On June 20 the Wurdack Research Center hosted its annual Advisory Board meeting. The day featured tours of the center near Cook Station to give members updates on the latest research. Superintendent Dusty Walter and Farm Manager Brent Booker led the tours.
New this year is one of the center’s pastures was converted to novel endophyte fescue. The pasture features several varieties of the non-toxic forage that has recently been in the thoughts of many producers. Booker said he is awaiting results from a forage tests, but is optimistic protein levels will be high.
Also new this year is a smart phone app and new website for Wurdack. Earlier in June, the MU College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources debuted the CAFNR iPhone app. The free app features stories, highlights events, showcases CAFNR’s Agricultural Research Centers such as Wurdack and provides users a way to easily connect to the college’s social media accounts.
When the app is opened, the latest news is the opening view. These articles are from the popular CAFNR News site. Here, stories about research, faculty and staff honors, academics and events from across the college are presented. Find a story you like? Then share it via email, message, a Tweet or post it on Facebook by easily selecting the share button at the top right of the screen.
With a quick swipe of a finger, the user can access the navigation menu. Featured stories can be selected, which are the highlights from CAFNR News. The user also can access the different Agricultural Research Centers. Easily access the list of centers or add specific centers through My Centers by preference, location or manually from the list. Upon selecting a center, a profile page features contact information, a link to the center’s website and access to the latest images from the center through CAFNR’s Flickr page.
Also under the navigation menu is easy access to CAFNR’s Facebook page and Twitter profile. If this all sounds overwhelming, select the question mark icon in the navigation menu for a quick guide on how to use the app. The CAFNR app is available on the Apple App Store by searching “CAFNR” or via http://bit.lu/cafnr-app.
Wurdack’s new website also was showcased by Kyle Spradley of the CAFNR Communications team in Columbia.
“This new website showcases the beauty of Wurdack and the world-class research going on here,” he said. “The site also features local weather reports as well as the latest news and events going on at the center in a newly designed system that is formatted for whatever device you are viewing it on. Whether it be an iPhone, Android device, tablet or desktop; this new website makes it easy to navigate and access the information you need.
The new website can be found at http://wurdack.cafnr.org.
For more photos from the day, visit CAFNR’s Flickr Page.
Superintendent Dusty Walter welcomes the crowd.
Extension Specialist Will McClain talks to Advisory Board members about the new nontoxic fescue pasture.
Farm Manager Brent Booker gives the board members an update on the cattle herd at Wurdack.