News Stories - Page 6

As climate variability increasingly affects producers across the Southeastern U.S., Wes Porter spends a lot of time thinking about water — specifically, crop irrigation — and how available tools can benefit farmers threefold.

Joro spiders are polarizing figures. If you live in Georgia, you’ve likely seen the massive-but-harmless spiders hanging between power lines or from the eaves of your house, their golden webs glistening in the sunlight. While some find them a fascinating effect of globalization, others don’t care how they got here. They just want them gone.

In a world filled with screens and devices, the world is virtually at our fingertips each second of every day. It is easy to look at pictures and videos of places you would like to visit, watch live streaming of events happening around the globe, connect with other cultures or perspectives in a chat box, or even learn a new skill by simply donning a pair of virtual reality goggles. But one method of learning remains unmatched in educational quality — hands-on, experiential learning.

As solar farms pop up across the U.S., researchers at the University of Georgia are working to improve the biodiversity on solar sites as part of a larger, multidisciplinary research program designed to support both sustainable energy and ecosystem health.

For nearly three decades, Juan Carlos Díaz-Pérez has been contributing to the field of sustainable vegetable production, focusing on organic agriculture as a professor in the University of Georgia Department of Horticulture. This month, Georgia Organics is recognizing his work with the 2022 Land Steward Award.

The University of Georgia is leveraging faculty expertise and strengthening industry ties through a new Institute for Integrative Precision Agriculture whose research and outreach will help sustainably feed a growing global population.

Using proven production practices to fight disease in the field, Georgia farmers produce half the peanuts grown in the U.S. each year. Modern peanut varieties carry few genetic defenses against some of the more devastating diseases, so peanut farmers carefully consider when to plant, whether to irrigate and when to apply fungicide and insecticide to keep those diseases from infecting the plant.

Registration slots are still available to attend the 2022 Georgia Ag Forecast on Jan. 28. The annual event will be held in one location this year, at the University of Georgia Tifton Conference Center on the UGA Tifton campus, with a live virtual registration option available.

Partnerships with schools, businesses and educational institutions have been crucial components in the growth of the Great Georgia Pollinator Census, which was established by University of Georgia Cooperative Extension in 2019.