Climate and Ag in the news
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Four different groups that forecast the number of tropical storms in the Atlantic Basin have predicted active seasons for this year, based on the lack of an El Nino and unusually warm water in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. The Eastern Pacific Ocean already had their first official Tropical Depression of the year, ahead…
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A story by Clint Thompson in Vegetable and Specialty Crop News this week notes that rabbiteye blueberries in South Carolina have been affected by cold temperatures this spring. Highbush blueberries have been doing better and are loaded with berries. This is unusual because usually the rabbiteyes do fine because they bloom later and the highbush…
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When I think of rice-growing, I envision water-filled paddies with rice stalks growing up out of the ponds. This has been a traditional way of growing rice which cuts down on weeds and makes soil nutrients available to the plants. But it also leads to the production of a lot of methane, which is a…
Posted in: Climate and Ag in the news -
The latest flood map from the Southeast River Forecast Center shows that because of the heavy rains that we have seen in parts of the Southeast, but especially in southern Georgia. These high water conditions will take time go down, assuming that we go through a drier spell in the near future. many rivers are…
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Along with my previous post on trends in seasonal precipitation, here is one on trends in seasons. I read a blog post this week by Brian Brettschneider, who is a whiz at analyzing climate data to find look for new insights into changes that are happening in our climate. Not a big surprise, since he…
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Do you remember the last two droughts we had in the Southeast (not counting what is happening in Florida now)? The drought of 2016 started in NW Georgia and NE Alabama as a complete stop in rainfall for a few weeks right when the corn was pollinating. They lost most of the corn crop on…
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The mountains of Georgia and western North Carolina are known for their wineries. They are also known for cold weather and frosts that can damage tender plants like grapevines. This year there have been a number of frosts which have affected the wine grapes in those areas, causing damage to the plants. Here is a…