Southeast AgNET

A triple threat of storms Hanna, Ike and Josephine are threatening the southeast.

As all eyes are now on Gustav, officials are still trying to determine how much damage the heavy rains and winds from Tropical Storm Fay caused - from citrus and vegetables in south Florida to cotton and pecans in the tri-state area.

While a large part of the Southeast is still trying to dry out from Tropical Storm Fay, there’s another system slowly working it’s way possibly in our direction called Gustav.

Tropical Storm Fay is one for the record-books as the storm that just wouldn’t quit has finally moved out of our area, but left it’s mark with varying rainfall amounts. Here are just some of the official amounts recorded across the Southeast… Read the rest of this entry »

As Tropical Storm Fay continues to drop rain across parts of Florida, when it comes to citrus groves, Doug Bournique with the Indian River Citrus League says they have a lot of water standing out there right now.

FAY HAS BEEN STATIONARY DURING THE PAST SEVERAL HOURS. HOWEVER…A SLOW MOTION TOWARD THE WEST-NORTHWEST IS FORECAST TO BEGIN SOON AND CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS.

AT 11:00 AM EDT THE CENTER OF TROPICAL STORM FAY WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 29.3 NORTH…LONGITUDE 80.8 WEST OR ABOUT 15 MILES EAST-NORTHEAST OF DAYTONA BEACH FLORIDA.

For the entire hurricane advisory from the National Hurricane Center, Miami, FL click here.

Just before Fay hit south Florida this week, US Sugar Corp announced they were on track to set new production records by the end of August.

Listen to report here:

After Tropical Storm Fay hit, US Sugar reported that sugarcane operations were affected with 8-12 inches of rain and hurricane force winds of 80-85 mph. They have standing water and most cane stalks were blown over and tangled. However, officials say the Clewiston Refinery, which had shut down as the storm approached, started back up Tuesday and is still on pace to break several production records. There was no damage reported to the milling and refining complex.

It’s late Sunday morning and while forecasters are still not sure on the development of Tropical Storm Fay after it passes over Cuba, as of now, Citrus Expo plans remain a go. While it will most likely be sometime Monday before a final decision can be made with regard to the status of Citrus Expo, the center of the projected course, or “the cone” for this storm continues to be the the southwest coast of Florida. But Citrus EXPO plans continue to move forward at this time, although very bad weather particularly for setup day Tuesday appears likely. However, the status of the Lee County Civic Center (LCCC) as an official shelter facility largely takes the decision out of our hands and places it with emergency management people in Lee County. If the show is confirmed to go on, we will likely work with LCCC officials to allow for later access to the building Tuesday evening as necessary. We are closely monitoring their plans accordingly through LCCC management. Please stay tuned to both websites www.citrusexpo.net and southeastagnet.com on a regular basis for the most up to date information. Also get the latest forecast info about FAY at www.weather.com/newscenter/tropical/?from=hp_news

When it comes good general rainfall in the Southeast, we have seen better coverage recently than have in a while, which has helped pastures and field crops across the region.

According to the state climatologist, there are some counties in Georgia that are really suffering again this year from drought conditions, as Tyron Spearman has the latest.
Listen to report here:

A USDA Meteorologist discusses the 2008 hurricane season now that we’re two months into it, and has some interesting observations.
Admission for GROWERS is free at Citrus Expo Aug 20 & 21;
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A high school in Marion county Alabama has a new weather station to serve the surrounding community.

Report (1:00 mp3)

Compared to last year, the weather looks much wetter for the Southeast this spring and summer - but still some dryness remains.

Report (1:00 mp3)

It is with great sadness and tremendously heavy hearts we report of the passing of Lee V. McCoy, known to many of his legions of friends and colleagues as the “RealMcCoy”. Lee lost his battle with cancer early morning Thursday May 22 in a Georgia hospital, admitted the Monday before in a bout with pneumonia.

Please find details regarding Lee’s memorial services at the end of this news post.

