Climate and Ag in the news
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Food and Wine magazine had an interesting article this week on efforts by University of Florida scientists to produce a cow that is more resistant to hot conditions by crossing Angus with Brahman breeds. According to the article ,”the new “heat-resistant” cow would be able to better handle heat stress, they say, and because of…
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One of the consequences of the rainy conditions in the central US this year has been exceptional runoff of fertilizer and other agricultural chemicals as well as animal waste, most of which make their way down the Mississippi River into the Gulf of Mexico. These chemicals help lead to the development of a “dead zone”…
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According to a new report published in the Annals of the Association of American Geographers, “trends from 2001 to 2011 show that urban development has declined in coastal flood zones; however, development in flood zones in inland counties has grown.” The authors point out that with a few exceptions such as Miami, most development in…
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The overnight temperatures earlier this week in south Florida set records for high minimum temperatures, according to an article by the Palm Beach Post. On Wednesday the low reached only 82 F, where the normal low is 75 F. Daytime temperatures have not been as much above normal as the nighttime temperatures due to rain…
Posted in: Climate and Ag in the news -
I’ve seen several articles this week discussing problems that farmers are having in areas that have received abundant rain in the last few weeks. While the precipitation is welcome for many, it does make it hard for producers to keep up with applications of nutrients and other agricultural chemical treatments. The Panhandle Ag e-News discussed…
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Here in the Southeast changes in climate have been relatively subtle, with no change in annual average precipitation (although there are changes in rainfall intensity and rainfall by season) and an upward trend in temperatures since about 1970 which has helped contribute to more droughts in recent decades. But in other parts of the world…
Posted in: Climate and Ag in the news -
In the last few days I’ve seen several interesting stories on different aspects of cattle cross my desk . The first is a story in Wired.com about how mathematicians have simulated the behavior of herds of cattle using a computer model. The story describes how the model is set up to include different sizes of…