SUMMER 2012 The Grain Chain | | | Kentucky Spirit(s) T O M ARKE T , T O M ARKE T SUMMER 2012 THE magazine Volume 13 | Number 2 The Ag Magazine is published by the from the dean University of Kentucky College of Agriculture. FAR HORIZONS © 2012 University of Kentucky College of Agriculture Kentucky bourbons and wines, cattle, soybeans, and other foodstuffs have found a niche M. Scott Smith in the huge, developing markets of Asia. South America, too, is beginning to open up as Dean a major importer of American agricultural goods. Nancy M. Cox Associate Dean for Research contentsFEATURES The growth of those international markets, as both Director, Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station population and incomes rise, is key to the remarkable Jimmy C. Henning Associate Dean for Extension expansion of Kentucky farm sales over the last decade— Director, Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service Kentucky Spirit(s) Larry Grabau about one third of the state’s agricultural production is Associate Dean for Instruction “It will make a rabbit walk right up and spit in exported. Despite losing roughly $1 billion of tobacco ______________ a bull dog’s eye.” —Melville Amasa Scovell, speaking in 1906 of rectified whiskeys. and equine sales during this time, farm gate receipts AGRICULTURAL COMMUNICATIONS 8 have increased by about $2 billion. There are many SERVICES DIRECTOR: positive factors in this success, but soaring grain prices Laura Skillman driven by global demand is the largest. EDITOR: The Grain Chain Many forecasters predict that demand for food and Carol L. Spence agricultural products will grow faster than supplies over DESIGNER: In October, it’s only a tiny seed waiting to be Linda Millercox planted. By June, it helps fuel economies, the next few decades. Some even conclude our long era WRITERS: 12 create jobs, build corporate partnerships, and most importantly, feed people around the world. of cheap commodities and food is coming to an end, or at least, long-lasting changes Jeff Franklin Aimee Nielson are under way. Katie Pratt Carol L. Spence The most recent estimates are that world food production must double by 2040 to PHOTOGRapHERS: meet the global demand. How is this possible if most of the planet’s cultivable land with Matt Barton To Market, To Market Stephen Patton available fresh water is already in production? If these projections are to be realized, the AddITIONAL PHOTO CREDIT: A local farmer raised the steer that provided the pace of improvements in yield and productivity that we have enjoyed for several decades Page 2, slug provided by James Harwood; beef that flavored the soup that Montgomery must be sustained, and possibly increased. Clearly, the need for agricultural research Page 3, row covers provided by Tim Coolong; County students eat. The journey from farm to Pages 4-5 by Carol L. Spence; Page 6, tornado 16 fork, however, requires a few stops along the way. and technology transfer is as great as it has ever been. destruction photo by Jimmy Henning; Page 6, tornado relief work by Brad Beckman; Similarly, in a globalized economy America’s universities can expect that an increasing Page 7, BMW photos provided by Carol Hanley; Page 9, illustration by Dennis Duross; fraction of our graduates will travel and work beyond our borders. This issue of the maga- Page 15, wheat blast photos by Paul Bachi; Alumni News Page 21 and back cover photos provided by Scott Hostetler; NEWS IN BRIEF zine includes a profile of Scott Hostetler, a 1988 graduate of the Landscape Architecture ©ThinkStock.com ______________ Through scholarships, creativity, research, and 28 program, who founded one of the world’s largest international landscape architecture dedication, College alumni are leaving their • Short Rows • 4-H Means Business design firms. His company has offices in four Asian cities and employs hundreds of SEND COMMENTS AND LETTERS TO: marks. 20 • No Pests, No Mess The Ag Magazine Editor designers worldwide. Agricultural Communications • Heal the Land, Heal the Heart International travel experience is one of the best ways we can help the graduates of our 131 Scovell Hall • Spotlight: Mark Williams University of Kentucky college become world-ready. Faculty-led study trips are nothing new—we have sustained a Lexington, Kentucky 40546-0064 • To Relish an Education • First Fridays are Fresh student exchange with a university in Dijon, France since 1991—but we appear to be on E-mail: [email protected] REPORTS TO THE PEOPLE target to set a record this summer, with six organized groups of up to 14 students each slated to go to France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Denmark, Argentina, the Czech Republic, and Ghana. Academic Programs While the world is growing in population and, in many regions, wealth, it appears