Features

  • Spring Conditions Ideal for Deadly Fungus in Forage Fescue

    May 24, 2013

    Cattle producers should watch their herds for signs of fescue toxicosis this summer. Conditions this spring are ideal for the deadly fungus that attacks tall fescue, but good forage management can help prevent problems with toxicosis.

  • Innovation: Center Helps Producers Build Agribusinesses

    May 23, 2013

    When Paulk Vineyards prepared to launch a new branch of the family business a decade ago, the growers had plenty of business experience. The family had the world's largest muscadine grape vineyard, six generations of history farming in southern Georgia and knowledge of how to grow, harvest and market produce.

  • The Basics of Water Law, Part 2

    May 21, 2013

    In the first part of this series, we looked at laws governing the use of surface waters in Georgia, including the riparian rights doctrine, and compared them to prior appropriation based water laws enacted by states in the western part of the country. In this part, we will discuss Georgia laws governing the use of underground water and compare them with different types of underground water laws in other states.

  • Farmer Profile: Heard Likes Double Cropping to Keep Farm Working

    May 20, 2013

    Glenn Heard is approaching the stage of a farmer’s career when his own dad retired. With 34 years behind him, he knows that one more crop will put him at 35 years – the time when his father retired.

  • Weather Predictions for Summer 2013 Are Hot, Rainy

    May 17, 2013

    New Drought Monitor data shows the eastern half of the United States free of drought, while the National Weather Service predicts that central and southern parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and the Florida panhandle may get more rain than normal over the next three months.

  • Farm Bill Update, Price Protections

    May 16, 2013

    As federal lawmakers continued to debate on Wednesday how much funding food stamps should receive over the next five years, peanut and rice farmers looked to a much less continuous part of the 2013 Farm Bill – price protections.

  • Taking the Smell Out of Chicken Litter

    May 15, 2013

    Few things are more Southern than tea. But a Castleberry, Ala., company hopes to take its tea – an organic soil amendment made from composted waste – beyond Dixie and into other farming regions.

  • The Basics of Water Law, Part One

    May 14, 2013

    Together with air, water is the most essential substance on the planet. Without it, life would not exist. And, agriculture uses more water than any other human endeavor.

  • Deadline Nears to Participate in Ag Census 2012

    May 13, 2013

    Farmers and ranchers across the country have a little more than two weeks left to return a census form to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and help shape public policy and research for the next half decade.

  • Census Report Shows More Women Farmers Than Ever Before

    May 10, 2013

    Kristan Fretwell didn’t grow up on a farm. But as she got older, she wanted more control over the food that she gave her children, a wish that led her to join the growing number of women farmers.

  • Agronomist: Know When to Treat for Stinkbugs

    May 09, 2013

    As kudzu bugs and a new type of stinkbug invade cotton, soybean and corn fields of the Southeast, farmers have figured out ways to fight them. But timing may make the difference in the battle against these voracious little bugs.

  • Technology Leading to Bigger Profit

    May 08, 2013

    Auto-steer technology is driving peanut farmers to higher crop yields and bigger profit margins.

  • Fluctuating Weather Patterns Reduces Vidalia Crop Yields

    May 07, 2013

    While farmers were expecting a banner year for onion yields, a warm January and February followed by a chilly March and April caused widespread cases of seed stem in the 12,000 acres of Vidalia onion fields.

  • Save on Farm Insurance over the Long Term

    May 06, 2013

    Insurance protects a farmer against unexpected expenses, but by using smart practices with the employees he hires, a farmer might also control some planned expenses. The more you do to avoid unnecessary claims on your insurance policies, the more control you have over premiums.

  • Study Finds Complex Issues Behind Bee Colony Collapse

    May 03, 2013

    A study released by the USDA on Thursday found a complicated mix of problems that are leading to colony collapse disorder among honey bees.

  • Farm Credit Program Educating Next Generation of Farmers

    May 02, 2013

    Farming is a business. That’s why Ag South Farm Credit wants young farmers not only to understand the farming side of what they do, but also the business side.

  • Conservation, not Lawsuits, Can Protect Farmers and the Environment

    May 01, 2013

    When Georgia regulatory agencies were seeking to enhance water laws by encouraging additional conservation for farm irrigation and to protect stream flows, they sought input from state agriculture and business leaders. It made sense because agriculture is the strongest economic engine for our state and by far the biggest job creator in Southwest Georgia. To accomplish these goals, lawmakers at the State Capitol this year proposed a bill (SB 213) to alter the existing Flint River Drought Protection Act, which governs farm water use during extreme droughts.

  • As Goats Grow More Popular, FVSU Research Helps Ranchers

    April 30, 2013

    Raising goats for food is becoming more and more popular, but U.S. farmers can only keep up with about half of the demand in this country.

  • Wet Spring Delays Some Corn Planting

    April 29, 2013

    Farmers in some corn-growing areas like West Tennessee are dealing with a problem most farmers haven’t faced much in the past few years. It’s raining too much.

  • Commodity Prices Drive Farmers to Clear More Land

    April 26, 2013

    Farmers aren’t the type of customer that heavy equipment manufacturers target when they build excavators and front end loaders.

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