Late Tuesday Florida Governor Charlie Crist lifted the restrictions on truck weights in light of the deep freeze the state is experiencing right in the midst of winter fruit and vegetable harvests. The news release from the Florida Dept of Agriculture is below. For those transporting produce, a copy of the order and accompanying letter from DOT must be kept …
Growers Fighting a Five Night Freeze
We are currently in the midst of five straight nights of temperatures below freezing for the strawberry growing region and it looks like the worse is yet to come.
Weather Disasters
More places, more frequency, more costly. Why? Everett Griner explains.
AL Counties Declared Natural Disaster Areas
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated 66 counties in Alabama as primary natural disaster areas due to to excessive rain, flooding and flash flooding that occurred during the period of Jan. 1, 2009, and continuing.
SURE Program Now Available
WASHINGTON – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that USDA has implemented the new Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments program (SURE) in accordance with the 2008 Farm Bill. Vilsack also encouraged producers to visit their USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) county office beginning on January 4, 2010, to participate in the program if they suffered crop production losses during the 2008 …
Christmas Trees
Did you know that there are three trees planted for each one cut? Everett Griner tells us this and much more today.
SE Cotton Harvest at a Standstill
USDA’s final crop progress report for 2009 shows the overall cotton harvest finishing at 94 percent. But USDA Meteorologist Brad Rippey says the southeastern harvest is at a virtual standstill.
NRCS Prepared for Watershed Concerns with EWP
Perry Oaks, state conservation engineer with AL NRCS, says the Emergency Watershed Protection program will be able to assist with possible damage that the mass amount of rainfall Alabama has seen this fall may of created.
One in Four Cotton Fields Currently Unharvested
The story of the cotton harvest in the southeast this season continues to be the rain and the havoc it is creating for farmers.
NASS Conducting Surveys to get Producer Perspective
As wet conditions continue to hinder the cotton harvest, Bill Weaver, director of the Alabama field office for the National Agricultural Statistics Service, says they have some upcoming surveys in order to receive the farmer’s input on the challenging year.