Climate and Ag in the news
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California is the primary source for a lot of the country’s agricultural production, especially nuts and vegetables. But the amount of water available from surface sources is nowhere enough to maintain production, so farmers have been pumping more and more water out of the aquifers to get what they need for their crops. However, as…
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Another tragedy due to wild weather occurred this week in Kansas, as the hurricane-force winds that occurred across the central Plains led to out-of control wildfires that destroyed homes, barns, and livestock. This storm system also brought tornadoes as far north as Minnesota and central Wisconsin, something that is just astounding to me as the…
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The past few days have been unprecedented in the location and magnitude of severe weather in the central U.S. In spite of the number of tornadoes and their occurrence at night and at an unusual time of year, the total number of deaths was (at least as far as we know now) less than 100…
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If you are an educator or know of one that teaches weather and climate, you might be interested in this offer from the Cloud Appreciation Society. They are putting together a free package of information about cloud identification that you can use for your teaching. It is also available for homeschoolers. They will be putting…
Posted in: Climate and Ag in the news -
Several of my friends have commented to me this year how hard it has been to find a good live Christmas tree (especially at a reasonable price). There are a number of reasons for this, but one is that the weather has not been conducive to growing healthy trees. Here is a CNN story from…
Posted in: Climate and Ag in the news -
The dry weather we have had recently has had some benefits to farmers, according to my conversations with extension agents and this article from Vegetable and Specialty Crop News. Due to the low humidity and lack of rain to splash soil microbe onto the plants, disease pressure from fungal diseases is very low. This is…
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Wild pigs cause tremendous damage to farmlands and crops in the Southeast. A new study by University of Georgia researchers shows that the movement of wild pigs through the terrain depends on temperature and type of weather. This knowledge may allow farmers to more easily trap these pests before they can do too much damage.…
Posted in: Climate and Ag in the news