It is said that 'knowledge is the bedrock of existence'. As such, this blog serves to freely inform the general public about the importance of agriculture. The blog also serves to educate people on the different products that could be used on plants and animals to boost their growth and minimise loss and mortality.
The Federal Government of Nigeria has disclosed plans to stop importation of rice by 2018.
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh informed that the government aims at producing seven million tonnes of rice to meet the country’s demand.
“I think we have attained the level of being one of the largest producers of rice, even though many people are still in doubt about that. So, for those who say it is not true, I think they need to take another look,” he expressed.
He said, the country has gotten to the stage where it would no longer depend on other nations for rice production having observed rice plantations in other countries.
“I have been in Vietnam, the same kind of rice plantation you see there is what you see in Nigeria”, he said.
He however noted that there was need to improve the milling capacity to enhance production.
“The only thing we need to add is the milling capacity, which we are increasing,’’ he said.
Meanwhile, a post harvest specialist, Wasiu Awoyale has stated that to achieve self sufficiency in rice production, factors such as proper processing, value addition and market linkage must be addressed.
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in North East Nigeria have reasons to smile as the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) is giving them a new lease of life through agriculture.
Under the ongoing Restoring Agricultural Livelihoods of IDPs, Returnees and Vulnerable Host Families in North East Nigeria project, FAO is distributing vegetable seeds and irrigation support to 174, 400 people for the dry season while also scaling up interventions in the region to provide support for the people ahead of the rainy season.
During a visit to the FAO project site at Fariya, a village in Jere Local government, in Borno state, the Director of Emergency and Rehabilitation at FAO, Dominique Burgeon expressed that it was important to tackle issues of food insecurity by aid risk families in producing their own foods.
“We are approaching a critical period in the agricultural calendar. This is our main opportunity to tackle these truly staggering levels of food insecurity by helping at-risk families to produce their own food. The rainy season begins in May-June. Farmers need to have seeds, fertilizers and tools in their hands by then so they can plant. If they miss this season, humanitarian costs are just going to keep rising and rising into 2018,” he said.
He noted that nutrition outcomes will worsen if efforts were not taken to address food security issues during this period.
The delegates were visiting Borno State to see the impact of conflict and violence on civilian populations and the response by national and local authorities and international organisations.
A report from the FAO indicates that with more than 80 percent of north eastern Nigeria’s rural population depending on crop or livestock farming, investing in agriculture is critical to tackling food insecurity.
However, the organisation is supporting 2,000 farmers in Fariya, and with funding from the Governments of Belgium, Ireland and Japan, the intervention aims to enhance the self-sufficiency of returnees and vulnerable host families, women and youths through training and critical inputs including seedlings, water pumps and fertiliser for vegetable production.
In an effort to increase food production, the Kebbi State Government has procured 300,000 tons of fertilizer for farmers under its short and long term plans .
The State Commissioner of Agriculture, Alhaji Muhammad Garba disclosed this to newsmen during a ministerial briefing organised by the state chapter of NUJ in Birnin Kebbi.
According to him ,within the next 3 weeks , the state will be receiving the first consignment of 1000, 000 tons of fertiliser under the arrangement made with Kano, Jigawa, Sokoto , Zamfara and Katsina states while the remaining 200,000 tons is expected from Morocco under the arrangement made between Nigeria and the Moroccan government.
He added that the state government has also procured 100 tractors ,1000 ox-drawn ploughs, 100 rice threshers in order to ease drudgery in farming by farmers in the state.
‘’ In order to reduce drudgery in doing farm work , the government has also procured 100 tractors , some of which we have started receiving as well as bought 1000 Ox-drawn ploughs for farmers in the state ‘’.
Dandiga also said that 20,000 farmers have been sponsored to produce soya beans across the state in addition to investing into other crops the state have comparative advantage in such as wheat and vegetables .
“100 motorcycles have been purchased to extension workers in the state which has resulted in the increased yield per hectare recorded from2.5 tons per hectare to minimum of 5 tons per hectare,” he noted.
In line with the federal government ‘s directive on self sufficiency on rice and wheat, governor of Kebbi State, Atiku Bagudu has said compared to last year, 11 states have now joined in wheat production.
The governor spoke to State House Correspondents after the acting President Yemi Osinbajo, on Monday met with the Presidential Task Force on Rice and Wheat Production, to review factors mitigating against self-sufficiency.
Recall that the was inaugurated last year June by the federal government to make Nigeria self sufficient in rice and wheat and step up current efforts to produce those commodities in the country.
Bagugu said the meeting reviewed the rice and wheat programme, noting that compared to last year where only five states went into wheat production, 11 states have joined this year.
