Climate and Ag in the news

  • According to NBC News and reposted by Yahoo News, “natural disasters forced an estimated 3.4 million people in the U.S. to leave their homes in 2022, according to Census Bureau data collected earlier this year, underscoring how climate-related weather events are already changing American communities.” Storms like Hurricane Ian displaced the most people, with floods,…

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  • Farmers are continuing to identify more impacts of the freeze in late December as plants struggle to survive. It will likely be months before all of the damage is known, especially on citrus and other fruit trees. Here are some recent stories from Specialty Crop Industry on how the freeze affected several crops. South Georgia…

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  • Georgia Public Broadcasting posted a 26-minute video highlighting some of the fruits of Georgia in their series “A Fork in the Road”. It originally ran on January 13, 2023, so some of you may have already seen it. I enjoyed learning about Georgia watermelon and blueberry production. Mixon Farms, the featured blueberry farm, is host…

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  • While the string of atmospheric river events that hit California a few weeks ago is gone now, the impacts of the flooding rain is still affecting farmers there. In addition to the immediate damage the flood water caused to crops in the field, growers are waiting to see how their plants have survived the rains…

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  • This week was Groundhog Day, and predictions for the remainder of the winter’s weather came fast and furious on national media. But which winter weather forecasters can you trust to make the most useful and hype-free predictions? The Washington Post‘s Capital Weather Gang has a good overview of sources of winter weather prognostications, including not…

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  • Today’s emails and news stories are all full of climate predictions for the coming of spring based on whether a furry rodent has seen his shadow. The one that most often shows up in the news is Punxsutawney Phil from Pennsylvania, but there are many others from other parts of the country. Why would we…

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  • While it is pretty early in the year to be planting corn or any other crop, here is some advice from the Indiana Prairie Farmer about when to plant your corn. The dates for the Southeast will be different, but the advice about what kind of soil conditions to look for is still good. You…

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