SME Farm Planning & Operations Management Course for Nigerian Agriculture

     I recently finished a complete training course online for Small and Medium Enterprise Farm Planning and Operations Management.  This course was sponsored by Winrock International and US-AID in Cooperation with Box Office Hub in Nigeria.  My job was to develop a module of about 10 videos centered around getting involved in agriculture, planning your farm, actual farming, new technologies, markets and much more.  Box Office Hub took my videos, broke them up into training modules, added some evaluations and fun exercises, and then hosted them online for young entrepreneurs to complete.  

    To be honest, this was like nothing I have ever done before but it was extremely enjoyable, challenging, and eye opening!  I learned a great deal about making videos using a computer, webcam use, and OBS software.  There was a learning curve, but overall not too bad, and once learned it goes fast.  The hardest part for this Extension person was not being able to talk to growers and adapt my talks to their needs.  But, Box Office Hub has a lot of experience doing things like this and they helped guide me and edit me when needed.

    How did I get involved in something like this?  Well, there is a long story but basically I have known and worked with Winrock International for years.  With the COVID restrictions on travel they have had to be flexible and change some in-person training to on-line classes.  These remote training programs are a way to bring in "experts" that small farmers may never meet, and let them get experience they may never have.  In the process of doing the videos my contact information is available and I am available for any Nigerian farmer to talk to, text or email.  

    This kind of training can be followed up with visits and more trainings as things change in our world, but for now the education continues even though we are fighting a pandemic.  Also, it opens up all kinds of options that really I had never dreamed about before.  

Click here to link to the SME Farm Planning and Operations Management Class

Soil Temperatures, Do They Matter?

 

   Last year I told you about a weather station located in Stephenville that is great to use.  If you will go to this website, https://wcc.sc.egov.usda.gov/nwcc/site?sitenum=2203 you will be able to get air temperature, soil temperature and humidity, perfect for knowing when to plant any crop. Here are a few examples, corn 50℉, sorghum 60℉, cotton 65℉, okra 70℉, bermudagrass 70℉, carrots 45℉, tomato 65℉.

    The temperatures on the website are in Celsius, but to convert multiply the number times 1.8 and add 32.   So a 20℃ temperature is 20*1.8 equals 36 + 32 equals 68℉.

Dhurrin Free Sorghum-Sudangrass?

    What is dhurrin free sorghum-sudangrass? Well, prussic acid is commonly produced in sorghum plants including johnsongrass.  This is a real problem for cattle producers  because prussic acid can kill cows!  Prussic acid is produced in the sorghum plants by the breakdown of dhurrin which accumulates in young tissues especially when under stress.  So if you could develop a plant without dhurrin then you have a plant without prussic acid!

    Purdue University has developed a dhurrin free (DX) sorghum-sudangrass hybrid that should be a super addition to any grazing program.  According to a research study conducted by Purdue they compared their new DX hybrid to 3 conventional hybrids and the sheep in the experiment grazed more on the DX hybrid.  Also the DX hybrid was safer than all 3 conventional hybrids so that by September they found prussic acid in all 3 conventional hybrids and none in the DX hybrid.  Hopefully this new DX hybrid will be available soon.

New Prickly Pear Product

Dow Agrosciences is changing lots of things up from a name change to a new prickly pear control chemical. MezaVue.  It is a weird name but basically it is the old Surmount herbicide that has done a great job and added in the chemical aminopyralid.  This chemical has proved its worth in pasture weed control and its addition to Surmount is supposed to kill cactus even faster than before.  Surmount was a great improvement over Tordon and MezaVue will improve that even more.  We will keep you posted.

Peanuts in the Area

In driving around this area you may have noticed several fields of peanuts.  No, this is not a new crop for our area as many old timers like Jim Farley or Bill Boswell can explain.  Peanuts are an old crop that has returned with a new purpose.  Growers are interested in peanuts for several reasons.  One, the price is better than it has been for many years.  It’s not great but it is better.  Second, it is a great rotation crop to cotton.  Peanuts are a deep rooted legume and the crop residue is a great soil builder.  Third, both Golden and Birdsong Peanut Companies are renewing their interest in this peanut producing area.  They have upgraded their facilities, improved their peanut handling for growers and will help growers get the crop to their facilities.  So, peanuts are back and it sure feels good!