“This is the meeting of Presidential Task Force on Rice and wheat and we reviewed the wheat programme and what we can do more to support states in order to increase production of wheat. And to ensure that our farmers who have responded to the call are supported in terms of getting good price for their output in order to sustain their interests.
“We reviewed where we are with rice production, the Acting President noted with satisfaction all the efforts by different stakeholders to attain sufficiency in the shortest possible time.
“The Acting President assured the meeting that the Federal Government will continue to support the drive towards self sufficiency in food security. He said the government out of necessity will support the farmers, the millers and other stakeholders involved in the value change”.
On claims that Nigeria was now the second largest producer of rice in the world, he said ;”I don’t have that data but I know that our farmers have responded and all parts of Nigeria, about 32 states have steak of increased production”.
On where Nigeria was in terms of wheat production currently, Bagudu said, “I think we have done very well, we have remarkable increase in the number of states that have produced wheat from the last season. Last season we had about five states but today we are hearing reports from about 11 states and the increase in output per state is quite significant as well. So we believe that with sustained trajectory that we are seeing we will be able to achieve our self sufficiency”, he said.
Those in attendance were the state governors of Ebonyi, Dave Umahi, Kano, Abdullahi Ganduje, Kebbi, Abubakar Bagudu and Jigawa, Badaru Abubakar.
The Ministers of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Audu Ogbeh and Finance, Kemi Adeosun as well as the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emiefele were also in attendance.
Other members of the Task Force are the President of Wheat Farmers Association and President of the Rice Farmers Association.
Keystone Bank Limited has boosted the Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP) with a N350 million credit line.
The credit line covered 1700 farmers in Taraba and Sokoto states. The Managing Director of Keystone Bank, Mr. Philip Ikeazor, who disclosed this in a statement, underscored the importance of financial institutions in driving the agricultural sector.
He said: “Financial institutions have a crucial role to play in providing support to players along the agriculture value chain and the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) initiative of the Anchor borrowers programme is a step in the right direction. Financing in agriculture is one factor of production, which facilitates the acquisition, procurement and management of the other factors of production such as land, expertise and management.”
According to experts in the agricultural sector, the low volume of business in the rural areas where poverty is most prevalent cannot guarantee sustainable business activities to encourage the establishment of commercial banks to provide the needed finance for agricultural production.
Moreover, the cost implication of processing agricultural loans in the rural economy makes it unattractive for conventional banks to channel their resources to farming. Although, the commercial banks finance agricultural activities but their credits are urban-based and so small that their impact cannot be felt in the rural areas where farming actually takes place. Lack of priority attention to rural population in credit delivery by commercial and other banks in the economy contributed to the depressed economic conditions in the rural economy, and this situation also affects the overall economic growth and development of the nation.
With the recent focus by the federal government on diversification of the economy, agriculture is being promoted in many quarters as the next frontier in driving the economy of the nation. The Anchor Borrowers’ Programme, which was initiated by the CBN as a sub-shoot of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund (MSMEDF) was created to support farmers and increase their production capacity.
Anambra State government has announced plans to export one million tubers of yam, as well as other vegetables to the United Kingdom.
Governor Willie Obiano, who made the disclosure in Obosi, Idemili North Local Government Area of the state, also said the state would soon produce 550,000, eggs per day to meet the needs of the people.
He said his administration had invested heavily on agriculture in the past three years aimed at cushioning the effect of the current economic recession on the citizenry.
According to Obiano, the state had trained some personnel that would handle the exportation, which would directly and indirectly create employment for the teeming unemployed youths in the state.
He reiterated his resolve to always intervene in the plight of the citizenry by improving their living standard especially in this period of economic downturn.
Last year, the state boasted of exporting vegetables (Ugu and Onugbu) valued at $5m to Europe.
Chief Tayo Akingbolagun, the National President, Catfish Association of Nigeria (CAFAN) said Nigeria produced 370,000 metric tonnes of catfish in 2016.
Akingbolagun spoke on Tuesday in Benin, during the association’s Annual General Meeting.
Akingbolagun put the value of the 370,000 metric tonnes of fish at over N175 billion, adding that fish business contributed about 4.5 per cent to the nation’s GDP.
He said that the fish business provided over two million jobs to Nigerians, cutting across the various sectors of the economy.
“Following decreasing revenue from the oil and gas, the focus of our government is to reposition Nigeria’s revenue platforms through investment in agriculture.
“Fish is one of the vital sectors that are being considered, as it is the best and cheapest source of animal protein for human consumption,” Akingbolagun said.
According to him, fish feeds accounted for between 65 and 75 per cent of cost of production.
Akingbolagun said in addition, a five per cent value added tax was charged on locally produced fish feeds.
The president noted that this had pushed up the cost of production, as farmers had to buy their feeds at very high cost.
