Crops
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I ran across this article today on the impacts of warming climate on the wine-making industry in Quebec, Canada. It starts with one of the best lines I have ever read in a climate change article. “Crops are drying out, cattle are too hot to have sex, and the gelato industry is slowly melting away.…
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Here is a recent article I wrote for Georgia Organics. You can also read it at https://georgiaorganics.org/2015/08/what-does-the-godzilla-el-nino-mean-for-georgia-farmers/. There’s been a lot of hype in the popular news this month about the prospects for a very strong El Nino, which is developing in the eastern Pacific Ocean and is expected to peak this winter. El Nino…
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Capital Public Radio posted a story today about one impact of the California drought on local fruit. Because less water is getting to each tree, the sugars in the fruit are more highly concentrated than usual. The fruit is also smaller because abnormally warm temperatures have helped the fruit mature faster, leading to less days…
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Estimates of the agricultural losses in Puerto Rico continue to rise following the passage of Tropical Storm Erika a few days ago. The current estimates are for losses in excess of $20 million. Caribbean Business reported here that the most damaged crops, particularly due to Erika’s winds, are plantains and bananas, while losses have also been…
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AgWeb posted a short article this week based on a poster from Ohio State University on common problems with ears of corn. The article showed pictures of different kinds of abnormalities and linked them to potential causes of each condition. Many of them are related to adverse climate effects like cold temperatures or drought happening at…
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The Southeast Farm Press published an article this week describing the profits Alabama farmers hope to make this year from their sorghum crop. The combination of a wet planting season and high prices convinced a number of farmers to plant grain sorghum instead of corn, and the crops are doing very well this year. They…
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Scientists that study plants growing in areas affected by Western wildfires are noticing that the types of plants that replace the old burned-over varieties are different than the plants that were originally there, according to research published recently in the Journal of Ecology. The new plants are generally those that are more adapted to warmer, more…