The Purdue Club of Jackson County is hosting its annual fundraiser for scholarships event for the first time in three years.
The event will be March 31 starting at 6 p.m. at Pewter Hall, 850 W. Sweet St., Brownstown. It will include both silent and live auctions, a dinner and social hour.
Aaron Whalen from Ag Alumni Seed will be the special guest speaker. Ag Alumni Seed is a global leader in popcorn genetics and a nonprofit organization affiliated with Purdue University’s College of Agriculture.
The mission of Ag Alumni Seed is to provide value to Indiana Farmers and others around the world through research, production, testing and sale of certain seed lines and seed hybrids.
Since its beginning 33 years ago, Ag Alumni Seed has largely focused on research to produce high-performing, high-quality popcorn hybrids that provide the different combinations of regional adaptation, maturity, disease resistance, yield, kernel size and popping expansion and other characteristics that the popcorn industry demands.
The seed is produced at a 2,500-acre facility near Romney, and all seed lots meet and exceed industry and government standards.
In recent years, Ag Alumni Seed has expanded its work into oats, wheat, soybeans and sorghum. The company has developed a dhurrin-free sorghum seed. Dhurrin is a chemical compound in fresh sorghum forage that makes it highly toxic to cattle. Developing dhurrin-free sorghum lines will expand crop management options and allow sorghum growers to get the most from every acre of sorghum they produce.
Ag Alumni Seed also supports the mission of Purdue’s College of Agriculture and research and development of new technologies at Purdue through its Royalty Sales and direct financial contributions.
Proceeds from the fundraising event go toward scholarships for Jackson County students who will be entering Purdue in the fall. The club has awarded more than $70,000 in scholarships to Jackson County students since 2008.
Tickets can be purchased by contacting Pat Cummings at 812-523-1017 or from any board member.
Additional information about Ag Alumni Seed can be found at agalumniseed.com.