He decried government’s tax policies, describing them as retrogressive in the bid to reposition the revenue base of the country from oil to agriculture.
“The Federal Government should quickly address the problem so as to encourage the growth and sustainability of the aquaculture sector,” Akingbolagun said. (NAN)
The Rivers State edition of the Regional Agro commodities Investment and Foodstuff Export training workshop organized by Agro News Nigeria in collaboration with MARIOK Agro Allied & Farms Ltd has been scheduled to take place on the 25th March, 2017.
Recall that the Abuja, Lagos ( Ist & 2nd edition), Kano, Kaduna had earlier been held at the various states and regions.
Participants at the 2016 Abuja Agribusiness trainingRecent Lagos Workshop
The Agro investment workshop and training is aimed at educating prospective Agro investors and the general public on opportunities that abound in Agro commodities Investment; Production, Trading, Storage, Processing & Export; requirements, documentations and procedures.
More so, the training has been designed to provide participants with hands on knowledge and skill on how to participate in the highly profitable Local Food stuff export.
Details of the Rivers State workshop is follows;
Featuring; * Income and wealth opportunities through Agro Commodities; Production, Trading, Storage, Processing & Export. * Business Plan for Agro commodities investment and Export (How much to invest, Return on investment) * Export documetations; procedures and costs * Foodstuffs Export (Documentation and requirements) * Export Financing (NEXIM Bank Export Facility and how to assess) * Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service documentation and procedure
Wheat farmers in Nigeria are warming up for what they call “bumper yield” as harvest begins across wheat producing states. The crop, which is mostly cultivated in the Northern part of the country during the dry season tops the nation’s food import bill.
Mr. Lanre Jaiyeola, Deputy Chairman, Floor Mill Association of Nigeria told journalists in Abuja during the signing of MoU with wheat farmers that Nigeria’s wheat requirement is 4.5 million tonnes per annum adding that the country only produces 120,000 metric tonnes, representing 2.6%.
The gap of over 4 million tonnes is costing the nation over $4 billion annually.
Daily Trust correspondents in major producing states visited a number of farms in Kebbi, Katsina, and Kano to interact with farmers on what their expectations are. In Kebbi, our correspondent reports that following the bumper harvest recorded for wheat production last year, farmers in the state have decided to double their productions this year.
Speaking to our correspondent, Chairman of the Wheat Farmers Association in Kebbi State, Alhaji Abdullahi Mai-Gandu said, “Kebbi has never had it good in wheat production like it did last year and this year.”
He said Kebbi recorded a high yield in wheat production last year.
“This year has also started yielding results as some farmers have already begun harvesting their wheat. I have 20 hectares of wheat field in Argungu and another 30 hectares near LABANA Rice Mills in Birnin Kebbi area and they are doing well,” he said.
Alhaji Mai-Gandu added that the support given to farmers by the state government has gone a long way to boost wheat production in the state.
The state governor, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu during one of his visits to wheat farms in Argungu said given the bumper harvest recorded in the state, his administration was convinced that Kebbi would soon meet Nigeria’s demand for wheat and within a year, it would be able to export the product to other countries in West Africa.
From Katsina, our correspondent said wheat farmers in the state were yet to fully start harvesting the produce, due to late planting as they awaited the federal government support through the Anchor Borrower Scheme.
During a weekend visit to Mairuwa and Barebari irrigation fields in Faskari and Funtua LGAs respectively, Daily Trust noticed that only a few wheat farmers harvested the produce while majority of them were geared up for the harvest in the next two to four weeks.
A farmer in Mairuwa Alhaji Sani Masaka said lack of timely support from government’s Anchor Borrower Scheme hampered early planting of the crop which led to the late and staggered harvest of the produce this year.
He added that government’s aim of self-sufficiency in wheat production has renewed the interest of farmers in the cultivation of the crop and the target is achievable in the near future. This is possible when farmers are supported with the required input at an appropriate time.
One of the few farmers that harvested the produce in Barebari, Abdullahi Idi Barebari said he was one of the few that planted early to avoid missing the hamattan season suitable for wheat farming.
“Wheat requires cold season to blossom and when you risk planting it late there is tendency of low output especially when the crop crosses over to the hot season. My target was to plant about four acres of land but as the government support was not forthcoming at the appropriate time, I ended up using my meager resources to cultivate little over an acre which I harvested last week,” Abdullahi Idi said.
A wheat dealer in Funtua, Malam Yusha’u Sada confirmed the supply of the newly harvested wheat in the market which has significantly reduced its price.
“In the last three months a bag of wheat was sold at N43,000 but with a gradual introduction of new wheat, the price has reduced to N30,000 per bag. Considering its large scale cultivation this year, at the peak of its harvest, the price would reduce significantly.” Malam Yusha’u said.
