Developing Trained Professionals and Teaching Aids to Support Educational Programs Addressing Management of Stored Grain in the Southeast

Developing Trained Professionals and Teaching Aids to Support Educational Programs Addressing Management of Stored Grain in the Southeast

Summary

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 a)producing an instructional video tape emphasizing management techniques discussed at the seminar, and b)publishing a proceedings of the seminar which will include results of the demonstration as well as other pertinent information which could be used for training purposes.
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.

Approach
Objective 1- A train the trainer seminar was conducted on March 25, 1998 at the University of Georgia=s Rural Development Center in Tifton, Georgia (agenda attached). The program was limited to 30 county agents in Georgia and Alabama through the normal in-service-training programs offered in each state. In addition to the county agents, the president of the Alabama Feed Grains Association participated in the training. Participants received a packet of reference information and demonstration results which they can use to initiate their own county-level training programs. Due to requests for additional training, a second workshop was conducted on July 27, 2000.

Objective 2- The corn storage demonstration was initiated in early September and was terminated at the training seminar. Corn was purchased and loaded into each of four storage bins located at the Coastal Plain Experiment Station in Tifton. Each bin was subjected to different management plans and data was collected to document environmental conditions in the bins as well as insect pest populations, grain quality and grain value. All of this data was presented at the training seminar and the bins were open for viewing.
Objective 3- The instructional video tape has been completed and distributed.

Objective 4 - Five workshops were completed with a total attendance of 152. A publication addressing fumigation issues has been written by Dr. Kathy Flanders (Auburn University) and Dr. Steve Brown (University of Georgia) and published by Auburn University (publication attached).

Dissemination of Outcomes
Results of our training demonstration and the training video tape were disseminated along with other pertinent training information.

Impacts and Contributions
This project will provide a source of reliable information about an agricultural problem that up till now has gotten little attention. We hope that this information will be the impetus for farmers to make better decisions regarding on-farm storage of grains and to do a better job of managing their grain when they do decide to store it on their farms. We are convinced that better management will lead to increased quality of grains from the southeastern states, an improved reputation of southeastern grains in marketing channels and better food and feed products from those grains. Farmers should realize improved profits from grain production making them more likely to grow them thereby improving overall crop rotations and better utilize minimum tillage systems.

We also envision commercial grain handlers benefiting from this project. Although commercial handlers are well aware of the risks involved in long term grain storage, many are too reliant on chemical solutions to insect problems and do not have reliable grain management programs in place.

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. An additional fumigation workshop for the peanut industry was conducted in Blakely, GA on 08/09/00. A total of 152 attended.

Benefits to farmers and consumers
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.

Trainees have adopted numerous practices promoted during our education program. The most widespread change has been in aeration practices. Most trainees admitted they were doing a poor job managing temperatures in their grain bins and have begun Astep-wise@ cooling procedures following corn harvest. We have had over twenty requests for information sources of aeration controller devices that facilitate that process.

Improved insect monitoring has also been adopted. The number of insect specimens submitted to the University of Georgia and digital images of insects from stored grains has tripled during the duration of this project.

Perhaps the greatest improvement has been in the area of fumigation where farmers have, as a whole, been guilty of numerous label violations which impacted efficacy as well as personal safety. Although documentation is difficult, emphasis on improved storage of fumigants, better sealing of fumigated structures, and demonstrations of the rapid dispersal of fumigant gases have all resulted in behavioral changes. We have had over 50 requests for sources of fumigant detection devices and personal safety equipment. We know of at least five growers that have gone to the expense of installing closed loop fumigation equipment which results in more efficient and safer fumigations.

Feedback from Farmers and Ranchers
The most prevalent comment we have gotten while conducting this program is that the trainees have never been exposed to the type of information we have presented. Most are very familiar with educational programs addressing production agriculture but have never had training on the management of their crops after harvest. We believe there is an enormous amount of educational work left to do in this area. Most trainees have been extremely receptive to new ideas because they are aware of the losses they have incurred in the past.

Future Recommendations
Post-harvest management of agricultural commodities involves a multi-disciplinary team including at least, entomologists, agronomists, economists and agricultural engineers. Anyone involved in the long term storage of agricultural commodities will agree that post-harvest and pre-harvest management are equally important to their profit margin. There is a tremendous need for research and educational programs addressing post-harvest technologies, especially in the South where the climate is conducive to storage problems.