Participants.”

The Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) promotes approaches to education that prepare students — adults as well as youth — for career opportunities. The organization was established in 1926 and has now grown into the largest organization of its niche in the United States. Its membership roll is up to almost 30,000 career and technical educators, and researchers and administrators in aligned secondary, post-secondary and adult education programs.]]> http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/2009/10/student-study-results-presente.html http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/2009/10/student-study-results-presente.html Agribusiness, Applied Economics and Agriscience Education Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:46:10 -0500 USDA Rural Development has announced a series of job creation and business promotion grants that will be going to 1890 Land-Grant Institutions, and $115,000 of that funding will be headed to the SAES's International Trade Center for a one-year project that will provide "Sustainable Initiatives for Improving Energy Efficiency and Productivity of Small Farms and Businesses in Rural Communities of North Carolina." Dr. Osei Yeboah, interim director of the SAES's International Trade Center, is the project director, and his team will include Dr. Paula Faulkner and Victor Ofori-Boadu of the Department of Agribusiness, Applied Economics, and Agriscience Education. Co-principal investigators are Drs. Musibau Shofoluwe and Frank Yeboah of the A&T School of Technology.

Among the primary objectives are training in business and economic development assistance to farming industries, and assistance for mushroom producers with USDA's National Organic Standard Certification process. Communities targeted for business development training and technical assistance for minority contractors are in Halifax, Northampton, Warren and Edgecombe counties. The project team will also be working to provide targeted rural communities with guidance in energy efficiency and management, and development of sources of renewable energy.]]> http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/2009/09/international-trade-center-get.html http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/2009/09/international-trade-center-get.html Agribusiness, Applied Economics and Agriscience Education Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:56:24 -0500 A study of wine and grape production in North Carolina released earlier this year that puts forward some suggestions for additional state funding for an industry that now has four times as many wineries as it did in 2000, has caught the eye of several publications, including Triad Business and one of the Internet’s most frequently visited viniculture websites. The research team compiling the study included faculty and staff from UNCG and A&T, and the two A&T members of the team are Victor Ofori-Boadu, a research assistant with the Department of Agribusiness, Applied Economics and Agriscience Education and Dr. Osei-Agyeman Yeboah, associate professor and interim director of the SAES’s International Trade Center.

Graduates with master’s degrees in agricultural economics get jobs involving producing and processing food, developing agricultural policy, helping rural communities preserve and develop their economic strengths, and protecting natural resources. An estimated 24,000 jobs will be opening in food, agriculture and natural resources in the next five years, according to the USDA, but there are only 20,000 graduates to fill those positions. “The opportunities and positions exist,” Yeboah says. “We just want to make sure that we are preparing the caliber of graduates needed to fill these positions.” For information on the master’s degree program in agricultural economics, call Yeboah at (336) 334-7943 or e-mail him. ]]> http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/2009/09/saes-has-new-online-graduate-p.html http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/2009/09/saes-has-new-online-graduate-p.html Agribusiness, Applied Economics and Agriscience Education Wed, 02 Sep 2009 16:56:01 -0500 Dr. Antoine Alston, coordinator of the SAES Agricultural Education Program, is one of the co-authors of an article summarizing a research project in the August issue of the Journal of Extension. Alston and William Strader, an agricultural Extension agent at the Franklin County Center in Louisburg, have been studying “North Central Piedmont North Carolina Tobacco Producers' Views Towards The Federal Tobacco Quota Buyout.”. Among the study’s recommendations is an increase in Extension educational programming to assist tobacco producers in learning about other commodity enterprises.]]> http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/2009/09/tobacco-rode.html http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/2009/09/tobacco-rode.html Agribusiness, Applied Economics and Agriscience Education Wed, 02 Sep 2009 16:51:00 -0500 A&T students who have been toying with notions of spending a summer or semester studying abroad will have an opportunity to pick up some new ideas to bounce around at the University’s Study Abroad Fair on Wednesday, Sept. 2, from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in Stallings Ballroom at the Memorial Student Union building.