In Kano, a lot of wheat farmers are optimistic that all indicators are pointing to a bumper harvest.
According to Kano State Chairman, Wheat Farmers Association of Nigeria (WFAN) Malam Faruk Rabi’u, as far as the association is concerned, anchor borrower for Kano wheat farmers has not been approved.
A visit to Bagwai irrigation centre in Kano revealed that wheat farmers have had a hitch free season and are expecting a bumper harvest this year. A wheat farmer Alhaji Danliti Idris, said last year’s harvest was 44 bags per hectare and this year, they are expect about 60 bags or more per hectare.
It was also gathered that in Kano State, a bag of new Nigerian wheat is now sold at N32,000 while imported wheat in sold at N28,000 per bag, a situation most wheat is now sold at N32,000 while imported wheat in sold at N28,000 per bag, a situation most wheat farmers deemed favourable to their business compared to last year’s season.
Wheat Farmers Association in the state said they produced 100,000 metric tonnes last year and expect to produce more than that this year.
Similarly, our correspondent reports from Sokoto that farmers are expressing optimism for high yield because of prolonged dry weather which is said to be suitable for wheat farming.
Our reporter who visited some wheat farmlands in Silame, Goronyo and Kwalkwalawa observed some of them were ripe for harvest.
“There is no cause for alarm despite some hitches that I encountered in the beginning. But we are hoping for a bumper harvest at the end of the season,” Malam Umar Ado a wheat farmer disclosed.
According to him, the bag of wheat which was hitherto sold at N35,000 has now reached N40,000 “which is very encouraging.”
He listed some of their challenges to include lack of access to fund because government only supported associations not individual farmers.
He added that there was a threat rodents like rats which are eating up their crops and inadequacy of fertilizer.
Daily Trust learnt that many rice producers were into wheat farming because of the existing arrangement between the state government and the Nigeria Flour Mills which promised to provide farmers with seeds, fertilizers and insecticide and buy their produce using the current market price after harvest.
However, not all the farmers were reached by the programme.
Speaking, an agricultural expert, Alhaji Sa’idu Mohammed who projected bumper harvest said those who were not reached were not registered farmers
Maize one of the most sought after crops in Nigeria can be grown in most parts of the country. It does especially well in areas with medium amount of rainfall of between 800mm and 1100mm per annum.
However, improved varieties like the drought tolerant maize (DTM) and QPM are able to tolerate lower amounts of rainfall and harsher weather conditions found in the northernmost part of the country.
A former programme officer with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), who is also a current director at the Ministry of Agriculture, Katsina State, Alhaji Kabir R. Charanchi, has said, for one aiming to go into maize production, land clearing is location specific. However, the effort one puts in land clearing in the northern part of the country cannot be compared to that of the eastern or southern parts of the country.
He outlined two basic methods adopted in land clearing; cultural method where simple farm tools like hoes, cutlasses and machetes are used for land clearing and the mechanical method which uses machines like tractors and caterpillars depending on the vegetation of the area.
Charanchi said once a farm has been cleared, the residues are collected and burnt which has both advantages and disadvantages.
“In areas where you burn to increase fertility to the soil, invariably you are also burning some of the micro nutrients, micro organisms and termites that are very useful to soil formation and aeration of the soil,” he said, adding that burning is greatly discouraged in order not to destroy the ecosystem of the area.
The former IFAD programmeofficer further disclosed that a farmer needed to take into
cognisance the onset of the rain before commencement of land clearing, adding that in the southern part it may begin from January/February while in the northernmost part it may be around April/ May.
He also explained that the ideal time for planting of maize is when the rain is fully established which is around April/ May in the south while up north it could be around June/July.
“It is always a risk to plant when there is no adequate rain,” Charanchi warned, and advised that only people with large farms should employ mechanical labour to save cost through manual labour.
“I am a practicing farmer. I plant assorted crops on my farms and each land holding does not exceed 1.2 hectares, so the best option for me is the cultural method, because hiring a tractor per hectare would be difficult.
“After land clearing, you go into land preparation, the soil should be harrowed so that it would be tilted and carry a lot of moisture, and then you should make the ridges for planting,” he said.
He further explained that areas that have sandy soil practice zero tillage because the soil cannot be used to make ridges.
Charanchi stated that although the commonest planting is the single row, on the middle of the ridge, a yet to be released research has showed that double row planting of maize on the same ridge guaranteed increase in yield.
Similarly, he revealed that up to 7 tonnes per hectare of maize yield is achievable under the ‘sasakawa’ recommended spacing, which used one seed per hole with closer spacing than the conventional spacing.
A maize farmer, Emma Mamuda, said he paid up to N5,000 for land clearing of his 1.7hectares farm and that ridging of the farm could cost up to N10,000 if he hired five labourers.
