General Agriculture Resources
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Your goal as a greenhouse grower is to maintain a stable pH over the life of the crop. This is not an easy task since many factors can affect pH in the growing substrate. The pH can go up or down within several weeks of the crop cycle and if you wait for deficiency or toxicity symptoms to develop, you have already compromised the health of the crop and you r profits. Knowing all factors involved is the first step to managing the substrate pH.
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Label terms and certifications can be divided into those that are regulated and those that are unregulated. Regulated label terms and certifications are usually defined by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) or the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Within the USDA, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is the agency responsible for the truthful labeling of meat and poultry products. The use of labels and certifications is governed by law and violations of use can have legal consequences. Unregulated terms have generally accepted definitions but do not have legal ramifications or verification of adherence. Many common label claims, such as “humanely raised” or “sustainably farmed,” refer to the process used to farm livestock but are unregulated, and there are no legal definitions for these claims. This publication summarizes some common regulated and unregulated terms in agriculture and livestock production.
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Each year, one of the first questions both seasoned and new nursery producers, managers and owners asks is, “What plants should be propagated and/or grown in the upcoming season(s)?” Answering this question requires a complex equation of inputs ranging from the type of nursery operation that exists to physical location and market trends. For this reason, the answer to this question varies for each person or business.
This publication describes several important factors that must be considered to properly assess which ornamental crops should be grown and which market niches exist that may dictate crop selection.
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This publication provides a brief overview of the major regulatory agencies and highlights the rules that Georgia farmers should be aware of concerning storage tanks on their farms.
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This publication is part of a series focusing on irrigation scheduling for vegetable crops. It contains basic information on water use and irrigation management using the crop water demand method for Solanaceae crops such as bell peppers, tomatoes, and eggplants.
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Variety selection is one of the biggest decisions and investments cotton growers make each year. In 2010, the UGA Extension Cotton Agronomists implemented the UGA On-Farm Cotton Variety Evaluation Program to assist in this decision. In this annual publication, varieties were evaluated in 2020 across a wide range of environments in the cotton producing regions of Georgia in cooperation with county agents and industry partners. The implementation of this program has made a tremendous impact on variety selection from year to year, and it will continue to have the same impact in the future.
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Variety selection is one of the biggest decisions and investments cotton growers make each year. In 2010, the UGA Extension Cotton Agronomists implemented the UGA On-Farm Cotton Variety Evaluation Program to assist in this decision. In this annual publication, varieties were evaluated in 2020 across a wide range of environments in the cotton producing regions of Georgia in cooperation with county agents and industry partners. The implementation of this program has made a tremendous impact on variety selection from year to year, and it will continue to have the same impact in the future.
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2021 plant disease losses, including control costs, amounted to an estimated $889 million. The value of the crops used in this estimate was approximately $7690 million, resulting in a 11.6% relative disease loss across all crops included in this summary. For most crops, the estimated values used to compute these disease losses are summarized in the UGA Center for Agribusiness & Economic Development’s “2021 Georgia Farm Gate Value Report” (AR-22-01). Some estimates for fruits, ornamentals, and turf rely on specialists’ knowledge of the industry and industry sources for information.
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A weather station is a collection of instruments and sensors measuring atmospheric and soil conditions. Commonly measured environmental variables include light, temperature, relative humidity, rain, wind, and soil conditions (soil moisture, soil temperature, and/or soil bulk electrical conductivity). An on-site weather station allows growers to monitor the microclimate in a growing area. Weather conditions can vary over short distances, especially for measurements such as rainfall, which means that off-site measurements—often taken miles away as part of a public weather network—may not be accurate enough for irrigation and/or temperature scheduling purposes. Additionally, cold pockets created by elevation changes can create temperature variability, making local (adjacent to growing areas) weather stations a valuable tool in monitoring and use for irrigation scheduling and freeze protection.
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