Project Overview
Annual Reports
Commodities
- Agronomic: corn, wheat
Practices
- Education and Training: demonstration, display, extension
- Farm Business Management: risk management
- Pest Management: chemical control, cultural control, economic threshold, integrated pest management, prevention, sanitation
Abstract:
The goal of this project is to improve the knowledge base of county extension agents and farm leaders regarding management techniques for maintaining post-harvest quality of grains stored in southeastern states. Training will include consideration of the unique insect and mycotoxin problems associated with high temperature and high humidity conditions during storage and emphasize a systematic management approach.
The University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service along with the Alabama Cooperative Extension Service will work together to conduct a train-the-trainer seminar at the Coastal Plain Experiment Station in Tifton, Georgia on March 25, 1998. The 1890 land grant universities, Fort Valley State and Alabama A&M will be invited to participate along with representatives of key organizations such as the Georgia Corn Commission, the Alabama Feed Grains Commission and the Georgia Corn Growers Association.
The project will address the increased insect and mycotoxin problems associated with grain stored in southeastern states. One of unique problems that will be addressed is field infestation of corn by the maize weevil, the key pest of stored corn in the south.
The training seminar was conducted on March 25, 1998. Thirty trainees attended the seminar and rated it a 9.4 on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 representing the best training they had ever experienced. Classroom as well as "hands-on" training sessions were conducted as planned. The 8-month storage demonstration was conducted and the results were available for viewing at the seminar. Participants saw the results of four different storage scenarios and learned that grain quality and value increased as managements inputs increased. Production of the instructional video tape has been completed and copies have been distributed to program participants, industry leaders and selected university faculty in southern states.
Fumigation workshops were conducted in Walker County, GA on 11/03/99; Crawford Co., GA on 11/09/99; Coffee Co., GA on 11/11/99 and Calhoun Co., AL on 11/22/99 (agenda attached). An additional fumigation workshop for the peanut industry was conducted in Blakely, GA on 08/09/00. A total of 152 attended.
We hope that by communicating the results of this project to people that serve as key sources of information, the project will eventually impact all grain producers and grain handlers in the southeast and improve the quality of our grain and the profitability of grain production. Increased grain production in the southeast will improve crop rotations and increase utilization of minimum tillage systems.
Several grain associations in Alabama and Georgia have already expressed interest in having this training repeated. The Southeastern Wheat Alliance has expressed interest in repeating the training with an emphasis on wheat.
Project objectives:
1. Conduct a train-the-trainer seminar whereby county extension agents and key farm leaders will receive current information on the management of stored grains. Training will emphasize an IPM approach that minimizes insect damage, mycotoxin levels and pesticide residues thereby maintaining the highest possible grain quality and profitability for the grower.
2. Conduct a demonstration of post-harvest management systems that will begin in the fall of 1997 and be available for observation and training purposes at the seminar to be held in the spring of 1998.
3. Improve the quality of educational materials available to county agents and farmers by producing an instructional video tape emphasizing management techniques discussed at the seminar.
Our original proposal has now ben expanded to include the following objective:
4. To conduct a series of six on-farm grain fumigation workshops in Georgia and Alabama. These workshops are designed to increase applicator awareness of safety issues and improve the efficacy of grain fumigation and thereby the quality of grains stored on the farm.