Weekly Field Update Clemson Extension agents provide updates in The South Carolina Grower this week about the status of various crops being produced throughout the state. Statewide Tom Bilbo reports, “When scouting strawberry fields for spider mites, also keep an eye out for naturally occurring predatory mites, such as the [potentially] highly effective specialist predator Phytoseilus persimilis. Sampling conducted in …
Mind Your Melon: Farm Family Launches Mental Health Movement
By Frank Giles Farming comes with a set of unique challenges that few other professions have. Among them are many uncontrollable factors that can mean the difference between a profitable year or a loss. Weather, pests and diseases, markets and finding labor are just a few of those stressors. The conversation around stress and mental health has become more pronounced …
Clemson Extension Agents Provide Crop Updates
Weekly Field Update Clemson Extension agents provide updates in The South Carolina Grower this week about the status of various crops being produced throughout the state. Statewide Guido Schnabel reports, “The new year started with a disappointment and scare for some strawberry growers; stunted plants, gaps in the strawberry rows and leaves dying. The extent of the damage is yet …
Georgia Strawberry Crop Delayed Following Christmas Freeze
By Clint Thompson One University of Georgia strawberry specialist believes Georgia’s crop will be delayed following the Christmas freeze event. How the late spring/early summer weather responds could complicate the delay. Jeff Cook, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension agriculture and natural resources agent for Peach and Taylor counties, discussed the current state of Georgia’s crop following multiple of days of …
Plant-Parasitic Nematodes Complicate Crop Quality
By Johan Desaeger The importance of plant-parasitic nematodes (PPN) in agriculture was first demonstrated in the mid-1800s with the discovery of sugar beet cyst nematodes in Europe and root-knot nematodes in Europe and the Americas. Experiments with nematicides in the early-mid 1900s demonstrated the significant yield loss caused by these nematodes. Yet to this day, PPN’s true impact on crop …
North Carolina Strawberry Plants Recovering Following Christmas Freeze
By Clint Thompson North Carolina’s strawberry plants incurred some damage during the Christmas freeze event. Fortunately for growers like Austin Wrenn, the consecutive days of sub-freezing temperatures did not happen later in the production season. “We’re lucky that cold front came through in December and not March. We would be in a very different situation if that had happened,” said …
Clemson Extension Agents Provide Crop Updates
Weekly Field Update Clemson Extension agents provide updates in The South Carolina Grower this week about the status of various crops being produced throughout the state. Statewide Tom Bilbo reports, “If you grow strawberries then hopefully the question of the week last week was easy, and that it encourages you to scout your fields! The translucent spheres were two-spotted spider …
Florida Strawberry Grower: Sitting on Heavy Fruit Load, But It’s Green
By Clint Thompson Strawberry harvest season continues across South Florida. If the temperatures will increase and the weather stays consistently warm, the current harvests will increase in quantity, believes producer Matt Parke. “We are sitting on a heavy fruit load, but it’s green. It’s been so cool over here we haven’t come on to that February push yet,” Parke, farm …
USDA Provides More Than $4.7 Million to Projects That Protect Florida Agriculture and Natural Resources
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is allocating more than $4.7 million to Florida as part of a nationwide effort to strengthen the country’s infrastructure for pest detection, surveillance, and mitigation, as well as protecting the U.S. nursery system. “Florida’s 47,500 farms and ranches span 9.7 million acres. It’s a major producer of oranges, strawberries, tomatoes and melons,” …
What’s Happening? Clemson Extension Agents Provide Crop Updates
Weekly Field Update Clemson Extension agents provide updates in The South Carolina Grower this week about the status of various crops being produced throughout the state. Coastal Region Rob Last reports, “Crops are benefiting from the recent warmer weather, with new leaves pushing out on strawberries and buds beginning to break in other crops. Following the rainfall over the weekend, …