Crops
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Today marks the 30th anniversary of a weather event which caused significant damage to agriculture across the Southeast as well as many other problems. A major cold outbreak spread over the Eastern US, extending all the way down into Florida. It caused at least 126 deaths and killed off 90 percent of the citrus crop…
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The Packer published an article this week which described the impacts of a freeze on January 4 on the production of greens in Georgia (link). “Temperatures in the Norman Park growing region bottomed out in the low 20s, said Tommy Collinsworth, sales and marketing director for Norman Park-based Baker Farms LLC. As a result, the…
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Rome Ethredge reported in the Seminole Crop E News this week that cold has damaged a lot of Canola and Carinata in southwest Georgia. Temperatures got down to 18 degrees a week ago and he says now is a good time to assess the damage. If the frost got down to the growing point, then…
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The Modern Farmer published an article this week on the growth of farming at high latitudes (https://modernfarmer.com/2013/10/arctic-farming/). The article lists several reasons for increasing agriculture in a challenging place, including changing diets of indigenous people, increased demand for local foods, and increases in temperature under a changing climate that is increasing the length of the…
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Cosmos Magazine has a long and interesting article about the importance of terroir in wine-making. That term is hard to describe exactly, but encompasses the local conditions under which a wine is made, including the particular soil qualities, the micro-climate, and even the type of microbes in the area, which can impart unique flavors to the…
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Usually when I think of climate and agriculture I think of how climate and weather affect crop growth. But AgWeb posted a story this week that turns the usual order on its head. They reported (link) that the Iowa Department of Transportation is paying about 70 farmers to keep several rows of corn next to…
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An article by from scientists from the Southeast Climate Consortium (which helps support this blog) in Nature shows that rising temperatures around the globe have warming are “already slowing yield gains at a majority of wheat-growing locations. Global wheat production is estimated to fall by 6% for each °C of further temperature increase and become…