Bowling Green, Ky. - Eight students from Western Kentucky University’s Agriculture Department attended the American Forage and Grassland Council meeting March 10-14 in San Antonio.

Undergraduate students Jay Campbell of Adairville, Chris Kenner of Elkton, Adam Massey of Bowling Green, Susan Priddy of Brownsville and Brandon Griffith of Hustonville participated in the Grassland Evaluation contest and the Forage Quiz Bowl. Graduate students Jennifer Johnson of Tompkinsville, Matt Futrell of Fairview and Philip Price of Greensburg also attended and helped with the preparation of the teams.

WKU students have participated in the Forage Quiz Bowl for three years and the Grassland Evaluation for two years.

Jennifer Johnson gave a presentation entitled “Methods to Manage Soil Phosphorus Levels on Kentucky Poultry Farms,” which is a part of her graduate research. Her animal waste management research is part of a larger project involving several Agriculture Department faculty members and students and is funded by a grant from the USDA- Agricultural Research Service.

Accompanying the students were faculty members Dr. Byron Sleugh and Dr. David Stiles and David Newsom, assistant manager of the WKU Agriculture Research and Education Complex.

Dr. Sleugh also presented a poster titled “Reducing Broiler Litter Application Rates Can Still Produce High Yield And Quality In Sorghum-Sudangrass.”

WKU had the only group of students at the AFGC meeting and organizers are working to get more schools and more states to bring students to the meetings, Dr. Sleugh said. Over the past four years, WKU has been the only school that is consistently represented by a group of undergraduate students.

The WKU students’ attendance was made possible by assistance from the WKU Applied Research and Technology Program, Kentucky Forage and Grassland Council, and WKU’s Ogden College of Science and Engineering Dean’s Office.

More WKU news is available at www.wku.edu. If you’d like to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.

For information, contact Byron Sleugh at (270) 745-5968.