Our Impact
Making A Difference in Our County
University of Georgia Cooperative Extension is working hard for its constituents. The following are examples of Extension’s impact in the county over the past year.
4-H YOUTH DEVELOPMENT
4-H Helps Students Connect Economic Standards to Local Agriculture Community
Summary:?Teachers in the county have requested in-school 4-H meeting lessons based on grade level Economics standards. Hands-on activities have been developed to connect standards to the local economy.
Situation:?In Colquitt County Schools, an emphasis has been put on Language Arts and Mathematics, therefore, leaving less class time for Social Studies/ Economics lessons. Teachers have asked 4-H to bring lessons related to Economics to monthly meetings. With the push across the state to help students become more informed with the economy, there is a great opportunity to start at the elementary level.
Response:?Colquitt County 4-H has developed lessons that tie the Georgia Standards of Excellence to the local market.
One lesson, Faster & Faster- Assembly Lines & Electric Circuits, allows students to actively participate in an assembly line where they learn the importance of specialization by completing the same task and performing it better the more often they do it. They also realize the value of electricity and how society is more efficient when using it (ex. a car is much faster than a horse and buggy). In the summary, students become aware of how much quicker a project can be completed on an assembly line and costs to the consumer are lowered because of higher productivity. This lesson links to the following Georgia Standards of Excellence: Social Studies- SS5H1b. (Thomas Edison), SS5H2 b. (Henry Ford), SS5E1, and Science, S5P2.
Another lesson, Disappearing Ghosts, explains both chemical and physical changes. Students are given a biodegradable packing peanut and use a marker to make a “ghost”. The students place their ghost in warm water and watch as it disappears. Next there is a discussion on why the packing peanut “disappeared”, but the Styrofoam bowl holding the water is still intact. The students take guesses as to what the packing peanut is made from. The activity leader tells the students about a person that developed the packing peanuts (innovation) because of an emergency situation with their dog. The students find out the packing peanuts are made of corn. This leads to the importance of corn to our daily lives and specifically as a top 10 commodity to the state of Georgia. Students also learn about the amount of corn grown specifically in Colquitt County and the importance of agricultural by-products. This lesson links the following Georgia Standards of Excellence: Social Studies- SS5E3a.-b. and Science S5P2.
Although students in Georgia’s K-12 schools are required to learn about many places around the world in their academic career, they are never required to learn about their home, the United States of America. A map skills lesson has been developed to familiarize 5th grade students to the 50 states in their country. In this activity, students take on producer roles. They are assigned a local business and have to make the products of that business (play dough). They then rotate to another
station to market their product (make promotional posters). At the next station, students read a task card and use a tablet and robot to transport their products to various states around the country. This lesson links the following Georgia Standards of Excellence: Social Studies- SS5E3a.-c. and covers several Map and Globe Skills.
Results/Impact:?When assembly lines are carried out and local industries that use them are discussed, many students find out that they have a relative working at that industry. They also realize that could be a place where they may work one day in the future.
Students gain insight to the major economic factor in Colquitt County- Agriculture. They are able to see how agriculture products, as well as, by-products play a significant role in making not only our county and state, but even the world, a better place to live.
Students obtain a much better understanding of the area around them and the opportunity they have when they become adults to help make an impact on the local society. More than 700 students have been involved with the lessons and have been able to gain a better understanding of local industry and economics. Students also make connections to what they are learning in class from a historical perspective and how it directly impacts their local community and state.All collaborators in the delivery of instruction are very willing to continue with more experiential learning opportunities led by 4-H. The Colquitt County 4-H team will offer additional 4-H Life Science experience at Reed Bingham State Park in Spring 2023.
FAMILY AND CONSUMER SCIENCES
Free tax preparation through the Colquitt County Family and Consumer Sciences (FACS) Volunteer Income tax assistance program (VITA) program continues to serve the community. All ?programs would not be possible without the support of the Extension staff, community partners, and volunteers. In 2024 VITA served 47?Georgians in six weeks and brought a total of $51,705 in Federal Income Tax refunds?into Colquitt County while reducing predatory lending, scamming (particularly of high-risk populations) and offered financial education on savings to participants. Financial education, information sessions, food safety, food preservation, canning and cooking classes, with an emphasis on chronic disease prevention, also were offered through our Family and Consumer Sciences program.??
AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES
EVALUATION OF FUNGICIDE APPLICATIONS WITH SPRAY DRONE IN THE MANAGEMENT OF FOLIAR DISEASES IN COTTON
Summary
This field experiment compared the application of fungicide using drones and ground sprayers and examined the impact on cotton yield.
Situation
Colquitt County growers’ plant between 50-60,000 acres of cotton every year. The application of pesticides using spray drones is gaining interest rapidly in agriculture in the United States. Pesticide applications in cotton are among the top uses of spray drones currently in the Southeastern United States. Understanding the effect of different parameters on spray deposition and the efficacy of fungicides applied with spray drones in cotton is important to inform best management practices, and to ensure effective technology utilization among the drone applicators and growers.
Response
The agent implemented an on-farm study to assess the spray deposition and efficacy of fungicides applied with a spray drone in cotton to evaluate its potential as a feasible aerial application technology. A field experiment was established in a? cotton field at the Sunbelt Ag Expo in Moultrie, Georgia. The treatments included an untreated check, fungicide applied by drone and fungicide applied by a ground sprayer when the cotton reached the 3rd week of bloom. Information on spray deposition, disease ratings and yield data were collected at this site.
Impact
Data from the ground sprayer treatment showed no significant differences in coverage in three locations evaluated within the canopy. The drone applied fungicide treatment showed no significant differences in spray droplet density between the top and middle canopy, but a significant difference was noted in the bottom part of canopy. When comparing spray droplet density by application method the ground sprayer significantly increased spray droplet density in the top and middle of the canopy. Disease pressure was low in the field experiment resulting in no significant differences in canopy defoliation. Yield data illustrated no significant differences among treatments as lint yields ranged from 1477 to 1562 lb./A. If you assume a drone application costs growers $8.00 per acre, ground application costs $2.00 per acre and fungicide costs $15.00 per acre for this demonstration. In this scenario and when applied to total cotton acreage in Colquitt County, cotton growers can save approximately $300,000 by applying fungicide with a ground rig and $750,000 by not applying fungicide in a low disease situation.