Climate and Ag in the news
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The heavy rain in the central US has caused huge problems for farmers in the Corn Belt, according to a story in Growing Georgia this week. According to the story, as of Sunday, only 49 percent of corn was planted, 31 percent behind the national average. This is the slowest start to the season in…
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Clint Thompson of UGA has an article out this week discussing the impacts of the hot weather on cotton and other crops in Georgia. You can read it and find a link to my blog on the summer outlook at https://newswire.caes.uga.edu/story.html?storyid=7972.
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While over time many farmers have reduced the use of windbreaks on farms to maximize the area under cultivation, they do provide some excellent benefits to crops as well as promoting refuge areas for wildlife and pollinators. They also reduce the amount of wind erosion, which can preserve fertile soil. You can read more about…
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As expected, NOAA’s forecast for the upcoming 2019 tropical season in the Atlantic Ocean basin shows that they think that the season should have close to an average number of tropical storms and hurricanes in the region. This is based on several indicators, including the current weak status of El Niño. You can read the…
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While we here in the Southeast have been very dry after a fairly wet winter, agricultural producers in the central US are being inundated by wave after wave of wet weather, and more (up to 9 inches in some places) is expected in the next week, which may prevent farmers there from even getting a…
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Brad Haire of the Southeast Farm Press posted a story this week on crop conditions in Georgia, Florida and Alabama going into the end of May based on reports from the Weekly Crop Bulletins from USDA Ag Statistics. While most crop planting is about ten percent ahead of normal, the torrid and dry conditions that…
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Today the National Hurricane Center announced the formation of Subtropical Storm Andrea in the western Atlantic. It’s moving away from the US so no threat to us, although it could bring rain and gusty winds to Bermuda. This is the fifth May in a row with a named storm that occurred before the official start…