The SAES has three international programs that will be highlighted at the Study Abroad Fair:
• The Peace Corps Master’s International Program , which is now accepting applications —combines graduate school with Peace Corps service to give students a resume that includes both a master’s degree and two years of work experience in international development.
• Dr. Terrence Thomas has openings to send two more students to Ege University in Turkey next fall as part of an exchange program made possible by a USDA grant.
• Dr. Anthony Yeboah and John Paul Owens of the Dept. of Agribusiness, Applied Economics and Agriscience Education are project co-directors for a Capacity Building Grant that is providing SAES students with scholarships for study abroad. The grant also provides funding to help defray the costs of airfare, passports, visas, vaccinations, health insurance, and other costs associated with international travel. Applications are now being accepted from SAES students who would like to apply for study abroad scholarships for spring and summer of 2010.]]> http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/2009/08/global-gusto.html http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/2009/08/global-gusto.html Academic Departments Agribusiness, Applied Economics and Agriscience Education Wed, 19 Aug 2009 16:29:34 -0500 This fall two students from the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Design will travel to Africa and Asia to study, and Their international study experiences are partially supported by the SAES global studies grant administered by Dr. Anthony Yeboah and John Paul Owens of the Dept. of Agribusiness, Applied Economics and Agriscience Education. Both students are bioenvironmental engineering majors. Kori Higgs will be studying in Ghana and Annette Sparks will be studying in Korea.

Yeboah and Owens have been notified of funding for a new four-year project "Enhancing the International Agricultural Campus: Strengthen Faculty and Student Global Competency and Competitiveness." The funding will be used to establish linkages with universities in French-speaking Canada and Ghana, as well as student and faculty exchanges in a number of other countries. ]]> http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/2009/08/international-developments.html http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/2009/08/international-developments.html Academic Departments Agribusiness, Applied Economics and Agriscience Education Wed, 05 Aug 2009 16:36:28 -0500 In August an SAES grad student majoring in agricultural economics will become the second SAES student to embark on a two-year Peace Corps assignment as part of the Peace Corps Master’s International Program, which gives students such as Janine Parker an option for graduate study that fuses Peace Corps service, upper level courses and financial support. Parker will depart next month for Guatemala to complete a two-year Peace Corps assignment. Parker will be the second Peace Corps Master’s International student in the program to take on a foreign assignment. Courtney Owens was the first student to graduate from this program. He returned last fall from his Peace Corps assignment in Burkina Faso, West Africa. Prior to departure for Guatemala, Parker is spending the summer working as an intern at the University of Kentucky, where she hopes to eventually pursue a Ph.D.]]> http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/2009/07/guatemalan-callin.html http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/2009/07/guatemalan-callin.html Agribusiness, Applied Economics and Agriscience Education Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:51:40 -0500 Each summer, the Department of Agribusiness, Applied Economics and Agriscience Education hosts the Institute for Future Agriculture Leaders (IFAL) — a five-day conference for high school students interested in programs of study offered by the SAES. The 2008 IFAL will begin on Sunday, June 14, and continue through Friday, June 19. All students selected for the program (approximately 50 this year) are rising seniors in the top third of their classes. The IFAL experience has a special emphasis on career opportunities, emerging technology, and the scientific and commercial aspects of agriculture. The North Carolina Farm Bureau provides funding support for the SAES IFAL, and for similar program at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at N. C. State.]]> http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/2009/06/saes-to-be-landing-pad-for-som.html http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/2009/06/saes-to-be-landing-pad-for-som.html Agribusiness, Applied Economics and Agriscience Education SAES Wed, 10 Jun 2009 15:29:28 -0500 USDA Rural Development has set a June 19 deadline for grant applications for the Community Connect Program that has been established to bring broadband service — and Internet connectivity — to rural communities with populations under 20,000. Grant awards will range from $50,000 to $1 million, and project possibilities include equipment purchases and provisions for bringing broadband service (on par with that available in most urban areas in the U.S.) to rural areas where the addition of broadband service holds potential for economic development, or improvements in health care delivery, educational outreaches or public safety. Local government units are eligible to apply (as are cooperatives) provided the units have authority to own and operate broadband facilities, enter into contractual agreements and assure compliance with applicable federal statutes and regulations.]]> http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/2009/05/know-of-nc-rural-communities-w.html http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/2009/05/know-of-nc-rural-communities-w.html Agribusiness, Applied Economics and Agriscience Education Cooperative Extension Wed, 13 May 2009 16:07:44 -0500 An SAES graduate student whose project advisor was Dr. Osei Yeboah brought home third place honors in the graduate student research poster competition at the 24th Annual Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences (MANRRS) Conference in Indianapolis the third week of March. The poster on research into “U.S. Sugar Under CAFTA-DR Bilateral Trade” brought a cash award of $200 along with the third-place finish for Janine Parker, a graduate student in the Department of Agribusiness, Applied Economics and Agriscience Education. Parker also received guidance and assistance with the poster from Dr. Paula Faulkner of the Department of Agribusiness, Applied Economics and Agriscience Education.