Another farmer, Jonah Magaji, who plans to go into maize production this year, said he has a virgin piece of land of about 1.5hectares which could take up to four days to complete clearing by 10 labourers.
Magaji also plans on planting improved variety of maize because it tolerates closer spacing and with adequate fertiliser application, he should be able to get higher yield
Sustainable agriculture provides high yields without undermining the natural systems and resources that productivity depends on. Farmers who take a sustainable approach work efficiently with natural processes rather than ignoring or struggling against them – and use the best of current knowledge and technology to avoid the unintended consequences of industrial, chemical-based agriculture. One important result is that farmers are able to minimize their use of pesticides and fertilizers, thereby saving money and protecting future productivity, as well as the environment.
Below are some of the most common sustainable agriculture techniques employed by farmers today to achieve the key goals of weed control, pest control, disease control, erosion control and high soil quality:
Crop Rotation
Cover Crops
Soil Enrichment
Natural Pest Predators
Biointensive Integrated Pest Management
Crop Rotation
Crop rotation—growing different crops in succession in the same field—is one of the most powerful techniques of sustainable agriculture, and avoids the unintended consequences of putting the same plants in the same soil year after year. It is a key element of the permanent and effective solution to pest problems because many pests have preferences for specific crops, and continuous growth of the same crop guarantees them a steady food supply, so that populations increase. For example, right now European corn borers are often a significant pest in the United States because most corn is grown in continuous cultivation or in two-year rotations with soybeans. Four- or five-year rotations would control not only corn borers, but many other corn pests as well. In fact, rotation reduces pest pressure on all the crops in the rotation by breaking the pest reproductive cycles.
In rotations, farmers can also plant crops, like soybeans and other legumes, that replenish plant nutrients, thereby reducing the need for chemical fertilizers. For instance, corn grown in a field previously used to grow soybeans needs less added nitrogen to produce high yields.
On a related note, the importance of crop rotation as a defense against pest infestations should be a key part of any discussion about growing crops for bioenergy purposes. Government policies to encourage bioenergy crops should not inadvertently encourage farmers to forgo crop rotation in favor of planting corn year after year.
Cover Crops
Many farmers also take advantage of the benefits of having plants growing in the soil at all times, rather than leaving the ground bare between cropping periods, which produces unintended problems. The planting of cover crops such as hairy vetch, clover, or oats helps farmers achieve the basic goals of:
preventing soil erosion,
suppressing weeds, and
enhancing soil quality.
Using appropriate cover crops is worth the extra effort because it reduces the need for chemical inputs like herbicides, insecticides, and fertilizers.
Soil Enrichment
Soil is arguably the single most prized element of agricultural ecosystems. Healthy soil teems with life, including many beneficial microbes and insects, but these are often killed off by the overuse of pesticides. Good soils can improve yields and produce robust crops less vulnerable to pests; abused soils often require heavy fertilizer application to produce high yields. Soil quality can be maintained and enhanced in many ways, including leaving crop residues in the field after harvest, plowing under cover crops, or adding composted plant material or animal manure.
Natural Pest Predators
Understanding a farm as an ecosystem rather than a factory offers exciting opportunities for effective pest control. For example, many birds, insects, and spiders are natural predators of agricultural pests. Managing farms so that they harbor populations of pest predators is a sophisticated and effective pest-control technique. One of the unfortunate consequences of intensive use of chemical pesticides is the indiscriminate killing of birds, bats, and other pest predators.
Biointensive Integrated Pest Management
One of the most promising technologies is the control of pests through integrated pest management (IPM). This approach relies to the greatest possible extent on biological rather than chemical measures, and emphasizes the prevention of pest problems with crop rotation; the reintroduction of natural, disease-fighting microbes into plants/soil, and release of beneficial organisms that prey on the pests. Once a particular pest problem is identified, responses include the use of sterile males, biocontrol agents like ladybugs. Chemical pesticides are only used as a last resort.
The sleeves from the shipping crate for a bean head form the bottom pieces of these heavy-duty sawhorses I built. I left the attached loops to use with tie-downs. The top sections are made from the wings of a field cultivator. I’ve used them for building a hydraulic press and a log splitter for my skid loader. They’re also easy to move with a forklift.
Bobby Huffman|Edina, Missouri
LEAVE IT TO GUTTERS TO HOLD SMALL ITEMS
I like using strips of aluminum gutters to hold nails, screws, bolts, and other small parts in my shop. Cut to length, they are easily hung to the wall; I have used nails to secure them. There are three longer sections directly over my workbench.
