Agricultural Policy
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Pesticide applicators should visit the Bulletins Live! Two website to determine if they are located within a pesticide-restricted or limited area, known as a pesticide use limitation area (PULA). These restrictions protect endangered and threatened species from adverse effects. This publication provides users a step-by-step guide on how to navigate this website and access the information needed for applications and recordkeeping.
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C 1331-01
The Bucket Method
This publication describes the Bucket Method and how someone would use this method to measure the streamflow in a stream, creek, or river to be used in developing a Low Flow Plan required for a agricultural withdrawal permit. Part of the Stream Flow Measurements series.
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Lime mud is a by-product produced in pulp mills as part of the process that turns wood chips into pulp for paper. The pulp mill cooks wood chips with sodium hydroxide to extract the wood fiber used to make paper from the lignin that binds the wood together. During this process, sodium hydroxide is converted to sodium carbonate. The pulp mill than adds calcium oxide, also known as quicklime, to convert the sodium carbonate back to sodium hydroxide in order to use it again. In the process, calcium carbonate is formed.
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This bulletin provides the general public a quick reference for some commonly used standards for metal concentrations in biosolids and various by-products intended for land application. Most of the standards presented here are regulatory; however, we have also included information on average metal concentrations in agricultural soils.
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Proper use of treated industrial wastes contributes to the circular economy and reduces wastes that would have been disposed of in landfills or by incineration. This publication clarifies Georgia’s legal definition of “soil amendments” and highlights current policies governing the application of processed wastes on farm lands in Georgia. Compliance with these regulations maintains a quality environment in Georgia and ensures the long-term sustainability of manufacturing and food processing industries.
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In Georgia, there are many small-scale producers that largely use ecological production practices, such as Certified Organic, and sell in farmers markets or other direct marketing channels. As these direct markets begin to saturate, these producers may need to forge a path beyond direct markets to wholesale or institutional markets that want sustainable products. Food hubs may offer a path for these small farms to scale up. There are three overlapping forms of food hubs in Georgia. Each has different markets and thus different requirements for the producers who sell to them. This publication discusses the types of food hubs in Georgia and gives producers guidelines on which form of food hub may work best for them.
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With the passage of the 2018 U.S. Farm Bill, industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) was declassified as a Schedule I drug and is now legal (with restrictions) for production in the United States. Hemp and marijuana are both Cannabis sativa but are distinguished from each other based on the concentration of the psychoactive compound, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Industrial hemp is defined by law as a cannabis plant with total THC concentrations on a dry weight basis of less than 0.3% (+/- a measurement of uncertainty). This publication provides a basic overview of hemp testing for THC to stay in compliance with U.S. Department of Agriculture rules for hemp growers.
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The Agricultural Act of 2018 (2018 U.S. Farm Bill) extended the nonrecourse marketing assistance loan (MAL) and loan deficiency payment (LDP) feature for the 2019 through 2023 crop years for upland cotton. This publication provides examples and a decision tree for choosing between the marketing assistance loan and loan deficiency payment program for cotton.
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The Agricultural Act of 2018 (2018 U.S. Farm Bill) extended the cotton commodity loan programs for the 2019 through 2023 crop years. Cotton commodity loan programs include the marketing assistance loan (MAL) program and the loan deficiency payment (LDP) program. These programs provide cotton producers with alternative marketing tools during periods of low cotton prices. Cotton producers can receive marketing loan benefits in the form of marketing loan gains (MLG), loan deficiency payments (LDP), commodity certificate exchange gains, and forfeiture gains. Producers can participate in the MAL or obtain an LDP on all or part of their production at any time during the loan availability period, from harvest until May 31 of the following calendar year.
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