Corey Gerber (BS '93, MS '95, PhD '03) and Entomology staff member John Obermeyer, part of an award-winning team

Purdue News
By Susan A. Steeves
April 28, 2008

Members of the Purdue Crop Diagnostic Training and Research Center.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - An interdisciplinary group of specialists that lead the Purdue Crop Diagnostic Training and Research Center has won the university's 2008 Agriculture Team Award.

An award presentation to the 13-member team will be made on Thursday (May 1). Begun in 1986, the diagnostic center is recognized throughout the Midwest for its hands-on approach to teach the art and science of diagnosing and dealing with crop problems.

The core group of faculty and staff develop teaching curricula, design and establish in-field demonstration plots, and conduct in-the-field workshops for producers, Extension educators, agronomists, crop consultants and professionals in the seed, fertilizer and agricultural chemical industries.

"The Purdue Crop Diagnostic Training and Research Center team is a shining example of an interdisciplinary collaboration that fulfills the goals of Purdue Agriculture to enhance the profitability and sustainability of Indiana agriculture," said Randy Woodson, the Glenn W. Sample Dean of Agriculture. "The team's impact on Indiana agriculture, plus the goodwill it has generated for the university, is invaluable and has truly brought recognition to Purdue throughout the country."

The team is excited about the award and it gives them extra impetus to begin planning for another season, said Corey Gerber, director of the center and a Department of Agronomy staff member.

"The center was created to provide informative topics in a 'real world' environment so that producers could sharpen their crop problem trouble-shooting skills and evaluate new and alternative management strategies," he said. "Our clientele rely heavily on information we provide to make environmentally and economically sound production and crop and pest management decisions."

Physically located at the Purdue Agronomy Center for Research and Education, the diagnostic center is an outdoor classroom with field demonstration plots for use during training workshops and by College of Agriculture classes. Each year the team presents an average of 15 workshops from May through September. The topics cover information on identification and control of field crop pests and production and management issues in corn, soybean, forages and small grains, along with interacting factors such as nutrients and environmental stresses. Each workshop is focused on the period of the growing season in which it is held.

Center members also present some special workshops during the winter that are tailored to special needs, such as the ones held in 2004-05 on Asian soybean rust. Some of the programs are planned at the request of a specific organization or business and run under contract arrangements.

The one- to two-day workshops draw about 500 attendees a year. In the 22 years that the center has been in operation, about 18,000 people have attended the sessions.

"Our team truly works so well together," Gerber said. "We each have some ownership in the center because we've seen what a valuable asset the center is to people all across the Midwest."

The center also is responsible for the Purdue Extension publications "Corn and Soybean Field Guide" and the "Forage Field Guide." These are both pocket-sized booklets with the same types of information covered in the seminars. Partnering with the Department of Agricultural Communication, the center made significant upgrades to the "Corn and Soybean Field Guide," which resulted in radically increased sales; in the first 15 years the guide was published, almost 200,000 copies were sold. Over the last five years (2003-2007), almost 118,000 have been sold. For 2008 nearly 70,000 copies were printed, with 64,500 already sold.

The "Corn and Soybean Field Guide" can be customized for a specific company by ordering a customized cover with a company logo or a special picture. This year 66 different cover designs were ordered.

Originally the guides were aimed only at Hoosier farmers; now they have been distributed to at least 20 states, as well as in Canada, Africa, Europe and Australia. 

The other team members are Sylvie Brouder, James Camberato, Keith Johnson, Robert Nielsen and Gary Steinhardt of the Department of Agronomy; Bill Johnson, Glenn Nice and Greg Shaner of the Department of Botany and Plant Pathology; John Obemeyer of the Department of Entomology; and Russell Merzdorf, Chip Morrison and Kevin Leigh Smith of the Department of Agricultural Communication.

The recognition program will be from 2-4 p.m. on Thursday (May 1) in Whistler Hall of Agriculture, Room 116. The program will include a short presentation by the team and a reception. It is free and open to the public.

Writer: Susan A. Steeves, (765) 496-7481, ssteeves@purdue.edu

Source: Corey Gerber, (765) 496-3755, gerberc@purdue.edu

Ag Communications: (765) 494-2722;
Beth Forbes, forbes@purdue.edu
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