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The Douglasville (GA) Patch has an interesting article about using goats as landscape tenders this week. You might have heard of cities using goats to clean up unwanted weeds in difficult terrain. In this case, the US Army Corps of Engineers is using a herd of 16 goats, known as the “Chew Crew”, to maintain…
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Drought conditions in parts of the US are affecting the expansion of beef cattle herds due to lack of feed and adverse growing conditions, according to an article in AgWeb this week. Drought from last summer in the High Plains and continuing drought through fall and winter in the southwestern US, including Texas, have impacted…
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EarthSky posted a request from NASA to help with a citizen science project to observe clouds across the country. According to the story, “from March 15 through April 15, citizen scientists of all ages can make up to 10 cloud observations per day using the free GLOBE Observer app (get the app here or at your phone’s app store).…
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A slow-moving front which will cross the Southeast in the next few days should bring much-needed rain to drought-stricken parts of Georgia, Alabama, and Florida. We may see some improvements in next week’s Drought Monitor as a result. By Thursday, the front should be out of the area, leading to dry conditions going into next…
Posted in: Climate outlooks -
Bloomberg.com has an interesting article this week about how natural disasters are costing farmers billions of dollars a year in damage to infrastructure, loss of livestock and crops, and challenges in getting food to markets. While the story discusses trends in natural disasters over time, I think another consideration is that producers are now more…
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The latest climate outlook for Spring 2018 from NOAA shows a continuing increased chance of above-normal temperatures across the Southeast but especially in Florida, with equal chances for near, below or above normal precipitation. Drought in southeastern Georgia is expected to expand due to the warm temperatures. You can watch a video which discusses the…
Posted in: Climate outlooks -
In addition to the impacts of the recent frost on Georgia peaches, blueberries have also been impacted by the cold temperatures. Farmers who used frost protection by irrigation or other means largely escaped damage but those who did not use frost protection are still assessing their losses. You can read more in The Packer here.