Climate and Ag in the news
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Popular Science: ‘Fugitive dust’ seems to have caused last summer’s salmonella outbreak from peaches
I just ran across this June 2021 story from Popular Science on the impacts of wind on tainted peaches. An outbreak of salmonella on California peaches came up with a surprising source of the contamination–dust from nearby chicken and cattle farms. Fortunately, in this case no one died although 28 people were hospitalized. But it…
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With the recent declaration of a La Niña, producers are looking for advice about what to plan for in the coming months. Here is a good story from Southeast Farm Press describing some of the considerations that farmers should keep in mind now that we know a La Niña is occurring. It quotes Dr. Brenda…
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If you’ve followed the tropics for the past few years, you know how many recent hurricanes and tropical storms have hit the Louisiana coast. The agricultural devastation has been sobering. Here is a long story from AgWeb about a farm couple who live and work about 20 miles from the coast in Louisiana and how…
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As drought has become more of a way of life in the western US, wise use of limited water has become increasingly important. Water tables have dropped dramatically in some areas because of heavy pumping of groundwater for irrigation. But it is not always possible to get documentation of exactly how much is being used.…
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Growing Produce posted a story this week about a survey of blueberry growers in Florida and what their plans are for next year and the future. In the slide show it discussed some of the methods that producers are using to help with their production. They listed smart irrigation, weather stations, and soil monitoring as…
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I was recently featured in a story by Yale Climate Connections about how livestock farmers in the Southeast are protecting their animals from heat stress using shade structures, fans, misters and other techniques. Fortunately, it has not been much of a problem this year, but in future years it could be more of an issue.…
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As expected, today NOAA issued a La Niña Advisory, indicating that La Niña conditions have developed and are expected to continue with an 87% chance of La Niña in December 2021- February 2022. We’ve been expecting this for a while, but it takes several months after signs start to appear before one is officially declared.…