Contact Information: EPA Press Office (press@epa.gov) Brooklet, Ga. (October 27, 2020) — At the Cromley Farm, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced that the EPA is approving new five-year registrations for two dicamba products and extending the registration of an additional dicamba product. All three registrations include new control measures to ensure these products can be used effectively …
Commissioner Fried Comments on Florida Request to Assume EPA Responsibilities on Clean Water Act
(FDACS) — On the final day of virtual public hearings on the state of Florida’s request to assume the administration of the Clean Water Act’s Section 404 program from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Commissioner Nikki Fried, an independently-elected member of the Florida Cabinet, offered the following: “Just before an election, the DeSantis administration is furthering their relentless drive to consolidate power, seizing authority from the federal government and …
Cotton Bolls Mostly Open; Peanut Harvest Over Half Done
Last week was another good week across the Southeast for harvest of the cotton and peanut crops. USDA Meteorologist Brad Rippey says nearly all of the country’s cotton bolls were open as of this past Sunday. But Rippey says the nation’s peanut harvest progress is behind last year and the five-year average. In Alabama, 96% of the cotton bolls are …
Weekly Livestock Market Report Week Ending 10-23-2020
Here are the weekly livestock market reports for Alabama, Florida, and Georgia, for the week ended October 23, 2020, compiled by the Livestock Market News Service for all three states. AL Livestock Market Report: At Alabama Livestock Auctions, for the week ending October 23, 2020, receipts at 21 markets totaled an estimated 14,300 head compared to 14,827 last week and …
OJ Proves Beneficial for Youth
A new, four-year study published in Public Health Nutrition found that drinking 100 percent orange juice (OJ) is not associated with negative effects on body weight, body mass index (BMI) or BMI percentile among 9- to 16-year-olds. It also found that higher OJ consumption is associated with increased height for girls and increased trends for physical activity levels in both …
Insurance, Water Issues on the Table for Legislative Session
(NSF) — Florida senators will be asked to eliminate the state’s no-fault auto insurance option and increase spending to repair the state’s natural springs, the incoming Senate president said Thursday. Senate President-designate Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, told business leaders that lawmakers meeting for the 2021 legislative session also will need to consider efforts to keep polluted Central Florida waters from flowing …
Facts of the Flow: Lake Okeechobee, 2020 Year-to-Date
(SFWMD) — Here is the latest update on inflows into Lake Okeechobee for the calendar year to date. This data is provided by SFWMD’s DBHYDRO database. There has been no back-pumping into Lake Okeechobee from the Everglades Agricultural Area this year. Source: South Florida Water Management District Sponsored ContentFlorida Cattle Producers Proactive In Research Efforts Funded by the Florida Cattle …
Duval Soil and Water Conservation District Full Board to meet Wednesday
The Duval Soil and Water Conservation District Full Board will meet on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020 at 3:30 p.m. at the Duval Agricultural Extension Office, 1010 N. McDuff Ave, Jacksonville, FL 32254. This meeting will be held via Zoom teleconference. At this time the Extension Office is open only at limited capacity. Public participation is still encouraged, but members of …
Cotton, Peanut Harvests Update
We saw good conditions for harvest last week, and across Southeast it helped in getting both the cotton and peanut crops out. USDA Meteorologist Brad Rippey has the latest look at cotton harvest progress. But Rippey says the peanut harvest has been delayed by the recent tropical weather. In Alabama, 92% of the cotton bolls are open, which compares to …
FDACS Announces Hendry County Farmworker COVID-19 Testing
(FDACS) — Commissioner Nikki Fried and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) are announcing additional COVID-19 testing sites in Hendry County for farmworkers as the fall harvest season begins. The product of a partnership with the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS), the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM), and local county governments, today’s announcement follows COVID-19 testing for farmworkers that was made available earlier this month in Miami Dade, Hillsborough, …