Crops
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The January Crop Progress and Condition Report for Georgia was released today. It says: January 29, 2018 GEORGIA: Total rainfall for the month ranged from 0.5 inches in Butts County to 8.9 inches in Rabun County. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, the percentage of the State in a moderate drought increased 15 percentage points…
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Eos has an interesting article this week discussing the impact of distant volcanic eruptions on the flow of the Nile River. A new paper in Nature Communications discusses the evidence “indicating that a series of eruptions may have caused sharp drop-offs in the summer rainfall usually brought by the African monsoon.” The cooling from the…
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Southeast Farm Press posted a story this week about how a dry spell in fall benefited burley tobacco growers in Tennessee and Kentucky. The dry spell in September helped the tobacco dry down in the field, but by October, moister air helped them achieve the desired color. The absence of an early frost also helped…
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Eric Prostko of UGA has an interesting discussion about whether the presence of morning dew on plants affects the potency of herbicides in the Southeast Farm Press this week. He discusses the potential effects of the water on the leaf and positive and negative effects of that water on herbicide effectiveness. He also discusses weighing…
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Growing Georgia posted a story this week from Reuters on the impact of the very cold weather in the eastern US on ethanol production. The cold temperatures, combined with high corn prices, has reduced the output of ethanol from many Midwestern ethanol plants. In addition, the cold is also hampering the movement of rail cars…
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The Associated Press posted an interesting article this weekend on how the recent cold weather has been affecting crops in Georgia. As you might expect, the cold has been great for fruit farmers, at least in terms of accumulating chill hours, although the length of the cold periods has caused some significant damage to some…
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The Packer reported this week that cold temperatures and rain in the Southeast have delayed harvest and discolored peppers in Florida and decreased yields in cucumbers, eggplant and squash. In the Northeast, icy roads slowed the movement of trucks through the region. In California, fires and mudslides caused problems for crops like avocados and shut…