Crops
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Vidalia onions are one of Georgia’s signature crops, and every year the Vidalia Onion Committee and the Georgia Department of Agriculture set a release date based on the crop readiness, weather conditions, and other factors. This year they have set the date for the release of the onions as April 16, and consumers are already…
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Farmers are taking advantage of drier and warmer soils in southern Georgia to get their corn crops planted, in spite of issues with the COVID-19 virus. Now that soils are well above the 55 degree temperature, germination of corn plants can occur quickly and young plants can emerge in seven to 12 days. You can…
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As I was browsing my computer today avoiding work and tax preparation, I looked at the website for Physics Today and noticed that they have a lot of stories which relate aspects of agriculture and climate. Many of them are based on new research and publicized by universities or other scientific agencies. Here is a…
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According to an article in Southeast Farm Press this week, there are some benefits that soybean farmers can get from planting their soybeans before May, but it comes with risk too. Benefits include increased yields, lower disease pressure, and the ability to take advantage of soil moisture before it gets hot and dry later in…
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If you are interested in how extreme weather and climate are affecting crops in other parts of the world, Bloomberg provides a good tour of different countries at https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-09/extreme-weather-events-expose-vulnerability-of-crops-globally There are a surprising number of different impacts on Asia, Africa, Europe and North and South America listed.
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Farmers face many threats from the environment, from pests and diseases to extreme weather. The Daily Tar Heel described some of the new challenges agricultural producers are facing from the changing climate and how it is affecting their blueberries and other crops in this article posted last week. Farmers in other Southeastern states will understand…
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In the Southeast, changes in land use from bare ground croplands to forests are thought to be one of the contributing factors to the cooling that Georgia and other Southeastern states saw in the period from roughly the 1940’s to the 1970’s. Now a similar land use change in western Europe is leading to cooler…