Craig Grodman | Lehigh Acres, Florida
SAME JOB, HALF THE TIME
Since I work on a lot of trucks in the winter, my floor gets tracked with mud. I was spending a lot of time cleaning it out with a 6-inch ice scraper. So I took a piece of metal 36 inches long and 6 inches wide and welded it onto my existing scraper at its center. Now that scraper is as long as a pair of tires on a semi.
Joseph Wurtz|Delmont, South Dakota
SHOP-BUILT OFFICE DESK
I didn’t think building a desk for my mom out of 2½-inch angle iron and 1½-inch flat iron would be hard. Then I discovered that perfect drawers and sliders take a lot of time. The angle iron wasn’t always a perfect 90°, so the desk didn’t want to hold square. I tack-welded most of the joints on the back.
Nathan Lehman|Monroe, Indiana
LIFESAVING DETECTORS
My son recently asked me why farmers don’t use hydrogen sulfide (H2S) detectors near manure pits. He’s an executive in the construction industry and says the detectors are required by his company if there is even the remotest possibility that the gas could be present (for example, near sewage systems, oil wells, or coal mines). Amazon has a portable H2S detector for about $100.
Jerry Nelson | Volga, South Dakota
IF THE HANDLE FALLS OUT, IT WON’T GO VERY FAR
I had more than one close call when the hopper bottom grain trailer crank handle nearly dropped right through the dump pit grate. To keep that from ever happening, I simply cut a tennis ball to fit snugly over that handle. With the ball on, the crank handle won’t fit through the pit grate.
Chris Geiger|Markle, Indiana
ATV SERVICE RECORDS
Lots of people use the utility vehicle on my farm, so trying to keep service records for it can be hectic and costly without a proper schedule. It also leads to overservice or underservice. To help me keep track, I made a service sheet on my computer and taped it on the inside of the ATV’s toolbox.
Jadon Waldner|Mitchell, South Dakota
REMOVABLE PLANTER RAMPS
I built walkways that make filling my Kinze corn and soybean box planters easier. Working at that height is nice, especially when the hopper extensions are on. The square box tubing and expanded metal sections are frame-mounted and simple to remove. Hinges at the front give better access for working on the unit.
James Nelson|Audubon, Iowa
IMPROVE TRACTION IN A HURRY
This easily mounted bed rack with side boards holds the weight in my pickup’s quick-tach weight system. A heavy-duty fiberglass barrel filled with concrete creates the +500-pound weight. It won’t shift from side to side. Another benefit is the improvement in the truck’s overall balance when the snow plow is installed.
George Gunn | Southampton, Massachusetts
ATV CATTLE GUARD
My 4×6-foot cattle guard sits on two railroad ties in the fence line. It is built from 1½-inch well pipe spaced at 8 inches. The well pipe is welded to 3×3-inch angle iron. Welded to the pipe are four ramps (each one is 10×12 inches) and 5⁄8 -inch rod spaced so the wheels on the ATV can roll on them, which makes for a smooth ride. It’s been in use for well over a year now.
A GRAIN DRYER ACCIDENT COST JACK MALONEY HIS LEFT ARM NEARLY 10 YEARS AGO. HERE’S HOW IT HAPPENED, AND HOW A $1.50 CLIP ON A LOCKOUT-TAGOUT SYSTEM COULD HAVE PREVENTED IT.
Many times – maybe 999,999 out of a million – you dodge life-and-limb situations like the one Jack Maloney was mired in nearly 10 years ago. You grab a rung that breaks your backward fall from a combine ladder. An errant shoelace misses a power takeoff by ¼ inch. A glance upward after looking at a phone text in your semi jars you into barely missing a late-dusk walker striding down a country road.
Then again, luck sometimes takes a vacation. That’s why Jack – now minus his left arm – is asking you to think and rethink farm safety by sharing his story.
It all began on November 6, 2006, a day just like any other during a busy harvest season.
“I was in the boot of a hopper tank that had an auger that fed grain to the dryer,” says the Brownsburg, Indiana, farmer. “Since we were changing crops from soybeans to corn, I was on my knees with my left hand inside the boot. I was cleaning out junk from the bottom of the boot so it wouldn’t contaminate the next crop.”
ARMED ADVOCATE - JACK MALONEY - PART 1
Meanwhile, Maloney’s son, Peter, and employee Tom Noyes were busily cleaning the grain elevator that ferried dry corn away from the dryer.
The drying system’s master control panel automatically tied the two components of the drying system together.
“When they were done cleaning their part, they decided to run everything out from the elevator’s buckets while the boot was still open. They didn’t know I still was cleaning out the auger,” says Jack.
When his employee hit the switch, the auger in the hopper tank turned on, with Jack Maloney’s left arm in it.
His shrieking screams prompted Peter and Noyes to quickly turn off the switch.
“I still don’t know how they turned it off so fast,” says Jack. “But I knew my left arm was immediately gone. My arm was stuck clear up to the shoulder in a little 8-inch hole.”
