St. Paul, Minnesota
January 17, 2008
The Plant
Management Network (PMN) announces the launch of its
next-generation resource for those involved in soybean
production and management. Focus on Soybean is an
online-only web portal for growers, crop consultants, and
researchers seeking information on producing healthy,
high-yielding soybean crops.
“The purpose of Focus on Soybean is to concentrate reliable
science-based production information in an easily accessible
web-based format. Users will hear recognized experts presenting
the latest findings in their own words,” said Miles Wimer,
director of PMN. “Together with PMN’s existing agricultural
journals, field trials, search engines, and other electronic
resources, Focus on Soybean expands PMN’s offerings in support
of its not-for-profit mission: to enhance the health,
management, and production of agronomic crops and the
commodities they produce.”
The central feature of Focus on Soybean is its educational
webcasts. These currently include 15 narrated presentations
totaling more than five hours of talks targeted toward
consultants and producers in various regions. All are authored
by university extension specialists recognized for their
expertise and research related to soybean management practices.
The first round of webcasts includes the following, with others
planned:
- Choosing Specialty
Soybeans for the Right Niche Markets, Palle Pedersen, Iowa
State University
- Soybean Production:
Variety Selection, Planting Date Decisions, Row Spacing, and
Seeding Rates, Shawn Conley, University of Wisconsin-Madison
- The Reality of Asian
Soybean Rust: Lessons Learned from Three Years of
Management, Bob Kemerait, University of Georgia
- Soybean Cyst Nematode:
Biology, Scouting, and Management, Greg Tylka, Iowa State
University
- Soybean Sudden Death
Syndrome, John C. Rupe, University of Arkansas
- Sclerotinia Stem Rot of
Soybean: Pathology and Management, Craig Grau, University of
Wisconsin-Madison
- Soybean Viruses: Biology,
Symptoms, and Management, Loren Giesler, University of
Nebraska-Lincoln
“The webcast format is much more
dynamic than text articles,” said Wimer. “Through this new
format, we can provide practitioners with more comprehensive
management information in a timely way—and users can listen when
and where they want.”
In addition to the webcasts, Focus on Soybean includes two other
resource areas. One, titled “Search Soybean Information,”
provides several search engines whereby readers can locate
soybean-related information found either elsewhere on the PMN
site or on its 62 partner websites. This information includes
university extension publications, journal articles, images, and
products from PMN’s partner organizations. The other area,
“Featured Soybean Websites,” identifies additional high-quality
soybean web resources, like PMN’s own Soybean Rust Information
Center. The links also feature soybean-focused web pages located
on PMN partner sites.
Focus on Soybean is the first in a series of crop-specific
resources targeted to agricultural professionals. Find it at
www.plantmanagementnetwork.org/infocenter/topic/focusonsoybean.
It is accessible by a low-cost annual subscription that includes
all of PMN’s other current and future electronic resources,
including future Focus topics, for a single price. PMN supports
itself through subscriptions and partnerships.
Plant
Management Network is a cooperative not-for-profit resource
for the applied agricultural and horticultural sciences.
Together with its industry, university, and nonprofit partners,
PMN provides plant practitioners fast electronic access to
science-based solutions. PMN offers four science-based applied
journals, field trial publications, webcasts, industry news, and
targeted search engines that yield thousands of credible
web-based resources. |
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