Departments and Units Resources
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Silverleaf whitefly (SLWF) is a major pest of agriculture in Georgia requiring management in vegetable and agronomic cropping systems to preserve yield and quality. Our greatest opportunity for impacting the severity of SLWF infestations is to minimize overall SLWF populations moving from one cropping system to the next. This can be accomplished with effective in crop management and timely termination of crops after harvest to minimize the population over time. SLWF populations increase during the year and management within each cropping system significantly impacts subsequent cropping systems. It is important that SLWF management is a priority in all crops that serve as reproductive hosts. Cross-commodity cooperation and management with the objective of minimizing overall SLWF populations will benefit all of Georgia agriculture.
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There are a number of different poultry production systems available today, and consumers commonly confuse organic poultry production with other systems. Pasture-raised poultry and natural poultry are not organically produced, as they do not meet all or any of the standards set by the National Organic Program, which regulates and certifies production systems as “organic.” Consumers should be aware of the differences between each of the poultry production systems as they purchase poultry products.
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Amino acids are essential building blocks of proteins and are obtained from plant and animal products. Some amino acids can be synthesized by the chicken, while others (essential amino acids) must be supplied in the diet. In organic poultry production, the sources of these essential amino acids must be organic. This publication compares the amino acid content, digestibility, and availability of organic soybean meal with conventional soybean meal.
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Bill Pickens, Conifer Silviculturist,
North Carolina Forest Service
Shortleaf pine and its associated plant communities evolved with fire of varied temperatures, or mixed severity, and a fire return interval, or frequency of 2–18 years. Periodic occurrences of fire provide shortleaf a growth advantage; a competitive edge that allows it to both establish and maintain a place in the canopy. Without fire, hardwoods and loblolly or Virginia pines out-compete shortleaf. Across its wide range, shortleaf is found growing with blackjack, white, and post oaks; trees that have similar adaptive traits and fire resistance. The high diversity and number of herbaceous understory plants and wildlife found in shortleaf savannahs and woodlands is sustained with frequent prescribed burns. The frequency, intensity, and time of year of a burn all influence how fire shapes a shortleaf forest. Due to its reliance on fire, foresters and ecologists commonly refer to shortleaf as fire resistant, fire resilient, fire dependent, or fire adapted. However, shortleaf pine is not fire-proof. And while fire provides many benefits there are risks. Some trees, particular seedlings and saplings will be damaged or destroyed from fire. Land managers must base the decision to burn on their overall management goals.|
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Patrick Keyser, University of Tennessee, Center for Native Grasslands Management
Savannahs are typically thought of as transitional landscapes between forest and prairie, containing a sparse overstory and well-developed herbaceous understory, including grasses, wildflowers, and occasional understory shrubs. A similar concept is a woodland, which is a transitional landscape between savannahs and forests. In woodlands, overstory density is typically greater and understories are not as well-developed and may contain more woody plants than what is typical of savannahs. The open-forest canopy and rich understory vegetation of both communities were historically maintained by frequent, low-intensity fires. Although savannahs and woodlands were once widely distributed across much of the Eastern U.S., they are now rare due to fire exclusion, land clearing, and natural succession. Many plant and animal species associated with forests, forest edges, and open prairies thrive in these communities making savannahs and woodlands some of the richest and most diverse natural communities in the region. They provide excellent habitat for northern bobwhite quail, eastern wild turkeys, and in many cases, white-tailed deer.
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C 1135
Silvics of Shortleaf Pine
Bill Pickens, Conifer Silviculturist, North Carolina Forest Service
Shortleaf pine, Pinus echinata, is the most widely distributed, but perhaps least understood of the four major southern yellow pines. Growing in 22 states from southern New York to eastern Texas, it occupies the largest range of any pine in the southeastern United States. Its extensive distribution reflects it adaptability to a great variety of soil, average annual temperatures (48–70-degree F), total precipitation (40–60 inches) and elevations (up to 3000 feet). Throughout much of its range, but especially in the East, it is a species of minor and varying occurrence often found growing with other pines and hardwoods. In Arkansas and Missouri, where it is the only naturally occurring pine, we find widespread areas of pure and mixed shortleaf-oak stands.
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Linda Wang, National Timber Tax Specialist, Forest Service
Specific Federal income tax laws and rules apply to timber-related income and expenses. The tax tips provided in this bulletin are intended to assist timber owners, foresters, or loggers and their tax preparers in filing their 2017 tax returns. This material is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide tax, legal, or accounting advice. Please consult your own tax, legal, and accounting advisors before engaging in any transaction. The information is current as of September 30, 2017.|
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Linda Wang, National Timber Tax Specialist, USDA Forest Service
Timber or landscape trees destroyed by the hurricane, fire, earthquake, ice, hail, tornado, and other storms are “casualty losses” that may allow the property owners to take a deduction on their federal income tax returns. The key for most cases is to figure out the “adjusted basis” of the timber. The “Adjusted Basis” of Timber Generally, the cost or the measure of your investment in the property you own is the property’s basis. The original basis is defined as follows: 1) for purchased timber property, it is the purchase price and related costs (such as legal fee and timber cruises); 2) for gifted timber property, it is the donor’s adjusted basis in most instances; 3) for inherited timber property, it is the fair market value (or alternative value if so elected) on the date of death (or alternative valuation date). The “adjusted basis” of a property is the original basis reduced or added by adjustments over the term of ownership (e.g., new purchase increases your timber basis while timber sale decreases your timber basis).
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The state of Georgia ranked ninth out of all states in 2013 for green industry (not including sod production, as this was not included in the analysis) economic contributions (including multiplier effects) to employment (64,066 jobs) and GDP ($3.79 billion) and tenth in total industry output ($6.72 billion). The largest individual sector in regard to output and employment both directly and indirectly was landscape services, representing nearly 57% of industry employment and 39% of economic output. The Georgia green industry represented 0.83% of Georgia gross domestic product (GDP), higher than that of the U.S. green industry as a whole at 0.72% U.S. GDP.
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