Climate and Ag in the news
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Here’s an interesting story about how apple production has changed due to changes in how the trees are grown using new dwarfing rootstocks. The example is from Washington State, but I’m sure that this change in management style is occurring all over the US. You can read it at NPR here.
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Today is the beginning of the Atlantic Tropical Season. In June, most of our storms, if they form, are likely to come from the Gulf of Mexico or along the East Coast. But we may actually get our first storm of the official season (remember, TS Arlene came and went very quickly in April) from…
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There have been several stories in the news this week about the continuing implications of last March’s frost on the supply of peaches and blueberries in the Southeast. Lack of chill hours also contributed to the low yields. In addition to the loss of the fruit production in Georgia and South Carolina, losses can be…
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Today marks the first day of summer for meteorologists. Summer is officially June, July and August in the climatologist’s calendar. It is also the first day of the Atlantic tropical storm season, which looks like it could be a bit more active than usual. Here’s a graph showing the average temperature trend for the Southeast…
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The Association for Temperature Agroforestry posted an interesting article describing the benefits of using silvopasture in livestock production. The scientists studied the behavior of sheep raised in a forested pasture and noted that the cooling produced by the shade trees resulted in less stress on the animals. Even though the available forage was 30% less…
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The Lawn and Garden Index for the Southeast shows that most parts of the region have had ample rainfall and are in good shape with no need for watering. The exceptions are in southern Georgia and parts of the Florida peninsula, which have been largely bypassed by recent rains. The University of Florida has provided…
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Twenty-five years ago this coming August 24, my meteorologist husband and I were in Wisconsin glued to the television as Hurricane Andrew came onshore just south of Miami, packing powerful winds. His aunt lived on Key Biscayne, which missed the eye of the storm by less than ten miles (fortunately, she was well inland at…