Fruit
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Bob Kemerait of UGA had a really insightful piece published in the Southeast Farm Press this week on the importance of Extension agents after a devastating event like the freeze that killed most of the blueberries in Georgia last week along with some strawberries, peaches and apples. He points out that “It is a bitter…
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While many farmers are still assessing just how bad the freeze last week was on their fruit crops, WunderBlog has produced some updated information that does not paint a good picture of the impacts on this year’s harvest. According to their report, “At least 90 percent of the peach crop in South Carolina (the nation’s…
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The hard freeze the last two nights has had significant consequences for Georgia’s fruit crops. The Packer has done a good job of pulling together an overview of some of the consequences of the bitter temperatures on strawberries, peaches and blueberries. Fortunately, the Vidalia onion crop does not appear to be affected. You can read…
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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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The temperature at my house this morning got down to 23 F. My azaleas are toast. I’ve seen temperatures below the killing frost level of 28 F down as far south as Valdosta in Georgia and a number of locations in northern Florida also experienced freezing temperatures. I’m curious to hear how your flowering plants…
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As I’ve been discussing recently, the next two nights are going to be critical for fruit farmers around the Southeast. Temperatures in the low to mid 20s could cause millions of dollars of damage to crops that are well ahead of normal in blooming this year due to the mild winter. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has…
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The Packer published a roundup of crop summaries for Florida vegetable and fruit production this year earlier this week. You can find it here. In the article they say “Following difficult, weather-related growing conditions that negatively impacted many commodities last spring, this year’s outlook has been optimistically deemed “as good as it can get.”” Nearly…