Browse Field Crops, Forage and Turfgrass Production Stories - Page 35

An impending El Niño weather pattern could negatively impact Georgia farmers’ abilities to harvest their peanut and cotton crops, according to University of Georgia climatologist Pam Knox.

Women own 13.6 percent of America’s active farms and their farms produce almost $13 billion worth of goods each year. Just like male farmers, they need access to business and technical information to help make their farms successful. But while many pride themselves on not needing a “women’s only” class on how to work the land or run a business, many other women simply feel more comfortable learning around other female farmers.

For more than 100 years, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension has provided farmers, ranchers and gardeners with research-based training and on-demand information to help them improve their farms and gardens. Starting Oct. 1, a new leader will oversee these vital Extension services in Georgia.

The top peanut-producing state in the country showcased its 2015 crop during the annual Georgia Peanut Tour, which was held Sept. 15-17. Tour attendees learned why peanuts are a high-value crop for Georgia farmers.

White mold disease has always been a problem for Georgia peanut farmers, according to University of Georgia plant pathologist Tim Brenneman. The disease has been even more of a nuisance due to the hot and humid weather conditions this growing season.

A week before Georgia’s annual Peanut Tour, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension peanut agronomist Scott Monfort is optimistic about the state’s peanut crop.

Hay doesn’t always get the respect it deserves. You won’t find it featured in any “farm-to-table” magazine spreads or highlighted in a “Got hay?” marketing campaign. Good hay’s not flashy, but without it, great steaks and cheese would be impossible.

From vineyards and vegetable patches to state-of-the-art food processing and food safety operations, agriculture in northeast Georgia is made up of a large and diverse set of enterprises.

Cotton and peanut research will be featured at the University of Georgia field day, set for Wednesday, Sept. 9, on the UGA campus in Tifton.

Maxwell Lamptey is visiting America, specifically Griffin, Georgia, in the hopes of learning new methods to fight aflatoxin — a carcinogen produced by soil fungus that can grow on peanuts — in his home country of Ghana.