Turgeon to head PSU Agronomy UNIVERSITY PARK - Dr. AIJ. Turgeon, from East leasing, Michigan, has been named head of the Department of Agronomy at The Pennsylvania State Univer sity, effective January 27,1986. He succeeds Dr. James L. Starling, who in March 1985 assumed the position dTassociate dean for administrative management in the College of Agriculture. Dr. Daniel D. Fritton served as acting head of the Department of Agronomy since Dr. Starling’s departure. Dr. Turgeon served as group vice-president for support services with the Tru Green Corporation, East Lansing, Michigan, since July 1983. Tru Green is the second largest and fastest-growing lawn service company in the United States, with estimated sales of $4O million in 1985. While with Tru Green, Dr. Turgeon was administratively responsible for research and development, technical services, purchasing and distribution, engineering services, training and safety. Before joining the Tru Green might want to get a string of worry beads». when you’re dunking about next yearfe crop. t ' w You pull on one end while somebody pulls on the other. Whoever gets die big side may not have to worry about insect damage. Knock on wood. Corporation, Di. Turgeon was professor and resident director of research at the Texas A&M Research and Extension Center at Dallas from January 1980 to July 1983. As resident director, he managed the unit’s research program, physical plant and other property of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station at Dallas. Prior to 1980 Dr. Turgeon was associate professor of turfgrass science in the department of horticulture, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. One of his principal research ac complishments there was the characterization of thatch and thatch-like derivatives. He also demonstrated how integrating cultivar selection and herbicides can sustain weedrfree turfgrass communities. After receiving his bachelor of science degree in crops and soils from Rutgers University, Dr. Turgeon went to Michigan State University, where he received his master’s degree in 1969 and his doctorate in 1971, both in crops and turf weed control. Dr. Turgeon is a member of the American Society of Agronomy Dr. At J. Turgeon and the Crop Science Society of America. He is an honorary member of numerous golf course superintendent associations in Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan In 1977 he received an Outstanding Achievement Award from Weeds, Trees, and Turf magazine. The author of more than 200 scientific publications, Dr Turgeon has also written a text book entitled “Turfgrass Management,” originally published in 1980. Revised in 1985, it is the most widely used text on this subject in American univer sities Today, farmers are trying to find any to save money. Some might even be tempted not to use Fmadan* insecticide and trust their luck that insect damage won’t be too severe. Bid: the hand fact is this. The money you’ll save fay dapping the Furaian planting treatment will seem small compared to the money you’ll lose when you get a bad insect infestation. It just makes good sense to buy insurance. Furadan. For over 17 years Furadan has proven effective against the worst threats to your com crop. Insects like rootworms, com borers and nematodes. As well as ten other pests that significantly damage your com. If you’re thinking about doing without the proven protection that Furadan (goffer you,think it over once again. After ... iPMCCanwwHw H— iwlMi twkridni mt peMkide. tod aad blow jnafi M«K<iHK.6UMP>«CCatpanliM Lancaster Famine, Saturday, March 1,1956-E9 Wheat fingerprints help catch thieves WASHINGTON - A U.S. Department of Agriculture researcher has created a computer bank of wheat “fingerprints” so accurate that it will verify a patented wheat-or even catch a thief. A court accepted the bank's wheat “prints” as evidence in a 1983 grain theft case, and today wheat breeders and federal plant variety protection officials are increasingly using the bank. It is becoming especially useful for identifying plant varieties that have been patented. Chemist George L Lookhart of USDA’s Agricultural Research Service says wheat varieties are distinguished by a unique pattern, similar to a fingerprint, formed by separating either of two major protein classes. These unique patterns can be stored m a com puter’s memory. This method is as accurate as using fingerprints to identify humans, especially two people having the same sex, height, coloring, facial structure, body shape, and weight. One of the first examples of how the computer bank could be used mOHr of wheat near Atchison, K&n., just after over $lOO,OOO worth of wheat had been reported missing from the Farmers Co-op Elevator at the Atchison River Terminal. The thieves couldn’t have picked a worse time. Lookhart had put identifying data into the computer only a few months earlier on the 88 most commonly grown domestic wheat varieties He compared the pat terns, or prints, of wheat samples taken from the trucks and elevator with the 88 profiles in the computer bank He did the study at the agency’s U.S. Gram Marketing Research Center in Manhattan, Kan “The computer positively identified the seized gram in the trucks as being of the same variety as that in the Atchison River Terminal elevation,’’ says Lookhart, who presented the evidence in court According to Lookhart, one of the proteins, ghadin, was used to identify the wheat varieties m the court case. But the other major protein, glutenin, also can aid in identification. He separates the gliadin proteins into bands using a standard technique known as polyacrylamide gel elec trophoresis (PAGE) It distinguishes the wheat proteins based on differences in their molecular size and weight. “After an electric current is passed through the gel and it is stained, it looks like gray Jell-0 with dark bands that resemble rungs on a ladder,” Lookhart says. Once the patterns are formed, Lookhart measures the distances and intensities of the bands. He then compares them against the computerstored data bank. A PAGE analysis can take 6 hours but as many as 80 samples can be done in that time. According to Lookhart, the computer bank’s samples will be expanded as new varieties become available. Agency researchers Berne L Jones in Madison, Wis., and Duane E. Walker at Manhattan, worked with Ixiokhart in developing the technique Grange proposes Gramm-Rudman dairy alternative HARRISBURG - The Penn sylvania State Grange favors maintaining a price support level as an alternative to the Gramm- Rudman dairy cuts These proposed cuts would mean a loss of at least 40 cents per hundredweight of all milk produced starting March 1,1986 until Oct. 1,1986 State Master Charles E Wismer said the Grange is opposed to the Gramm-Rudman cuts on behalf of the dairy farmers “The dairy farmers would lose $320 million between March and October with the Gramm-Rudman cuts,” said Master Wismer “These cuts are well over the 4 3 percent reduction of the commodity credit cor poration,” added Master Wismer As an alternative, the Grange recommends a maximum 10 cents hundredweight assessment on all milk produced This assessment would cover the Gramm-Rudman mandate and amount to less than $BO million “The Grange understands legislation will be introduced in Washington, D C this week which would authorize this approximate 10 cent assessment and plans to actively support this legislation,” said Master Wismer. The Pennsylvania State Grange is the state’s largest farm
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