Grant Spotlight - Envirothon and Small Grain Study

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GRANT SPOTLIGHT

Maryland Envirothon

The Maryland Envirothon program is a competitive natural resource education program for high school students, carried out through local soil conservation districts. It supplements the school's science curriculum with hands-on field based activity and instruction by natural resource professionals.

The 2019 Envirothon was held in June at St. Mary's College. Over 1,000 students participated in local county Envirothon's leading up to the two-day state event. Fifteen student teams of 5 members each participated in the State Envirothon which was held in Southern Maryland. Throughout the morning, teams of students rotated through the five stations, where they were challenged with activities such as describing a soil profile, estimating board feet of lumber, identifying fish species, determining the age of a deer, and identifying forage species.

Maryland Grain Producers Utilization Board funding is used for each member of the first, second, and third-place teams. Since 1997, MGPUB has provided $134,500 to Maryland Envirothon. The 2019 state winner (Calvert County) placed 10th out of 54 teams from the U.S., Canada, and China.

Learn More Here

Determine the Best Systems Approach to Managing Fusarium Head Blight in Wheat and Barley

In 2019, Miravis-Ace was evaluated for controlling Fusarium Head Blight (FHB) and Deoxynivalenol (DON) content in wheat. Miravis-Ace is a new, SDHI mode of action, fungicide from Syngenta for controlling FHB in small grains. It is claimed by the company to provide a broader window of application. A susceptible wheat variety was used for the study and the effect of the new fungicide at four-time points (50% head emergence, early flowering, late flowering, and end of flowering) was evaluated. Although no major statistical differences were observed, still numerically the best stage of application of Miravis-Ace was found to be flowering. Application at flowering with Miravis-Ace provided the lowest DON content and disease index in the wheat variety tested as compared to other stages of application.

For 2020, the University of Maryland is working on developing a robust of best management practices for controlling FHB and DON in grains, working on a two-year project where they can experiment with various combinations of genetic resistance, fungicide combinations to control FHB and DON content. A cost-benefit analysis of fungicide application on small grains wheat and barley will also be performed.

MGPUB has funded this research since 2018, totaling $40,000.

Sponsor Spotlight

Perdue AgriBusiness

Perdue AgriBusiness builds on the vast experience and resources of one of the nation's most established agricultural companies to bring you a wide variety of outstanding products and services. The first grain receiving and storage facility was built in Salisbury in 1960. Today Perdue source, purchase, and process grains, soybean meal, blended feed ingredients, and top-quality oils for the food industry.

Thank you for sponsoring our 2020 Maryland Commodity Classic!

Visit Perdue's Website

Maryland Grain Producers Check-Off Program

The Maryland Grain Producers Utilization Board is funded through the Maryland Grain Check-Off Program; when grain that is produced in Maryland is sold by a farmer, the Utilization Board receives one-half of a percent of its net value. The Check-Off program is voted on by referendum every five years and has always received a greater than 90% affirmation vote. Each year organizations and universities are encouraged to submit grant proposals in November for consideration by MGPUB. The Utilization Board gathers to hear presentations on each proposal and reports from the previously funded projects. Projects must improve the viability and profitability of grain production through research, education, or market development.

For 2020, the Grain Producers will award $802,207 for 33 projects across the state. Congratulations to each recipient.

Please Contact Jenell Eck to be added to our newsletter mailing list - jenell.mdag@gmail.com