Beaumont, Texas
November 4, 2004
As the growing season draws to a
close and grain goes into storage for the winter, farmers must
still watch for insect pests with the potential to destroy the
entire crop. The biggest threats to stored rice are the lesser
grain borer and the rice weevil, but excessive moisture and
temperature variations can also cause extensive damage to the
grain.
In the past, monitoring stored grain was dependant on bin
managers, and required diligence and near-constant oversight. A
new computer-based tool promises to make this task much easier,
according to Dr. Ted Wilson, director of the
Texas A&M University System
Agricultural Research and Extension Center at Beaumont, and a
member of the team that developed the program.
The new tool is a Web-based grain management program called
Post-Harvest Grain Management (http://beaumont.tamu.edu/RiceSSWeb).
It was developed by the Beaumont Center, in cooperation with the
University of Arkansas Rice Processing Program, the
USDA-Agricultural Research Service in Manhattan, Kansas and the
University of Missouri.
The interactive application
predicts temperature and grain moisture as well as the
population dynamics and damage of rice weevil and lesser grain
borer inside bins.
It is directly linked to a weather database for Arkansas,
Missouri and Texas. The database is updated automatically from
several weather data sources, mainly the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration weather database. The program allows
users to choose historic and near real-time data (for some
stations) in order to evaluate the effect of regional weather on
bin aeration and pest populations.
"For example, in cooler rice growing regions, such as Arkansas,
pest populations will not build up as quickly as they will in
the warmer climate of the Texas Gulf Coast," said Wilson.
The program also provides graphic display and analysis of
simulation results and can be used as a strategic tool for
post-harvest grain management. According to Wilson, capabilities
for grain management, economic analysis and production
decision-making will be included in a future release.
Farmers are encouraged to provide feedback and suggestions on
improving the program to insure a user-friendly application. |