Spring 2017 Frist Blog

Hello, my name is Kyle Fogle I am from Greensburg, Indiana where I grew up helping on my grandpa on his farm and soon after for a couple different farmers. I am currently a sophomore here at Purdue and my first semester here has gone very well. I chose the agronomic business and management as I did not grow up on the family farm but want to stay directly involved in agriculture. My summer plans include a internship with Primer Ag crop scouting. One nice thing is I will be based out of the Greensburg branch.

Intro-First Blog

Hello all! My name is Ashley Thurman. I was born and raised on a family farm in Hartford City, Indiana. I am a current freshmen here at Purdue, studying agronomy. My interests in agronomy started as I got older and my dad and grandpa taught me things around the farm. I decided I wanted to learn more about what they do everyday for a living an make it a part of my future as well. Now that I have taken a few agronomy classes, it is really interesting to compare what dad had taught me to what I am learning more about now. Some the information, I never realized how much thought is put into every choice made on the family farm. I also enjoy talking to my dad about my class schedule becasue it is basically the same schedule that he had when he attended Purdue! I pulled out a syllabus for one of my classes and he said that is hadn't changed much from when he took the same class! So, I think it is neat that I am taking after my Dad and enjoying every second of it!
This summer I will be living in Lebanon, Indiana. I have a summer internship with Remington Seeds. I am excited to gain new experiences and meet new people. Thankfully, my start date is May 22, so I will have a few weeks to relax after I finish my freshmen year this spring!

Have a Great Weekend!

Ashley

Spring 2017

Hey Folks!

Things get busy as we reach the end of the semester. Final projects come around, and club business all needs to be resolved before the coming summer. This summer, I have the privilege of interning with Beck's Hybrids in Atlanta, IN. I am very excited for this opportunity and can't wait for whats in store! I found this opportunity through the fall career fair that the College of Agriculture puts on every year. Its the second largest agriculture career fair in the nation! Companies are always super excited to talk to you, because they understand the degree of intelligence you have as a Purdue student.

But before this summer comes along, I have a lot on campus to do. Last semester I was elected to the position of Agronomy Club president for this year, so we have a few end of the year things to wrap up. Besides that, classes and finals are almost in full swing. My two favorite classes this year have been Plant Biotechnology and  Global Ag Awareness. Plant Biotechnology is a challenging yet incredibly interesting class about the process of altering plants and what can be done with them. It has been one of the classes I have learned most in my entire college career! The other class, Global Ag Awareness, is an interesting class in which we discuss various regions of the world each week, the history of that region, and the problems that region is facing. I have learned a lot about world issues through that class. Besides that, I am staying on top of assignments, but ready for the summer.

Thanks for reading!

Nick Roysdon

Fall Semester

This past fall was a busy semester! As harvest wrapped up, my sorority kept me busy with barn dances, our fall philanthropy (where we sold warm cider, caramel corn, and long sleeve Comfort Color shirts to benefit Breaking New Ground, Indiana AgrAbility), and wrapping up my last semester as recruitment chair! Sigma Alpha is the professional agricultural sorority that I belong to, and have been a part of since my freshman year of college! Our mission is to cultivate professional women in agriculture. I have gained not only sorority sisters, but friendships that will last a lifetime! We are a professional sorority that meets once a week, on Monday nights for chapter. Currently, we don't have a house, but we are considering looking into Greek housing due to how much our chapter has grown in membership the past few years. Sigma Alpha currently has around 80 active members, which is a large membership for not having a designated Greek house. Our philanthropy, Breaking New Ground, is a huge reason why I joined Sigma Alpha. Breaking New Ground is an outreach of Purdue's Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, that has become internationally recognized as the primary source for information and resources on rehabilitation technology for persons working in agriculture. Sigma Alpha raises monetary funds to provide assistance for farmers who may need more access into their farm machinery so that they can purchase lifts for their combines and tractors, and even wheelchair accessible ramps for their barns. I have an uncle who was involved in a farming accident, so Breaking New Ground is an organization near and dear to my heart! Here is the link to Indiana AgrAbility's website if anyone is interested in checking that out! https://engineering.purdue.edu/~bng/index.php

Sigma Alpha Beta Chapter can be reached at: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SigmaAlphaBetaChapter/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sigmaalpha_beta/ or username: @sigmaalpha_beta

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SigmaAlpha_Beta or username: @SigmaAlpha_Beta

In October I started working in the Weed Science Department under Dr. Brian Young, as an undergraduate research assistant. BTNY 304, the Introduction to Weed Science course, was one of my favorite classes at Purdue that I took as a freshman, that was taught by Dr. Young. I highly recommend taking BTNY 304; I learned a lot about weed identification and Integrated Pest Management (IPM), that has been extremely helpful with summer agronomy internships! Because I enjoyed the Intro to Weed Science class so much, I became interested in working in Dr. Young's lab with his graduate students on their projects that mainly deal with understanding herbicide resistant mechanisms in weeds. I also picked up a Weed Science minor because I love learning about herbicides and weed management so much! I enjoy working in the greenhouses and being able to work with plants and research projects, while still being a full time student. Working on campus in a lab is convenient because I can work flexible hours in between classes. I am truly thankful for all of the undergraduate opportunities Purdue has to offer College of Agriculture students.