For nearly a decade until making a move into a new career opportunity last year, Lee was a regional representative of this radio network. He travelled the region and nation, and occassionally overseas, newsgathering and representing the network from his home location Read the rest of this entry »

A freeze is in the forecast for the Southeast next week.

Report(:30 mp3)

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded Florida State University $2.5 million to provide climate forecasting for the agricultural community in Florida, Georgia and Alabama. The grant will help fund the Southeast Climate Consortium (SECC).

Read more here.

Report (1:00 mp3)

Tyron Spearman has information on what was discussed in Washington D.C. recently concerning the drought in parts of Georgia.  Report (:30 mp3)

The following workshops have been scheduled in South Florida concerning the Water Restrictions from the South Florida Water Management District. Irrigation Restrictions: Production Implications” workshops (pdf file) are scheduled as follows:
March 5th – Palm Beach County Extension, University of Florida/IFAS, 559 North Military Trail, West Palm Beach; 4:00pm – 6:00pm.

March 18th – Southwest Florida Research and Education Center, 2686 SR 29 N, Immokalee; 4:00pm – 6:00pm.

March 25th – Miami Dade County Extension, 18710 SW 288 Street, Homestead;
1:30pm – 3:30pm.

This week’s Annual Meeting and Legislative Breakfast events hosted by the Georgia Agribusiness Council in Atlanta drew a good crowd of the state’s agriculture leaders, numerous lawmakers and legislative staffers. One of the big news items of the day is the announcement by GA Governor Sonny Perdue that some of the watering restrictions in Georgia will be relaxed, for now anyway, to help support the nursery industry and efforts by the public to establish new plantings of trees and shrubs. Governor Perdue also is set to sign a new state water bill today that Georgia agriculture industry leaders have been very involved in helping to develop. In the reports posted herein, hear Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue’s comments to the media (mp3)right after he spoke to the GAC breakfast this morning. Also hear comments from Georgia Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association Exec Charles Hall (mp3) including an update about a referendum deadline coming up for GA Vegetable producers to vote on a new marketing order; Georgia Farm Bureau President Vincent ‘Zippy’ Duvall comments (mp3) on the water bill and other present concerns for Georgia agriculture; and GA Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin also offers comments (mp3) for our listeners, speaking to us just before the GAC breakfast this morning. Also to see who’s in these photos, just place your cursor over each photo and the cut line will appear.

The Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association reports that growers generally escaped significant crop damage from last week’s cold spell.

Report (:45 mp3)

Here is a radio newsclip from USDA’s radio team in Washington D. C. featuring this week’s Florida freeze. The USDA newsline is a service to the nation’s radio broadcasters, so this newsclip is fed to hundreds of broadcasters throughout the country. Report (2:00 mp3)

IT’S COLD IN FLORIDA and nobody is more aware of it than Florida’s citrus & veggie growers! In these reports, more comments from Florida Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Bronson regarding the reasons behind the lifting of certain trucking restrictions for agriculture movement.
Report (2:00 mp3) Report (2:00 mp3)
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This reminder in this afternoon from Florida Farm Bureau: Remember to report your frost/freeze protection water use separate from your usual water use permitted quantities. Crop protection water quantities are calculated outside your normal annual average permitted quantities. Please contact Cara Martin at FFBF if you have any questions (Cara Martin,Asst Dir, Gov & Community Affairs, FFBF, Ph: (727) 856-8649 / Cell: (352) 316-2382 . The Southwest Florida Water Management District also provides agricultural related information on their website at: http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/agriculture/

As Florida growers rush to beat the freeze, highway restrictions have been eased to help them get those crops to market and processing.

Report (1:00 mp3)

Citrus is the biggest concern, but strawberries, beans, cukes, corn and eggplant are also in danger.

Report (1:30 mp3)

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TALLAHASSEE — Florida Agriculture Commissioner Charles H. Bronson is alerting the state’s agricultural producers that some highway restrictions have been eased to enable them to quickly harvest and transport crops that are vulnerable to the impending freezing weather conditions. Read the rest of this entry »