to Annual Report 2011 be shrinking with regard to communication and interaction. In a future of increasing in- STRIP-IN ternational competition and collaboration, we can expect increasing demands upon and 24 FCS logo opportunities for our food and agriculture systems and for the students we graduate. in this space— Advancement This creates an even greater role for America’s land-grant university system, continuing centered Annual Report 2011 to lead the way in education, research, and service. green positive 26 M. Scott Smith Mention or display of a trademark, proprietary product, or firm in text or images does not constitute an endorsement and does not imply Dean and Director, College of Agriculture approval to the exclusion of other suitable products or firms. The UK College of Agriculture is an Equal Opportunity Organization. NEWSSHORT in brie ROWSf NEWS in brief Don’t be a Drip Follow the advice of Ashley Osborne, UK Environmental and Natural Resources Initiative, and pledge to save 40 gallons of water a day. It’s simple. Brushing your teeth? Turn Cirque du off the water and save as much as eight gallons a day. Sweep your driveway rather than hose it down and save 22. If everyone who receives The Ag Magazine took the pledge, we’d save nearly 800,000 gallons of Slug water in a single day—that’s enough to produce more than an acre of corn! The ground dwelling leopard And that ain’t chicken feed. slug Limax maximus, which UK entomologist James Harwood says can be found in suburbia, greenhouses, and 4-H MEANS BUSINESS farmland, turns into a high wire artist when True Blue There aren’t many selling merchandise, she knew What they learn is record- Pet accessories and home- its thoughts turn to procreation. Unlike other THE TANGY, TASTY BLUEBERRY, the essence of summer, is a natural 13-year-olds who she wanted to go home and keeping, budgeting, inventory, made soaps are examples slugs, it mates suspended in the air for Kentucky and not just because of its color. The start a 4-H Means Business and how to count change. It of the variety of merchandise have their own club in Boyle County. With the also teaches them people the Boyle County 4-H’ers sell. on a thick mucus strand. fruit is native to North America and gaining in businesses, let alone help of her mom, then Univer- skills. Some of them make their own popularity among Kentucky growers. Mostly a storefront business. But sity of Kentucky 4-H Extension “It’s great for their inter- products, while others buy and passed over by pests or diseases, an Boyle County’s Griffin Blevins Specialist Stephanie Blevins, personal skills; it gives them add value to merchandise for acre of mature bushes can yield 5,000 does. Two days a week, she that’s what she did. The club lots of practice working with resale. But whatever they sell, to 11,000 pounds of berries if planted sells her hand-made Scrabble- started in 2010 with three the public,” said Kim Ragland, they must give 10 percent of on a good site. They do require an tile pendants and Murano and members; it has grown to 17 Boyle County 4-H youth devel- their profits to a charity of their acidic soil, however, and that’s not Pandora beads jewelry from her today, with members ranging in opment agent. choice, while also saving and store in Danville. age from 9 to 14. “One young man was so shy putting money back into their all that common in the state. But UK It all started for Griffin after “This, by far, is the most he would not speak to anyone businesses. horticulturist John Strang says soil attending a 4-H Means Busi- comprehensive program 4-H outside of his family, no one,” “It’s a whole different way of amendments can create a welcoming ness sale in Madison County, does. It lets kids implement she said. “Today he will stand thinking,” Ragland said, “and A GROWTH environment for our true blue berry. where the club originated. what they learn,” said Stepha- up and speak to strangers and for some, nothing else has INDUSTRY Impressed with all the 4-H’ers nie Blevins. does a great job.” spoken to them like this.” The national greenhouse and nursery industry showed its biggest growth 20 to 30 years Cucumber beetles and squash bugs can wreak ago, but it wasn’t until 2000 that Kentucky’s industry started to expand,doubling havoc on melons, squashes, and gourds. Most its numbers in the first eight years of the new century. According to cucurbit growers spray systemic insecticides to control insects, Dewayne Ingram, UK professor for nursery crops, the growth in the state No Pests, but UK entomologists and horticulture specialists are teaming coincides with Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund investments up with Iowa State University faculty to investigate potential in research, extension, marketing assistance, and advertising chemical-free alternatives.