Crops
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Here are some detailed global images of vegetation health, including several drought indices, fire danger and soil saturation maps as derived from the Suomi-NPP satellite. In addition to global maps you can view each variable by country. The detail is amazing! You can find out more about them at Climate.gov at https://www.climate.gov/maps-data/dataset/global-vegetation-health-images or go directly to…
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Even though most people are watching colder temperatures and a slight possibility for wintry precipitation this weekend, especially in the northern mountainous areas, I think the real concern this week is going to be the potential for a hard freeze mid-week across a lot of the Southeast north of the Georgia-Florida border. This could be…
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One of my Facebook friends posted a link today to this 2010 OxFam study of the impacts of changing climate on agriculture in Ethopia. Upon skimming it, I was amazed at the detailed analyses the authors made of several different crops and how they are affected by currently observed trends in climate as well as…
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The Washington Post posted a story yesterday linking recent variations in climate to shortages in leafy greens. According to the article, “the shortage, first reported by NPR, is the result of two separate phenomena in Arizona’s Yuma County and California’s Salinas Valley, the two places where the United States grows most of its leafy greens. In…
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The Southeast Farm Press reported today that the official pack date for Vidalia onions is earlier than usual this year due to the warm weather that has been occurring across the eastern US. The official pack date this year has been set for April 12; Vidalia onions cannot be packed or sold prior to the this date.…
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The strange combination of floods in California and very warm conditions out east are causing problems for some agricultural producers around the country. The Packer noted here that the heavy rain in California is delaying harvest of some strawberries and citrus, and is making vegetable planting problematic. Many fields are covered by water and berries…
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Food and Wine had an interesting story today about a new line of broccoli developed by scientists in the United Kingdom that is impervious to weather conditions. They say the new broccoli line goes from seed to harvest in as little as eight weeks, and can grow two full crops each season when planted outdoors.…