North Carolina

State FFA Coordinator Josh Bledsoe explains that FFA in North Carolina has gone high-tech:
 

“We’ve been posting pictures, and slide shows and videos to our ihigh Alltech Ag Network website for the FFA here in North Carolina. and we will actually be able to utilize their technology to broadcast our state convention here in June through the internet.”
 

This will be of particular convenience for friends and family that might not be able to make it to the state’s FFA convention in June. Bledsoe also sees it as a platform to get non-FFA members interested, and possibly involved: 

“Folks who are not involved in FFA can see the great opportunities that are available to them, in our organization.”

North Carolina’s State FFA Convention is June 19th through the 21st at the Raleigh Convention Center.

Click here to go to their website
 

USDA Checking Wasp for Ability to Battle Kudzu Bug Safely
 

The kudzu bug overtook South Carolina and Georgia soybean fields last year, and is expected to continue it’s march north in 2012. It’s also been identified as a threat to peanuts. USDA scientists are currently evaluating a top natural enemy of the bug, a parasitic wasp which is harmless to humans, pets and other animals – but devours developing embryos of the kudzu bug – reducing the size of the next generation. A USDA entomologist is currently confirming the wasp’s host specificity and environmental safety.
 

2-Year La Nina Officially Over

The National Weather Service announced late last week that the two-year La Nina weather phenomenon is over. Climatologists believe that could be good news for drought areas of the south and hurricane areas along the coasts.

The National Weather Service also released its U.S. Seasonal Drought outlook for May 3 – July 31, which calls for the drought conditions in Georgia and South Carolina to persist.
 

Oil Prices Continue Retreat
 

Oil prices fell below $100 a barrel on Friday. Why? Tod McElhaney (MAC-el-hay-nee), president of LaSalle Futures, in Chicago, explains what's been driving prices down:

“Oil prices are falling and they are falling because we’ve had softer US employment data. If you look at the supply side, we’ve had oil stocks rise for the sixth straight week.”