John G. Richardson and James D. Stephenson

North Carolina State University

Raleigh, North Carolina

The goal of the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service is to provide educational programs for small and part-time farmers as well as large commercial farmers. The cost of modernization and demands on time has caused the number of small and part-time farmers to decrease in some areas and at the same time has caused the numbers to increase where small farmers have taken off-farm weekends. Through many years of direct observation of attendance at peanut educational meetings, it was clear that peanut farmers with small acreage did not attend ongoing Extension programs. There are a fairly large number of small peanut farmers in Nash County, which led to obvious questions as to where these farmers were getting their production information and how we can reach them with updated information on insect and disease control recommendations in order that they can get maximum results from materials being used.

Peanut farmers with small acreage were selected. A pretest and post test were developed to evaluate the effectiveness of improving program delivery.

The pretest also contained demographic and other program preference information of the respondents. The pretest found that many small and part-time farmers often indicate little interest in attending meetings or other time consuming events such as tours and workshops in order to receive needed farming information. Another observation indicated that Extension's meeting schedule was not convenient for them due to work schedules and time off. Often, they either remain uninformed or dependent on sources of information that may or may not be reliable.

In analyzing the list of farmers who farm a small number of acres of peanuts, several similar characteristics were found. These included, but were not limited to the following: poor to no attendance at ongoing Extension activities; small acres of peanuts, off-farm employment; other crops and/or activities deemed more important such as spraying for insects and diseases.

As a means for potentially reaching this audience effectively, a self-contained learning module was developed on "The Peanut Leafspot Advisory."

The "Advisory" is a specially integrated system for electronically measuring humidity and temperatures during the growing season to predict the potential infection levels of peanut leafspot fungi disease.

The learning module contained information which discussed the leafspot advisory in detail, plus provided information on the other major peanut diseases in Nash County. Early peanut leafspot is the major foliar disease of peanuts in North Carolina and requires a number of fungicide applications for control. By following the "Leafspot Advisory," a grower can save one or more sprayings per year. Being able to save one or more applications of a chemical helps the environment as well as provides a significant cost savings to the farmer.

The learning module consisted of a notebook, which was divided into five subsections.

Section one consists of a video script which was revised to be used as reinforcement of a video cassette presentation or as a stand-alone discussion of the peanut leafspot advisory. The script discussed the advisory and the leafsopt fungus in detail and the effect of humidity and temperature has on the fungus. Knowing the humidity and temperature tells how favorable it is for leafspot development and when it is time to spray.

Section two consists of the major peanut diseases in Nash County with photos and a brief description of each disease. This material was used by the farmers to identify the disease that may be causing peanuts to die. The first step in controlling any disease is identification. Many of the diseases look alike, therefore the photos plus the description provided the farmers with the necessary information for positive identification.

Section three contains a Plant Pathology Information Note on Peanut Disease Control by Dr. Jack Bailey, Extension Plant Pathologist, North Carolina State University. Once the disease is identified, the farmer can then turn to section three for control measures including chemical recommendations with recommended rates. These information notes are updated as new chemicals are labeled or as recommendations change.

Section Four contains the publication "Scouting Peanuts in North Carolina," Publication AG-461, by a number of specialists at North Carolina State University. This publication aids the farmer in identification and then helps in deciding on when to spray. For example, research has shown that there is no need to spray when you see only one spot. The threshold for spraying peanuts for leafspot, when not the advisory, is when 20 percent of the leaflets have spots.

Section five contains the video cassette entitled "Peanut Early Leafspot Advisory." The video is an indepth discussion of the "Early Leafsopt Advisory" and how it works. The video shows how temperature and humidity affect the development of the leafspot fungus and when to spray in order to get the maximum benefit from the use of chemicals. Video and audio cassettes are becoming a major method of delivering programs and were considered very useful by participants in the small and part-time farmer project.

A novelty item was also included, which was a magnetized refrigerator stick-on, with disease control information and the Extension office telephone number for follow-up information if desired.

Initially, six farmers were selected to receive the learning module. Response to this self-directed means of information was highly positive. In a follow-up study, which included 10 additional farmers, all but 2 were highly receptive to this means of Extension program delivery. One cited time to review the information, and the other indicated little motivation for self-study materials.

Those who used the learning modules described this means of providing information to them as highly worthwhile, and an excellent means of receiving information.

One farmer stated that he saved two sprayings at a savings of $18 per acre per spraying.

This resulted in a direct monetary savings of over $800. An indicator of acceptance of the self-contained learning module was that most of the participants indicated a willingness to pay for similar types of information should they need to in order to have such user-friendly information at their disposal.

Appropriate packaging of information in a well-ordered, concise manner that is fully self-contained is clearly a viable and effective means for reaching small and part-time farmers, and should be utilized as a key information delivery method. The self-contained learning module is an efficient and successful method of educating farmers at their convenience.

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