ARMED ADVOCATE - JACK MALONEY - PART 2
Jack then told Peter to climb onto the top of the dryer, open the shield and then turn the auger backwards.
He got up there and said, “Dad, I don’t know which way to go.’ I told him to move it ever so slightly.”
After Peter moved it a fraction of an inch, Jack immediately cried, “Wrong way!”
“To this day, I swear all he had to do was lay his hand on that auger (for Jack to feel its direction), because all my nerves were inside that auger,” says Jack.
Peter then slowly turned the auger the other direction. “I could feel things give up and I finally fell out on my back,” he says. “I didn’t look at my arm, because I knew it was gone, and I didn’t want to lose consciousness.”
On the ground, Jack then asked Peter to call 911 on his cell phone and use Jack’s cell phone to call his mother, Rita.
“I told him to get my belt off my pants and wrap it around my injured arm,” says Jack. “It was a tourniquet to keep the blood flow down.”
MEET ME AT THE HOSPITAL
Rita Maloney was at her workplace that morning, studying coursework that was part of her MBA program when Peter called.
“Peter told me to meet at the hospital. He wouldn’t tell me anything else. My daughter (Megan Farrell) was coming my way anyway, so she picked me up and we went to the emergency room.
“Naturally, I was a nervous wreck,” she says.
They raced into the hospital and met Jack, who was being prepped for surgery.
ARMED ADVOCATE - JACK MALONEY - PART 3
“The trauma doctor (Dr. Tim Weber) told us that he was planning to remove Jack’s entire arm,” says Rita. “If not, he said amputee victims tend to lose the remainder of the arm over time.”
Rita disagreed.
“I knew there were still some parts of his upper arm still there,” she says. “So I looked at the doctor and said, ‘No, let’s try and save all that is left.’ He looked at me and said, ‘I will do the best I can.’”
He did. “I had a saint of a surgeon,” says Jack. “My arm was like a splintered 2-by-4. But my elbow joint was in between the flightings, so it didn’t get torn up. He put a bar in the arm and screwed it all together and gave me an elbow.”
This maneuver paid future dividends. “Having an elbow with a prosthetic arm is huge,” says Jack. “If I didn’t have that much of an elbow, I would not wear a prosthetic.”
Meanwhile, friends of the Maloneys arrived at the hospital.
“By the time he came out of surgery, there were around 15 of us in the waiting room,” recalls Rita. “We came out and migrated to him (Dr. Weber), following him like ducklings. He said, ‘Wow, I feel like I am in a Verizon commercial.’ (A popular 2006 television ad clip showed dozens of people behind a Verizon customer.) We all cheered when he told us he was able to put the arm together just below the elbow.”
RECOVERY ROAD
Successful surgery was just the beginning, though. “He got sick on one of the first medicines he had,” says daughter Megan, who was a nursing student at the time.
He also took massive amounts of painkillers. “They gave me some of the most potent Vicodin they had,” recalls Jack.
A major concern was the chance of a hospital-borne infection. So, six days after his accident, Jack went back to his home and did what any farmer wants to do at harvest: farm.
He had help. Five combines and 19 semis from neighbors and agribusinesses were parked outside the corn field that remained to be harvest.
“One company took half of the corn and another took the other half and neither charged drying fees,” adds Jack. “My crop insurance company even brought lunch two days.”
Still, difficult days remained.
More shoulder surgery was needed, followed by fitting his prosthetic arm, physical therapy, and painkilling drugs. Learning to live with a prosthetic also had challenges, such as one that happened during harvest in 2011 while servicing a combine.
“I went to service the air filter, slipped and fell, and got the prosthetic hook caught on the ladder rung,” he says. Left dangling on his tiptoes until his employees arrived, he cracked his shoulder in two places.
The pain of losing an arm wasn’t just physical, either.
“I went through anger, pity, every emotion you could have,” Jack says. He especially did not want Noyes to take the blame for the accident.
“We were both on everyone’s prayer list, and everyone supported him, too,” says Jack. “I tried to get through to him that it wasn’t his fault. I should have been proactive. This happened because I got complacent. I wasn’t paying attention to my employees.”
THE $1.50 FIX
“There’s an easy fix to these grain centers that we have these days,” says Maloney.
Lockout-tagout systems that are common on commercial grain handling systems can work on farm systems, too. He says a $1.50 clip would have prevented the accident. It would have fit on his system’s main shutoff button on the low-voltage side of the control panel.
Here’s how these systems work: When operator A locks his or her padlock and takes the key, operator B is locked out of the system. The grain drying system will not operate independently until each person who attached a padlock removes his or her key. This prevents anyone from starting up an auger or fan without knowing someone else is around. This would have prevented the auger that caught Jack’s arm that morning in November 2006 from firing up.
