sealPurdue News
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February 21, 1997

Purdue serves up cornucopia of corn information

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- It's everything you ever wanted to know about corn but didn't think anyone knew.

The "Corn Growers Guidebook," a virtual book on the World Wide Web (https://www.agry.purdue.edu/agronomy/ext/corn/cornguid.htm), was created by Purdue University's top expert on the plant and the crop's biggest fan, Robert L. Nielsen. He designed it to offer every imaginable fact about corn -- or link to other Web sites that pick up where it leaves off.

The Guidebook is split into five "chapters" -- Timely Tips, Management Tips, Corny Experts, Other Corny Sites, and Corny Curiosities -- all containing information aimed at corn growers in Indiana and the rest of the Eastern Corn Belt. Each chapter leads readers to a multitude of other corn-related Web sites that address all aspects of raising corn from preparing the soil to marketing the grain. Topics include fertilization; planting; plant development; harvesting; storing; fighting plant diseases and insect pests; and deciding how long to store the grain before selling.

The Other Corny Sites chapter, for example, contains links to 15 other Web sites such as the Corn Information page maintained by North Carolina State University, the Corn Refiners' Assn., the home page of the Nebraska Corn Board, and Extension corn publications by Ohio State University.

Nielsen, a Purdue Cooperative Extension Service agronomist, says he'd like the Guidebook to be a "one-stop shop" for on-line farmers to visit when they have questions about corn.

"It's not meant to be only a Purdue collection of information," he says. "I have tried to collect as many Web documents from colleagues at neighboring institutions as I could find by surfing the Web, and I've sent out e-mail asking colleagues directly for URLs of links that I've missed."

Nielsen will continue to update links and their corresponding documents to keep the Guidebook current. "A Web site like the Guidebook has a tremendous opportunity to pool the information and knowledge that is available from all the state Extension corn specialists in the region and -- maybe more importantly -- our colleagues from other disciplines such as entomology and plant pathology," Nielsen says.

Source: Robert L. Nielsen, (765) 494-4802, e-mail: rnielsen@dept.agry.purdue.edu
Writer: Amy H. Raley, (765) 494-6682, e-mail: ahr@aes.purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; e-mail, purduenews@purdue.edu


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