Climate and Ag in the news
-
The latest issue of the State of the Climate in 2018 was released today by NOAA and the American Meteorological Society. This comprehensive study was authored by 475 scientists from 57 countries and discusses many aspects of last year’s climate. This is the 29th year that global climate summaries have been published by NOAA and…
-
Southerly Magazine posted an interesting story last week about the large number of prescribed fires that Georgia and other parts of the Southeast have compared to other parts of the country. The fires are set to keep the forests healthy and clear of underbrush and invasive weeds. Burn plans are made carefully and take into…
-
This week NOAA declared that the weak El Niño of 2019 is now officially over based on objective measurements in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. We are now considered to be in neutral conditions. NOAA expects this to continue for the next few months, with lower chances of El Niño recurring and even lower chances that…
-
If you follow the weekly Drought Monitor, you know that drought is not equally spread across the entire US. Here’s an interesting article by Dr. Becky Bolinger, the Colorado Assistant State Climatologist, about how uneven drought has been across the country since the Drought Monitor started making maps in 2000. The winner in the Southeast:…
-
Summer rainfall can be highly variable in space and time. You’ve probably all seen a shaft of rain covering part of your town while bypassing other areas, or compared rainfall amounts with neighbors and found quite a difference from your own. If you are monitoring a county for rainfall amounts or have fields scattered over…
-
Georgia Trends has a good story and recap of Hurricane Michael’s impact on Georgia agriculture from July 1. It tallies the losses to forestry and pecans as well as some other crops. Devastating! Most of the recovery is being done by loans since the recovery money from the federal government has yet to appear. You…
-
In 2017 and 2018 the peach crop in Georgia took a hit from unusual February warmth followed by March frosts. This year’s crop has had much less damage due to these adverse weather conditions. Producers are reporting an excellent peach crop this year compared to the last two, even with some frost damage to early…