Hello Again!
We are well into our winter and the cold just seems to hang on with little relief in sight.
At least we don’t live in Boston where the snow continues to pile up and the harbor is being filled with plowed snow instead of tea.
The older I get the more I like a warm fire and the less I like bundling up. And, facing the cold winds and snow to take care of my sheep and cows. But I’m not ready yet for the cure to the farming disease.
Shoulder treatment
I had a first today as my doctor recommended a shot of cortisone for my shoulder, which has started to show its age from … I’m sure some misuse over the years.
Maybe folks don’t give much thought to where medications come from but I find it most interesting to look at the how and where of the development of the medicines that end up in my body. What I found was one Percy Lavon Julian.
Percy Lavon Julian was an African American research chemist and pioneer in the in chemical synthesis of medicinal drugs from plants. He was the first to synthesize the natural product physostigmine, and a pioneer in the industrial large-scale chemical synthesis of the human hormones progesterone and testosterone from soybean plant sterols such as stigmasterol and sitosterol.
His work laid the foundation for the steroid drug industry’s production of cortisone, and other corticosteroids, and birth control pills.
In 1953, Julian founded his own research firm, Julian Laboratorie, to synthesize steroid intermediates from the wild Mexican yam. His work helped greatly reduce the cost of steroid intermediates to large multinational pharmaceutical companies, helping to significantly expand the use of several important drugs.
Julian received more than 130 chemical patents. He was one of the first African Americans to receive a doctorate in chemistry. He was the first African American chemist inducted into the National Academy of Sciences, and the second African American scientist inducted from any field.
Thank you, Dr. Julian; my shoulder already feels a little better!
Yield updates
Only one week left to make those yield updates and base acre reallocations at your local FSA office. If you are purchasing crop insurance you should check to see if your farm plan Is up to date and that farms you may have picked up are in compliance with highly erodible and wetland regulations.
Changes in your farming operation should also be updated during your visit. Call ahead for an appointment.
That’s all for now,
FSA Andy
