Extension agent outreach
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This is the coolest graph I have seen today. Maybe this week. From retired UGA ag extension agent Rad Yager, who got this from a blueberry producer near Homerville GA. It shows temperature traces from two ambient air sensors plus one that was exposed to irrigation water used for frost protection last night. You can…
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Farmers use a variety of techniques to help protect their vulnerable crops against frost damage when temperatures get near 32 F, including irrigation, large fans, or other heating methods. But it is hard to know when to start the frost prevention measures, because if you wait until it gets to 32 F, then it is…
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I got a recent question about how to access hourly weather data from NWS airport stations online. There are several sources for this information; I am going to give you one option. Another source is the Midwestern Regional Climate Center at https://mrcc.isws.illinois.edu/CLIMATE/. Start with the current Local Climatological Data at the National Centers for Environmental Information…
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Clint Thompson of the University of Georgia wrote an article last week discussing Georgia’s current drought and the outlook for this winter and next year. It quotes heavily from me but also provides insight from other UGA extension specialists and agents. Here is the article as printed in Growing Georgia today.
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The USDA has published a new comprehensive resource book on practices that agricultural producers can use to adapt to variability and trends in climate. While the material is aimed at the Midwest and Northeast, there is a lot of information here that would also be useful to Southeastern farmers and extension agents. I especially like…
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Drought continues to expand across the Southeast as warmer than normal temperatures and virtually no rain has plagued the region again this week. Now all of northern Georgia is in extreme drought and exceptional drought has also expanded slightly. Unfortunately, while temperatures have dropped and will be cooler in the next week, there is still…
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As expected, the latest Drought Monitor map released this morning has shown expansion of drought in all Southeastern states except Virginia and North Carolina, although abnormally dry conditions did expand in NC. Exceptional (D4) drought expanded in Alabama and South Carolina and a new strip of central Georgia, where they have had essentially no rain…