By Mary Leigh Oliver AUBURN UNIVERSITY, Ala. — When picking up a peach from the store, consumers often don’t think about the intricate growth process fruit endures to be store ready. Peach farmers know the importance of nurturing and monitoring the peach growing process. The most important part of a peach’s growth are chill hours. These hours serve as the …
Florida Tomato Growers Reminded to Destroy Plants Following Final Harvest
University of Florida/IFAS reminds tomato producers that plants must be destroyed within five days following final harvest of their crop. Under Florida law, abandoned tomato fields that have not been destroyed within five days after final harvest are subject to an Immediate Final Order per Rule, says Gene McAvoy, UF/IFAS Extension agent emeritus. If tomato plants are left in the …
Georgia Pecan Producer: Cautiously Optimistic About Future Market Prices
One South Georgia pecan producer is cautiously optimistic farmers will soon experience an increase in market prices. Coming off a season where pecan yields were the best in years and prices were the worst in some time, growers like Randy Hudson are hopeful prices will soon rebound. “The old saying about the cure for low prices is low prices. The …
Crop Rotation in SE Vegetable Production
According to the Southeastern U.S. 2021 Vegetable Crop Handbook, crop rotation is key in preventing the buildup of soil-borne pathogens. Specialists from universities across the Southeast implore producers to consider an effective rotation sequence that consists of crops from different families that are poor or non-hosts of these pathogens. The longer the rotation the better the results will be. A …
Clemson Extension Agents Provide Crop Updates
Clemson Extension agents provide updates in the The South Carolina Grower this week about the status of various crops being produced throughout the state. Weekly Field Update Statewide Dr. Matt Cutulle reports, “Burndown herbicide efficacy can be reduced in colder weather, especially systemic products such as glyphosate (Reduced translocation in the cold means herbicide does not move through the plant …
Seed Selection Considerations
By Tiffany Bailey and Ida Vandamme Choosing vegetable varieties is probably the most important decision a grower can make and can be the difference between a crop failure or success. On our farm, we consider seed selection one of the most powerful and efficient tools as part of the cultural controls in an integrated pest management program. It takes no …
Vegetable Weed Management a Complicated Practice for Producers
Weed management in vegetable crops across the Southeast remains a diverse and complicated practice that all producers need to be reminded of. “There are so many components that a vegetable grower has to consider, especially when it comes to weed control. Some production systems you can use tillage. Some you can’t. Some you have plasticulture in a fumigant system. Some …
Examining Issues Facing Hemp Production and Processing
By Allison Fortner for CAES News Hemp is a promising new industry for profitability, but growers of this newly legal crop will face a mix of public opinions according to University of Georgia research into challenges those in the hemp business may face in the southeastern United States. A recently published article in the Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics …
USDA Issues Domestic Hemp Production Final Rule Notice
The flurry of last-minute regulations from the Trump administration includes a final rule concerning domestic hemp production. The Department of Agriculture published the final rule notice in the Federal Register Tuesday. The U.S. Hemp Growers Association says the final rule appears to address many of the concerns the organization expressed during a comment period. Changes include allowing a producer a …
Florida Hemp Research: Diseases Present, Minimal Impact
Hemp plant diseases are present in University of Florida (UF)/IFAS research trials. But their impact has been minimal so far, says Johan Desaeger, Assistant Professor of Entomology and Nematology at the UF Gulf Coast Research and Education Center. “So far, honestly, we haven’t seen too much in our trials here. We’ve seen some fungal diseases some leaf spot. We’ve seen …