While cotton harvest continues to lag a bit across the Southeast, USDA Meteorologist Brad Rippey says the national harvest pace is ahead of average. USDA notes 96% of the nation’s peanut crop had been harvested as of this past Sunday. With harvest winding down for most crops, Rippey says this is the last crop progress report for 2020. In Alabama, …
FDACS Encourages Producers Impacted by Tropical Storm Eta to Seek USDA Disaster Assistance
(FDACS) — With Tropical Storm Eta’s flooding and high winds impacting Florida agricultural operations, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) is encouraging farmers and livestock producers to seek technical and financial assistance available from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). As agricultural producers assess damages, they should contact their local USDA Service Center to report losses and learn more about program …
Commission to Consider Oyster Harvesting Ban
(NSF) — Members of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will be asked on Dec. 16 to finalize the suspension of wild-oyster harvesting in Apalachicola Bay for the next five years. The issue, which will be part of a two-day online commission meeting, stems from efforts to improve the oyster population and revitalize the collapsed fishery. Commissioners on July …
Ducks and Gators Forge New Partnership at the DeLuca Preserve
Ducks Unlimited and the University of Florida working together for conservation at the DeLuca Preserve Thanks to the tremendous generosity of Elisabeth DeLuca, more than 27,000 acres of iconic Florida prairie and wetlands habitat have been permanently protected through a unique partnership between Ducks Unlimited (DU) and the University of Florida. The land was donated to the University of Florida …
Promoting Florida Beef via New Digital Campaign
The Beef Checkoff program in Florida is presenting the beef message to consumers with a little help this holiday season. Florida Beef Council (FBC) Director of Education & Promotion, DeAnne Maples, says they received financial support to help them with a new digital campaign. For more information about this and other Beef Checkoff promotions in Florida, contact the FBC office in Kissimmee …
University of Florida Citrus Faculty Highly Sought After as Research Partners in Fight Against Greening
(UF/IFAS) — University of Florida citrus researchers continue to be sought out as partners in ground-breaking research projects to fight Huanglongbing, also known as citrus greening disease. The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), recently awarded nearly $4.5 million in grants to UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences faculty to find novel ways to fight the disease. But UF/IFAS researchers are serving leadership roles in four other multi-million-dollar grants awarded to colleague …
Cotton Harvest Picks Up; Peanut Harvest About to Wrap Up
Efforts continue to wrap up both the cotton and peanut harvests. USDA Meteorologist Brad Rippey notes cotton harvest picked up this past week in most areas. Rippey has the latest look at the nation’s peanut harvest which is close to seeing an end. In Alabama, cotton harvest was 81% complete, while last year it was at 90%. The 5-year average is 83%. As …
UF/IFAS Researchers Help Wineries Capitalize on Carbonation Craving
Oenophiles rejoice! University of Florida researchers are helping wineries make their product bubbly to meet taste trends and expand their business. Andrew MacIntosh, a UF/IFAS assistant professor of food science and human nutrition, is working with Florida wineries to teach and encourage more of them to produce carbonated wine. About one in 10 Florida wineries currently carbonate, and they use the …
Remedy to EU Grapefruit Tariffs Sought
The European Union (EU) recently imposed approximately $4 billion in tariffs on U.S. grapefruit and other agricultural products. The tariffs, authorized by the World Trade Organization, are punishment for U.S. subsidies for the Boeing Company. “Once again U.S. agriculture is caught in the crossfire of a dispute that is not of our making and we are used as leverage in …
Weekly Livestock Market Report Week Ending 11-20-2020
**This report will not be issued next week due to the Thanksgiving Holiday** Here are the weekly livestock market reports for Alabama, Florida, and Georgia, for the week ended November 20, 2020, compiled by the Livestock Market News Service for all three states. AL Livestock Market Report: At Alabama Livestock Auctions for the Week ended November 20, 2020, receipts at …