Climate and Ag in the news
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Growing Produce posted this story by John R. Clark earlier this week discussing the weather this past winter in the Southeast and its impacts on blackberries. While he found that the freeze in February did not do as much damage to the canes as he feared, the late frost in April in North Carolina hit…
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Yale Climate Connections has an interesting story about how a proposed mine in the vicinity of the Okefenokee Swamp may affect climate by changing the water supply in the area. This could lead to drying of the soil, releasing greenhouse gases like methane to the atmosphere. This is especially true if wildfires burn the dried-out…
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It’s the time of year when frost starts to affect large parts of the Southeast. One of the interesting phenomena that can occur in these chilly conditions are something called “frost flowers”. Basically, they are formed by thin ribbons of moisture freezing in the soil and being extruded upward into the air, resulting in fragile…
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In addition to weather, I am also interested in astronomy and am somewhat excited to note that there will be a nearly total (97%) lunar eclipse on the night of November 18-19 that should be visible across North America. Here in the Southeast, I don’t think we will have many clouds so you should be…
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This week The Packer published a story describing growing conditions for Florida fall produce. The weather has been favorable for planting, growth, and harvest. Overall, things look quite good and there should be plenty of fresh Florida produce available for the holidays and every day. Lots of variety, too. You can read more here.
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You might recall how hot it got last summer in the Pacific Northwest, with astoundingly hot temperatures. As you can imagine, it caused a lot of problems for fruit growers. Growing Produce published a story that described some of the impacts of the heatwave on their fruit production. The quotes and images are striking in…
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The rainy and cloudy weather this summer has reduced the yield of pecans according to this article in Vegetable and Specialty Crop News. Pollination and early development was delayed due to spring weather and cloudy weather during the nut-filling season reduced the development of the kernels, leading to light yields compared to sunnier years. Producers…