News Stories - Page 209

News from the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences

A farmer plants onions using PlantTape technology. CAES News
PlantTape Technology
As Georgia Vidalia onion producers plant next year’s crop, they are transplanting the onions, or physically placing the plants into a hole dug in the ground. Farmers may soon be using a new method that literally rolls the plants into the soil.
Nan Bostick, Garrett Brown and David Sutherland are among the students graduating from the UGA Tifton campus this month. CAES News
Winter Graduation
The University of Georgia Tifton campus will recognize nine College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences graduates at a special ceremony slated for Saturday, Dec. 9. The ceremony will be held in the seminar room of the NESPAL building on the Tifton campus from 2-4 p.m.
Farmers working their crops on a Georgia farm. CAES News
Farm Business Success
Dennis Hollingsworth was fresh out of college the first time he tried running a farm. It was the early 1980s in south Georgia, and he stuck with it for four years in some of the toughest economic conditions since the Great Depression. Then he left for an IT job.
Woman working on a computer CAES News
Online Shopping
With Christmas coming at lightning speed, the majority of us will be searching for gifts for our loved ones. The coming days will be a fury of purchasing and wrapping gifts to put under the tree. If you choose to shop online, be safe and snag the perfect gift by following these tips from University of Georgia Cooperative Extension.
Ruqayah Bhuiyan, left, a horticulture student in the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, and Niki Padgett, a biology student in the UGA Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, will head to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for research internships focusing on ways to grow food in space this spring. CAES News
Plants in Space
When the public thinks of NASA, the first images that come to mind are often rockets or satellites. In the future, images of greenhouses might also make the list.
Georgia highways dazzle with color from old-fashioned cosmos. These flowers aren't perennials, but they do come back through reseeding. CAES News
Roadside Show
The Georgia Department of Transportation has planted cosmos alongside interstates in Georgia. GDOT is revved up and planting pollinator-attracting flowers along the highway system. Although considered an annual, cosmos are perfect for this use as they give a perennial-like performance by reseeding.
Corn being harvested on the UGA Tifton campus in 2016. CAES News
Corn Crop
Georgia’s corn yields were lower than expected this season due to prolonged cloudy conditions this summer, according to University of Georgia Cooperative Extension corn, soybean and small grains agronomist Reagan Noland.
If you receive a gift of a homemade canned good, look closely before you consume it. Is the food covered with liquid with no discoloration or is it drying out at the top of the jar? The food should not be unnaturally discolored either. And, obviously, throw out anything with mold growing on it. And, before opening the jar, look for signs of spoilage, such as cloudy and/or bubbling liquid. Lastly, make sure the jar's vacuum seal is intact when you open the jar and no liquid is spurting out, an indication that pressure inside the jar is forcing it out. Also, notice if there are unusual odors coming from the food in the jar. CAES News
Homemade Gifts
You look at the pretty relish, salsa or preserve in the glass jar your friend or co-worker gave you. Then the wondering begins; is the canned food gift safe to eat? While it is not possible to guarantee safety with homemade food items, there are some pointers to keep in mind as you look at that gift and decide how – or even if – to enjoy it.
Peaches hang from a Georgia tree in this 2009 file photo. CAES News
Peach Crop
Cooler temperatures are needed this winter to avoid another disastrous peach season, according to Jeff Cook, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension County coordinator in Taylor and Peach counties. 
cracked pecans CAES News
Pecans For Christmas
Mixed nut samplers, chocolate covered nuts, praline pecans and a variety of nutty baked goods are commonly given as gifts during the holidays. For some, the perfect gift might be a nut-producing tree — a gift that keeps on giving.