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Foundation for Agriculture Empowers Teachers to Develop Ag-Centric Digital Skills Curriculum with Fellowship Program

Foundation for Agriculture Empowers Teachers to Develop Ag-Centric Digital Skills Curriculum with Fellowship Program

The American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture has partnered with Grow with Google to train 2,000 teachers on digital skills, to reach 200,000 students in rural communities by the end of the 2023 school year. As part of that effort, the Foundation is bolstering agricultural education curriculum through the Farm Bureau Foundation Fellows Program, a unique fellowship that will allow educators in rural or agricultural regions to teach students where their food comes from.

Over the course of the 8-month program, fellows will develop place-based curriculum that incorporates agriculture, technology and key digital skills into a Applied Digital Skills lessons. The lessons will be available, for free, to all educators interested in teaching students about food, fuel and fiber while giving students a strong foundation in digital skills.

Fellows will receive a stipend, Chromebooks for their classrooms and 1:1 instruction from experts at Google.

“Digital skills are increasingly becoming a prerequisite for jobs in today’s economy, yet students in rural areas in particular often don’t have access to the resources that will set them up for success, such as broadband access and program instruction,” said Daniel Meloy, executive director of the Foundation. “We hope this program empowers teachers to introduce their students to the exciting world of agriculture, while also teaching them an array of technical skills.”

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Winter Canola Trial in Mississippi | Can It Work for Double Cropping? | Pioneer Agronomy

Video: Winter Canola Trial in Mississippi | Can It Work for Double Cropping? | Pioneer Agronomy

Can winter canola open new opportunities for growers in the Mid-South? In this agronomy update from Noxubee County, Mississippi, Pioneer agronomist Gus Eifling shares an early look at a first-year winter canola trial and what farmers are learning from the field.

Planted in late October on 30-inch rows, the crop is now entering the bloom stage and progressing quickly. In this video, we walk through current field conditions, fertility management, and how timing could make this crop a valuable option for double-cropping soybeans or cotton.

If harvest timing lines up with early May, growers may be able to transition directly into another crop during ideal planting windows. Ongoing field trials will help determine whether canola could become a viable rotational option for the region.

Watch for:

How winter canola is performing in its first season in this Mississippi field

Why growers chose 30-inch rows for this trial

What the crop looks like as it moves from bolting into bloom

Fertility strategy, including nitrogen and sulfur applications

How canola harvest timing could enable double-cropping with soybeans or cotton

Upcoming trials comparing soybeans after canola vs. traditional planting

As more growers look for ways to maximize acres and diversify rotations, experiments like this help determine what new crops might fit into existing systems.