Crops
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This is the International Year of Soils. A number of stories have been written about the importance of healthy soils in stabilizing climate and improving yields of crops. University of Tennessee at Knoxville scientists recently released a study showing that the soil in the region encompassing the Dust Bowl in the 1930’s is still degraded,…
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Most of your Thanksgiving dinners today probably had some type of cranberry sauce. My family goes for the traditional jellied sauce, but growing up, my parents always ground their own fresh sauce with oranges in a food mill. No matter how you like them, you probably don’t know all of these facts about cranberries, including…
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El Niño rains have affected production areas for strawberries in both California and Florida in recent weeks, and the continued rainy conditions predicted for the next few months are expected to affect the availability of strawberries for the next few months. You can read the article in The Packer at https://www.thepacker.com/news/strawberry-prices-likely-remain-high-el-nino-looms.
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Pecan yields this year are likely to be lower than expected due to less than ideal weather conditions during the growing and harvest seasons, according to an article by Clint Thompson of the University of Georgia published in Growing Georgia. The wet, cloudy and warm conditions at harvest led to a deterioration in crop quality…
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A recent study by USDA scientists in Tifton, GA shows that strip tillage and cover crops are important practices for reducing erosion from sandy soils in the Southeastern United States and for enhancing soil quality. For example, use of cover crops mean crop residues remain on the surface, providing protection from water and wind erosion.…
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Dr. Dennis Hancock of UGA has a timely article about dealing with all the moldy hay that has been produced this year during the wet and cool conditions this fall. Even hay that was dry in the field may have absorbed moisture in the barn and become moldy later. Horses are the most sensitive to…
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I read an interesting article in Bloomberg Businessweek today about the impacts of El Niño on the worldwide price of gold. According to the article, one of the biggest groups of buyers of gold is Indian farmers, who use gold as an investment and as a dowry when their daughters get married. This year the strong…