Crops
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Tropical Storm Isaias crossed Puerto Rico last week on its long path from the eastern Atlantic through the Northeast US, bringing strong winds and heavy rains which contributed to landslides and power outages. The island, which is still recovering from Hurricane Maria in 2017, experienced significant losses in several crops, including bananas, plantains, and coffee.…
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The weather recently has been quite dry across a lot of Georgia and Alabama. This has resulted in some issues with cotton and peanuts. Fortunately, it looks like the next week will be rainier, so moisture levels should improve. The big question mark is from Potential TS 9, which is still forming in the Atlantic.…
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A warm winter followed by a cool April and May and some blasts of hot weather have led to throngs of grasshoppers and other cotton pests this year, according to Alabama Extension agents quoted in Cotton Grower. The grasshoppers are especially numerous in the coastal plain where they do better in the sandy soil there.…
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For those of you who produce hay and feed livestock, the headline above is probably a no-brainer. But I am still learning about how weather affects agriculture, so I was fascinated by this article that discusses how cutting hay in the morning results in a different nutrient composition of the hay than when you cut…
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Since we have been celebrating National Pollinators Week, I’ve seen quite a few stories about the importance of pollinators like honeybees, especially to agriculture. Here is a story from Europe describing the method of combining strips of crops interspersed with trees and how it can double the number of pollinators. You can read more at…
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Growing America has an interesting series of short videos on farmers across the country and their stories, which often include the negative impacts of bad weather on their farms. Here is a recent video from a turfgrass farmer in Alabama talking about dealing with adverse weather and the economy and how it has impacted their…
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As climate changes, trends towards warmer temperatures and variable rainfall are expected to have impacts on crops and on crop diseases, including fungal diseases. Overall the earth is getting wetter, and those areas are particularly likely to feel the influences of higher humidity, although there are certainly areas that are getting drier too. This article…