Above is a picture of me in one of my dad's soybean fields! 

He also said, "This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed spouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain-first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because harvest has come." Mark 4:26-29 🌱🌽💓 

Also, this past fall, one of my close friends from home took senior pictures for my brother Jarren, who will be attending the University of Northwestern Ohio (UNOH) this summer for Ag Diesel Mechanics.  It feels just like yesterday I was in his shoes, ending my senior year of high school, preparing for coming to Purdue! I am glad us Gremaux kids are keeping ag in the fam! Although Lima, Ohio, isn't close to Purdue, it is close to my hometown, so I will be making some trips home to Decatur, Indiana, to then visit my brother in college.

Spring Break in Italy!

Spring Break in Italy

            I am so blessed to have been able to spend an ENTIRE week in Italy! A fellow Agronomy Ambassador, Shelby Sigman and I spent our time exploring Parma, Florence, and Rome. We visited a vineyard that produces balsamic vinegar, and also a creamery where they produce parmigiano reggiano. We saw the Trevi Fountain, the Colosseum, David and many more beautiful sites. My absolute FAVORITE thing that I saw was the Trevi Fountain. The legend has it that the fountain was originally made for horses to get a drink. Then the story evolved that before the Roman soldiers would go to war, they would go to the fountain and pray to the gods that they would return safely to Rome after war. Then they would throw a coin over their shoulder into the fountain …. Luck is blind. Now the locals say that if you throw a coin in over your shoulder, you will one day return back to Rome. Here are some of my favorite pictures from my journey!

~ Madison Boston 

boston0@purdue.edu

Spring Break 2017

The land of fine cheese, pasta, and wine is where I got to spend my spring break. Going to Italy was not something that I had really ever thought too hard on, but when the opportunity to go fell into my lap, I couldn't say no. I wouldn't say I'm a real history buff but I am always in awe of the relics of past civilizations, and Italy is full of them. It was incredible to eat delicious food and enjoy a few glasses of the (cheapest) fine Italian wines, but the history that is scattered throughout the countryside and it the cities was by far the neatest part of the trip. 

We started our week in a small city called Parma. Parma is not to terribly different than a small American city, so as beautiful as it was, I was ready to see bigger things after our two day stay. Next we went to Florence. Here we ate way too much gelato, climbed the stairs of the church to the top of its dome, and went to see David. The cobblestone roads were impossible to walk on, but made for a really scenic city. 

Our last stop was Rome. It's a HUGE city that is loud and busy, but in the midst of all of the chaos there are the Roman ruins. Everywhere you looked there were more and more. It's incredible to think that those things had been standing for so stinkin' long. We got to walk on an old Roman road, see where Julius Ceaser was killed, and even got to walk around the Coliseum. How can all of it still be standing? The whole trip I was baffled by what we were seeing. 

Along the way we stopped at a few food processing factories (study abroad right?) to learn about all of the special regulations that the country has in place that makes their food so unique and delicious. The trip was really incredible and I tossed my coins in the Trevi Fountain so I'll have to make my way back someday!

 Enjoy this random conglomeration of photos :)
Until next time,

Shelby Sigman

A Semester in New Zealand

Greetings from New Zealand everyone!

This semester I decided to study abroad through a Purdue exchange program at Massey University in Palmerston North, New Zealand. I am going to share with you some of my experiences and what it is like living in another country. My adventure begins in early February when I got on a plane and left the US for the first time in my life. When I arrived in New Zealand I was able to tour around the North Island with some Purdue students and after a week on the road settled into Massey. With schoolwork taking up most of my weekdays I traveled around during weekends with friends I met from all over the world. Below are some pictures highlighting the places I have been.

Redwood Forest in Rotorua

Massey University Alpine Club from the Bell Rock lookout

Last weekend we climbed Mt Ngauruhoe (aka Mt. Doom).
This hike was the most physically challenging thing I have done to date.

Boiler Up! On the Tongariro Alpine Crossing.

Visited the Hobbiton Movie set from the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit Films. 

New Zealand agronomy is quite different than what agronomy is back in the states. The concepts are the same but they focus pretty much completely on forage and pasture production rather than crop production. Both the sheep and dairy industries are huge here in New Zealand as they export lots of lamb and milk powder to many parts of Asia and the Pacific south. The cows and sheep are sustained through pasture grazing which differs completely from the States. Everywhere you drive you can view sheep grazing on the hillsides and the beautiful green pastures, as seen below, are evident through most of New Zealand. The hardest things to get used to in New Zealand for me were driving on the opposite side of the road and all of the slang words the kiwi's use. The Kiwi people are very accommodating and do not shy away from helping an international student out. 

The land divided at cloud level on the summit of Mt. Tauhara in Taupo, NZ. 

I have been in New Zealand for almost 2 months and I can agree with why so many people call New Zealand the most beautiful country in the world! In 2 weeks time, I will be traveling around the south island during a two-week Easter break. If you are contemplating studying abroad or want to learn more, the college of agriculture has a wonderful study abroad office that can give you so many resources to help you fulfill your dreams. If you have any questions feel free to contact me at: 

chupp1@purdue.edu

Cheers,

Andrew Chupp