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May 8, 2020
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Milk and meat for those in need FFA chapter nears $20,000 goal in campaign By Ashley Langreck
AGRINEWS PUBLICATIONS
THORNTOWN, Ind. — Members of the Western Boone FFA Chapter have stayed busy the last several weeks, despite not being in school, by starting a fundraiser aimed at helping those in their community who are facing difficult times due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Milk and Meat Campaign for Boone County was started after FFA chapter members saw on the news dairy farmers dumping milk when they couldn’t get it to their normal markets due to restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19. Jaden Maze, president of the Western Boone FFA Chapter, said that after she and her FFA peers saw milk being dumped
248,761 meals for food bank
seed money for the cause. A long w ith a $1,000 do nation from an anony mous donor, the chapter received an additional $2,000 in donations from local organizations to help fund the project before it went public. Maze said P rair ie Far ms has helped coordinate with the chapter to arrange the donation of 500 gallons of milk monthly during the pandemic to food pantries and organizations in Boone County, including the local Boys and Girls Club. The FFA chapter president added that they are working with local farmers and meat shops to get hundreds of pounds of beef and pork to donate to those in need, as well. Through the Western Boone FFA Chapter’s Milk and Meat for Boone County Campaign, organizations in the local com“It is awesome that as an munity are receiving donations of food to help those in need who are facing hardships due to the COVID-19 pandemic. FFA chapter we are able to help people in need during this on television, they began brain“We decided to buy meat chapter could star t buy ing pandemic,” said Korden Bush, storming ways they could give and dairy products from local meat and milk, they had to the assistant reporter for the back to the less fortunate in farmers and donate them to raise money. Western Boone FFA Chapter. their community while helping local food pantr ies,” Maze Maze said the FFA chapter doSee MILK, Page A2 support local farmers. said, adding that before the nated $1,000 of its own funds as
‘Stressful time for everyone’
2020 INDIANA HEMP UPDATE
Purdue colleges raise $82,365 in virtual fundraiser
Managing stress during pandemic By Erica Quinlan
By Ashley Langreck
AGRINEWS PUBLICATIONS
AGRINEWS PUBLICATIONS
WEST LAFAYET TE, Ind. — Purdue University’s College of Agriculture teamed up with nine other colleges on the campus to help raise $82,365, which equates to 248,761 meals for the local Food Finders Food Bank t h r ou g h a virtual fundraiser. Melissa Funk, an administrative assistant in Purdue’s Col lege of Agriculture’s Office of Multicultural PrFunk ograms, said the college has held an annual food drive the last several years, where the departments have a friendly competition to see which could collect the most food. Before the COVID-19 pandemic started, Funk said that Karen Plaut, the Glenn W. Sample Dean of Agriculture, challenged other Purdue colleges to join the ag department to see which college could collect the most food over a twoweek period and earn bragging rights. Funk said nine other academic colleges accepted the challenge and decided to join the food drive. However, the dates the food drive was supposed to take place occurred during the time that restrictions were put in place prohibiting face-to-face contact to help slow the spread of COVID-19. Funk said that instead of the normal food drive that the college usually hosts where it has events on campus for individuals to drop off canned foods and paper goods, the food drive was all virtual this year. “As a college, we raised $29,225, which equated to 88,000 meals,” Funk said. See MEALS, Page A2
CLASSIFIEDS SEE A11
Vol. 42 No. 32
CONTACT AGRINEWS: 800-426-9438
A research field of industrial hemp is grown at a Purdue University farm.
AGRINEWS PHOTO/ERICA QUINLAN
THE PLOTS THICKEN Grow sites increase to 623 By Erica Quinlan
AGRINEWS PUBLICATIONS
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Indiana is expecting more than 600 industrial hemp sites to be planted this year. Robert Waltz, Indiana state chemist, shared a hemp update during a webinar. “This year is research-only (hemp farming) again, but it’s blended because we do have a state plan in process and emergency rules in place,” Waltz said. There is a limit of 300 licenses to be issued to hemp farmers this year, but it is doubtful that number will be
reached. There still will be plenty of room for people to apply to be a grower, Waltz said. Farmers should do their homework before starting the process. There are 445 outdoor grow sites, more than 8,500 acres, planned. More than 170 indoor grow sites are in the works, for a total of 1.72 million square feet. “Compared to last year, we had 353,000 square feet,” Waltz said. “It looks like the real growth this year is going to be indoor rather than outdoor, probably because of the weather we had last year.” Last year’s numbers included 5,300 acres planned, 4,200 acres planted and 3,300 acres harvested. The discrepancy between planted versus harvested acres
2020 hemp numbers n 247 total hemp licenses n 28 handler-only licenses n 82 grower-only licenses n 137 grower/handler licenses n 623 total grow sites
was due to three main causes: destruction due to high THC, bad stand or weed pressure. Weather issues were a challenge for many growers in 2019. Learn more at www.oisc.purdue.edu/hemp or www.purduehemp.org. Erica Quinlan can be reached at 800-426-9438, ext. 193, or equinlan@agrinews-pubs.com. Follow her on Twitter at: @AgNews_Quinlan.
INSIDE
New aid packages support ag A3
Mother’s Day gifts that keep on giving A10
4-H’ers stick with animal routines A12
GAINSVILLE, Fla. — Now more than ever, finding ways to cope with stress is essential. Heidi Liss Radunovich, licensed psychologist and associate professor at University of Florida, shared ways to manage stress during a pandemic. “This is a stressful time for everyone,” she said. “When people are stre s s ed t he y aren’t going to be at their best. It’s a difficult time, so try to be Radunovich patient with yourself and others.” Keep in mind that anybody that already has problems with anxiety or depression is going to be at even more risk of having these types of issues during a pandemic, Radunovich said. “As people are isolated it can lead to a lot of loneliness,” she said. “We need to keep an eye out for people who are living alone, who are particularly at risk for feeling sad or depressed.” High levels of stress can not only affect your mental health, but your physical health. “Doing what we can to stay calm and keep our spirits up is going to be very important,” Radunovich said. “Let’s start thinking about what we can control. There are a lot of things about this situation that we cannot control. For those of us who like to have control, this can be very difficult. What are some things you can control to keep you and your family safe?” Whether it’s washing your hands thoroughly or eating healthy, there are many ways you can take care of yourself. Radunovich also advised limiting the amount of news that you consume. See STRESS, Page A2
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Livestock A12
Auction Calendar A11
Markets A9
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Classifieds A11
Science A7
Farms For Sale A6
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