ARMED ADVOCATE - JACK MALONEY - PART 7
CAN’T ISN’T AN OPTION
During tough times, velvet in the most innocuous forms often emerged to soothe sandpaper-like difficulties.
“We had a 5-year-old dog at the time who just knew I was not feeling well,” says Jack. “He would come and sit beside me in the bedroom.”
“Quite frankly, I had to really talk up Jack,” says Rita. “He is really a safe farmer. He was upset and embarrassed this happened to him. I explained to him, ‘That is why they are called accidents. There was a second in your life that you didn’t think straight.’”
He also kept in mind childhood lessons that Charles Lawson taught him. A southern U.S. Army veteran, his hard work and devotion as one of his father’s farm employees rubbed off on a young Jack.
“He also taught me there is no such word as ‘can’t.’ He said if a machinery part went on, it would come off! So, his attitude rubbed off on me.”
This immediately occurred. “When we were leaving the hospital, I was bringing everything out to the car,” says Rita. “I told him I would come back and help him tie his shoes. When I came back, he was all dressed, with shoes tied and on tight.”
“You figure things out yourself,” says Jack.
Other tasks, though, were now out of his physical realm.
“One task that is really difficult for him is fine wiring, because he really can’t use his prosthetic to hold wire,” says Rita. “He is still good at welding and uses other equipment, such as a forklift, to lift and hold things.”
Also aiding him are veteran employees Brian Kincaid and Noyes.
“You couldn’t find anyone better to work for,” says Kincaid.
Says Noyes: “He has always been fair to us and good to work for.”
Still, asking for help has been hard for Jack.
“I have always been a doer,” he says. “I can still do most everything, but I am not as quick as I used to be. That is frustrating for me, at best. Unfortunately, my wife gets the blunt of my frustrations. It is hard for her. Sometimes I come in at night madder than a hornet, dropping things and making a lot of noise. She will ask me, ‘What happened today?’ and then she does a good job of defusing it.”
So does humor. Maloney is quick to joke about needing a hand, or calling an employee his left-hand man. Sometimes, too, just routine outings contain humorous episodes.
“One year, when I was walking down a crowded aisle at the National Farm Machinery Show, I felt a bump on my prosthetic arm. I noticed a kid rubbing his head when I looked back because he had hit it. At least he wasn’t crying,” deadpans Maloney.
Speaking for agricultural groups and companies and schools has also been cathartic for Maloney.
ARMED ADVOCATE - JACK MALONEY - PART 4
“I have been active with the Bunge Corporation when they do a special day for kids from kindergarten through fifth grade in Morristown (Indiana). I tell them about safety, I tell them about my accident, and tell them what I do to keep this from happening again. We have fun, having shoelace-tying contests with the students that I always win,” he jests. “One year, we were there and one youngster who had been there the year before was telling the other kids before the contest, ‘Don’t do it, don’t do it – he’s going to beat you.’”
He also stresses to the kids and farming community that the lockout-tagout system is an easy fix for preventing accidents like his.
“It is so easy to do,” he says. “I am going to live with this the rest of my life just because of not spending $1.50 and being just a little more safety conscious.”
COMMUNITY IS KEY
“There is a bucket list of things I like to do that just won’t happen,” says Jack. “I was always a sportsman. I liked to fish, I liked to play golf, and I can’t do that anymore. The thing I miss most is the sense of touch. I feel out of balance.”
Conversely, he’s still around for his family. Besides wife Rita, son Peter and daughter Megan, he also has a son, Kevin, and two grandchildren. On the farming side, he’s been active in pioneering the use of cover crops and serving as a testing ground for several agricultural companies. He still operates a thriving sweet corn operation for the neighborhood.
More than anything, he’s been a living testament of perseverance and faithfulness to others.
“He is an inspiration and lives his life in such a Christian way,” says Ron Chamberlain, chief agronomist and director of Gypsoil division research. “He is one of the most giving people I know.”
“I didn’t know what his demeanor would be (after the accident),” says Megan. “He was incredibly positive and you know, he wasn’t going to let it get him down. He still doesn’t say he has a disability to this day. For anyone recovering from such an injury, a positive outlook is definitely the one thing that will keep you going.”
Jack says he hasn’t been able to do it alone. “Without the community and my close family, this would have been hard,” he says.
Ten years later, it’s that importance of community that also sticks with Megan.
“The farming community is a remarkable community,” she says.
“The outpouring of help we got from farmers in the state, in the Midwest, from John Deere, Caterpillar, Co-Alliance, was unreal. I can still see the five combines and 19 semis parked outside the field after he got out of the hospital,” she adds. “It still gives me chills to this day.”
