Crops
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The very wet April followed by the very dry May have caused a variety of agricultural impacts in the Southeast. Here is a sampling of what I have seen in news stories. The Southeast Farm Press noted that the dry conditions in early May came at a bad time for pre-applied herbicides to activate. Weeds…
Posted in: Climate and Ag in the news, Crops, Drought, Extension agent outreach, Livestock, Uncategorized -
AgWeb posted an interesting story from Bloomberg Businessweek on the history of agriculture in California which explains why they grow so much alfalfa there, even though it is a very water-intensive crop. Milk is the #1 agricultural commodity produced in California, edging out almonds and grapes. Much of it is consumed in-state, but quite a…
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You may have read the news about the extreme flooding that is occurring over the central part of the United States. In Sunday’s post on climate data sources I showed a precipitation map from the Oklahoma mesonet; some stations reported more than 20 inches in the last 30 days! You can read one story about…
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The 7-day QPF predicts that most of the Southeast will get less than an inch of rain in the coming week. The exception is the western part of the region, including Alabama, northern Georgia and the western Carolinas, where well over an inch is possible. After a great start to the Memorial Day weekend, rain…
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I had the pleasure last week to meet Jerry Adams, a satsuma farmer from near Bainbridge GA. Melissa Griffin, the Assistant State Climatologist for Florida, was with me. Satsumas are one of the most cold-hardy varieties of citrus, and one of several new crops that are being tried in Georgia, including olives. Jerry showed me…
Posted in: Crops -
Harvest Public Media posted a story online today about the “elusive” impacts that the California drought has had on Midwestern farmers. According to the story, so far benefits to the Midwestern farmers have been limited in spite of the four year drought in California because the CA farmers are mining ground water to keep their…
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The “mistral” is a local wind which affects southern France. It is driven by the circulation around high pressure. The flow forces air down from high elevations towards the coast. As the air sinks, it clears and dries up, helping to provide cloudless days and low humidity that are great for growing grapes in the region. VinePair has a short…