Faulkner and Larry Hartsfield, USDA's 1890 liaison for A&T, assisted the SAES chapter of MANRRS’ faculty advisor, Dr. Tracy Hanner, by serving as co-advisors and chaperones for a delegation of nine SAES students who attended the 2009 MARNRS. The conference drew more than a thousand students from around the country for an annual gathering that now includes a career fair in addition to research competitions and opportunities to network with a number of USDA agencies.]]> http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/2009/04/sweet-spot.html http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/2009/04/sweet-spot.html Agribusiness, Applied Economics and Agriscience Education Animal Sciences Wed, 15 Apr 2009 15:42:42 -0500 Tuesday, March 17, was Spring Honors Convocation at Harrison Auditorium, and four members of the SAES faculty received recognitions that merit repeating:

• For each academic year, one faculty member from each of the University’s seven schools and colleges is selected for a Teach of the Year Award, and Dr. Godfrey Ejimakor was the SAES recipient for the 2008-09 academic year.

• The Academy for Teaching and Learning at A&T named Dr. Rosemarie Vardell of the Dept. of Family and Consumer Sciences one of two recipients of its Junior Faculty Teaching Excellence Awards for the 2008-09 academic year. Vardell shares the award with Dr. Jerono Rotich of the School of Education.

• Dr. Paula Faulkner of the Dept of Agribusiness, Applied Economics and Agriscience Education and Dr. Jenora Waterman of the Dept. of Animal Sciences were among the A&T faculty that the Division of Research and Economic Development announced as selections for the Summer Faculty Fellowship Program. The program gives those faculty members selected the opportunity to focus on their research work for six weeks by working on a proposal, preparing an article for peer-reviewed publication or another research activity. ]]> http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/2009/03/saes-faculty-among-the-honoree.html http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/2009/03/saes-faculty-among-the-honoree.html Agribusiness, Applied Economics and Agriscience Education Animal Sciences Family and Consumer Sciences Wed, 18 Mar 2009 16:34:33 -0500 A&T students who have been toying with notions of spending a summer or semester studying abroad will have an opportunity to pick up some new ideas to bounce around at the University’s Study Abroad Fair on Wednesday, April 1, from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in Stallings Ballroom at the Memorial Student Union Building.

The SAES has three international programs that will be highlighted at the Study Abroad Fair:
• The Peace Corps Master’s International Program — which combines graduate school with Peace Corps service to give students a resume that includes both a master’s degree and two years of work experience in international development — is accepting applications.
• Dr. Terrence Thomas has openings to send two more students to Ege University in Turkey next fall as part of an exchange program made possible by a USDA grant.
• Dr. Anthony Yeboah and John Paul Owens of the Dept. of Agribusiness, Applied Economics and Agriscience Education are project co-directors for a Capacity Building Grant that is providing SAES students with scholarships for study abroad. The grant also provides funding to help defray the costs of airfare, passports, visas, vaccinations, health insurance, and other costs associated with international travel. Applications are now being accepted from SAES students who would like to apply for study abroad scholarships for spring and summer of 2010.]]> http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/2009/03/worldly-series.html http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/2009/03/worldly-series.html Agribusiness, Applied Economics and Agriscience Education SAES Wed, 18 Mar 2009 16:30:41 -0500 The Department of Agribusiness, Applied Economics and Agriscience Education will be hosting its annual Ag. Literacy Barbecue Fest on Thursday, Feb. 26, from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Stallings Ballroom in the Memorial Student Union Building. A contingent of teachers and students from area high schools have been invited to campus to learn about the academic programs and career opportunities in the School of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences. The students visiting will also get overviews of research projects at the University Farm. 

The SAES Agriscience Education Program hosts the Ag. Literacy Fest each February as part of the national celebration of FFA Week. Established in 1928, the FFA has now grown into an organization with more than half a million members and $2 million in college scholarships awarded through the National FFA Foundation. The scholarship application deadline for 2009 is Feb. 17. The online application form matches applicants to all scholarships for which they are qualified.