Good morning everyone! It has been quite the busy week here in the office and tomorrow will be even more exciting, but first things first. Have you ever heard of thrips? Yeah, me either until this week. After researching and writing an article on thrips, I have become a semi-expert on this insect. They can cause some serious damage in seedling cotton by extracting out cellular substances from within the leaves. They have fringed wings and feed within enclosed parts of the plant i.e. buds, curled leaves, etc. I made the mistake of referring to them as a ‘thrip’ in my article and I stand corrected; they are ‘thrips’ not a ‘thrip’in both singular and plural forms. Interesting. Anyway, if you can’t live another minute without more information on how to manage thrips (they can also infect soybean plants) be sure to swing by the news section on acceleronsts.com, and you too, will be able to impress all your friends on your expert knowledge.

Thrips cause most damage from early- to mid-season and infected fields will appear silvery. Photo credit courtesy of Acceleron® Seed Treatment Products.

And now, to the really good news. I have been asked to do a promotional video for the Illinois Corn Marketing Board and it will happen tomorrow! As a former social media intern, I will be showcasing how their program can really help college students with their career path: how it helps mold, guide, and prepare them for the future. I am so excited! This is one of my favorite parts about my job, being able to connect with people via social media, and who would have thought I’d be doing a promotional video on this very topic? With that said is there anything specific you would like to know about social media, internships, advocating for agriculture, etc?