News Stories - Page 345

News from the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences

Nighttime spraying is recommended by UGA plant pathologists in treating peanuts for white mold disease. CAES News
White Mold Disease
Most Georgia peanut farmers do not spray fungicides on their crop at night. But University of Georgia plant pathologists say nighttime is the best time to spray for white mold disease.
CAES News
Insulation Benefits
House insulation provides resistance to the flow of heat - whether it's heat escaping from a house in the winter or entering the house in the summer. Fuel savings of around one-third in the winter and summer can be obtained by properly insulating your home.
University of Georgia scientist Mussie Habteselassie is studying the affect of septic systems on water quality and quantity in the Metro Atlanta area. CAES News
Septic Systems Study
Waste from most Georgia homes is managed through centralized sewage treatment plants. But 36.8 percent of Georgia homes, and 25 percent of homes in the United States, use septic systems. A University of Georgia soil scientist is studying how on-site home septic systems affect the quality and quantity of water in Georgia’s rivers and streams.
Sabrina Beasley, a UGA Extension Fulton Fresh participant, inspects a  bunch of  bok choy during a Fulton Fresh supermarket tour this winter. CAES News
Fulton Fresh
As UGA Extension’s Fulton Fresh Mobile Farmers Market program moves into a new year, coordinators are working to educate an army of informed food consumers to advocate for better food for their neighborhoods.
The 2014 Georgia Ag Forecast seminar series will be held Jan. 24-31 in Macon, Athens, Lyons, Tifton, Bainbridge and Cartersville. Registration for the series is open at www.georgiaagforecast.com . CAES News
Ag Forecast 2014
Agricultural topics from the price of peanut butter to how Europe’s demand for wood pellets will impact Georgia’s lumber supply will be discussed at the 2014 Georgia Ag Forecast seminar series. Seminars will be held Jan. 24-31 in Macon, Athens, Lyons, Tifton, Bainbridge and Cartersville. Registration for the series is open at www.georgiaagforecast.com.
Thrips are tiny winged insects that feed chiefly on plants. Many species damage cultivated plants, by either sucking the sap or transmitting viral plant diseases. Thrips reach a maximum length of about half an inch. Most have two pairs of long, narrow, hair-fringed wings. CAES News
Thrips Damage
A tiny insect proved to be a formidable foe for Georgia farmers in 2013. Whether thrips will deliver a similar punch in 2014 remains to be seen. There are more than 7,000 species of thrips, but only two cause problems for Georgia farmers and UGA researchers — tobacco thrips and western flower thrips.
Since 1990, Georgia has experienced almost annual fluctuations between drier than normal and wetter than normal years. CAES News
2013 Weather Recap
With 65 inches of rain observed statewide, conditions in Georgia were much wetter than usual in 2013. The state as a whole received its third largest annual total precipitation since state records began in 1895.
Jean Williams-Woodward, UGA CAES plant pathologist, examines impatience plant roots for signs of disease in greenhouse, Athens Campus, October 27, 2009. CAES News
Gardening Symposium
University of Georgia plant pathologist Jean Williams-Woodward will be among the experts presenting at The Inspired Gardener symposium set for Feb. 22 at the Atlanta Botanical Garden.
Amicalola Falls inn Dawson County froze into a beautiful spectacal during the winter cold snap that blew through Georgia Jan. 6 and 7. This photo was taken the afternoon of Jan. 7. CAES News
Below freezing temps
Even the most thick-blooded Georgians donned winter coats, hats and gloves Jan. 6 and 7 as a cold front blew across the state, dropping temperatures -- down to single digits and negative degrees in some places -- from the mountains to the coast.
Some parts of Georgia saw record-breaking warm temperatures just days before Christmas due to a wave of warm air. CAES News
Warm December
December was warm and wet across most of Georgia, a change from the cold and dry conditions that dominated November. Warm daytime high temperatures and higher than normal nighttime lows broke records.