Gray & Pink Molds Being Found in Indiana Cornfields
Wet, cool conditions not only keep farmers out of the fields but also favor moldy corn. One Purdue University specialist is getting calls from around the state about Diplodia and Gibberella ear rots in corn.  There's a lot of Diplodia ear rot located throughout Indiana, especially in the northeast and southeast, said Charles Woloshuk, Purdue Extension pathologist who specializes in corn mycotoxins. The level ranges anywhere from a few percent up to 30 percent of the ears are infected, he said.  Diplodia ear rot is characterized by a grayish or grayish-brown mold on and between the kernels on part of the ear. Gibberella ear rot, also known as Gib, is characterized by a pink to reddish mold, which begins at the tip of the ear and develops toward the base. Gib is easy to identify in the field on intact ears, but is more difficult to identify once the grain has been shelled.

Mold in Indiana Cornfields 

Lawmakers Seek 100 Million in Pork Aid
Members of congress, including an Indiana democrat, have weighed in strongly with the USDA Secretary for a major new infusion of pork aid. The more than 5-dozen farm state lawmakers informed Tom Vilsack that without significant new help for the pork industry, thousands of rural jobs and businesses are at risk of going belly up.  The house members are asking that Vilsack spend 100-million from so-called "section-32" customs receipts to buy pork for federal feeding programs, especially from sows to reduce breeding stock and hog oversupply.  Indiana democrat Joe Donnelly knows first-hand the trouble the hog industry is in. "I have two of the three largest pork producers in the state, in our Congressional district, and you know, I've gone to ag meeting after ag meeting, and everybody is looking and saying, 'we'll work to get through this.' But you can see it has caused tremendous damage."
Lawmakers Seek Pork Aid

Study: Corn Plants Can Break Yield Barrier with Right Resources
A Purdue University researcher's motto "No plant left behind," sums up his research on achieving increased grain yield for corn at higher plant densities.  "The only way to pursue and achieve higher grain yields on a per-acre basis at high plant densities is to make sure that every single plant has the opportunity to compete with its neighbor in the row," said Tony Vyn, professor of agronomy. "The only way to achieve this competition ability is to have the genetic resources, in terms of a hybrid's ability to compete and gain access to nutrients and water."  The results of this three-year study, which looked at approximately 4,000 individual plants each of the three years, are published in the early online version of Agronomy Journal.
Corn Plants Can Break Yield Barrier

Indiana 4H Congress Trains Tomorrow's Ag Leaders
The Indiana 4H Congress was held over the weekend in Hendricks County. The 4H Congress is a daylong event providing leadership training for both adults and youth. Chuck Hibbard, Director of Extension, told HAT that leadership is a key element for those involved in agriculture today, as well as for those who will be the leaders of tomorrow, "We have brought together 150 students from all over the state to listen to strong ag leaders like Purdue Ag Dean Jay Akridge, and to participate in training sessions that will develop their leadership skills." Other sessions were led by young people involved in the State 4H Jr. Leader program. In addition to training sessions for youth, several sessions were held for adults and 4H leaders. This year's Congress, sponsored by Countrymark and Ice Miller LLP, also focused on science and technology. Hibbard said the future of agricultural innovation will be driven by those with passion and skill in the area of science and technology.
Indiana 4H Congress