Climate and Ag in the news
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Vegetable Growers News reported this week that many vegetable growers in Florida were not insured and will face significant losses from Hurricane Irma, including plants that were already in the ground as well as plastic sheeting used to prepare strawberry fields for the upcoming season. USDA reported in a study earlier this year that only…
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The Weather Channel posted a set of photos taken of farm destruction from Hurricanes Harvey in Texas and Irma in Florida and the Southeast. Not many photos have made it out of Puerto Rico yet but the few I have seen show almost total devastation of the crops there from Hurricane Maria, along with the…
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Business Insider has a very good article describing the reason why this Atlantic tropical season has been so active and what it might mean for the rest of this season. The story looks at the lack of wind shear aloft which can “blow the top off” of developing storms, and the unusually warm ocean water…
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According to a press release from the Georgia Department of Insurance, property losses from insured homes and businesses due to Hurricane Irma is now greater than $300 million, based on over 50,000 claims that were submitted so far. The estimate to date is $336 million in total, according to the press release, which you can…
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The USDA Climate Hubs has just released their new website, which provides information on the individual hubs and activities related to climate and working lands across the US. They still have a few bugs to work out on the pages, but you can check out the national page at https://www.climatehubs.oce.usda.gov/ or go directly to the…
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Hurricanes Harvey and Irma did quite a bit of damage to cotton in the South. According to Growing Georgia here, cotton growers in Georgia sustained at least $100 million in damage from Irma, resulting in at least a 10 percent loss due to the storm, although amounts could go higher once the final tallies are…
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The Southeast Farm Press posted a story this week about the expansion of Brassica carinata, an inedible seed whose oil can be turned into jet fuel as a crop in the Southeast. USDA has awarded a $15 million grant to researchers at the University of Florida to study how this crop can be commercialized to…