Crops
-
I read an interesting story this week in Business Alabama about Alabama irrigation. Did you know that only 10% of Alabama agriculture is irrigated compared to 50% in Georgia and 60% in Mississippi? I always wondered why, and this article explained it. It is a combination of deeper aquifers which require more costly wells to…
-
Long-time residents of Georgia may remember the devastating floods of Tropical Storm Alberto in July 1994. The rain was so intense that Georgia’s one-day rainfall record was set during that storm, with 21.10 inches recorded at Americus for a 24-hour period ending on July 6, 1994 as the storm stalled over the state. In spite…
-
Early reports on blueberries in North Carolina indicate that farmers there are expecting good yields of berries in spite of cold weather and frost in the first quarter of 2018, according to a report published this week by Southeast Farm Press here. North Carolina is the 6th largest producer of blueberries in the US. The…
-
The latest Fruit Growers News letter discusses how warmer temperatures in recent years are affecting the timing of harvest of fruits and other crops in that region. Some crops are maturing earlier, which may lead to smaller fruits and nuts. That could affect their market prices. Read more about this and other impacts at https://fruitgrowersnews.com/news/impacts-of-climate-change-in-california-significant-increasingly-stark/.
-
The Packer reports that weather conditions this year are almost perfect for the harvest of Vidalia onions. The onions were delayed this year by about ten days compared to last year but are now doing well and there are plenty available. The yield is down by about 20% from last year due to colder conditions…
-
I love to read stories about places that are set outside my local community, especially if they give me new insight into how things are changing over time. This story on rural Kansas in NewFoodEconomy.org provides a look at how agriculture has contributed to long-term trends in the region, including negligible population growth, increases in…
-
When we talk about climate change, most often we are talking about the changes in temperature, cloud cover and rainfall that are occurring due to increases in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases across the globe. But climate also changes locally, and many of these local changes are due to other human causes such as…