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The majority of Georgia received about one inch less rain than normal during July 2017. CAES News
Return to Summer
After a month of below-normal temperatures, Georgia’s summer temperatures returned in July. Most of the state, except for the southeastern counties, was warmer and drier than normal, but climatologists don’t believe a drought is likely to develop over the next three months.
As the cup plant grows, it develops large, square stems that give the impression they are piercing the center of the large leaves. There are actually two leaves without petioles that are attached to the stem, forming a perfect cup with which to collect rainwater for bees and birds. CAES News
Cup Plant
When it comes to backyard wildlife, the cup plant does it all. To me, it is like the flag-bearing perennial for bees, butterflies and birds. It is a stalwart and is native in 34 states, from Louisiana, north to Canada and sweeping across all states east. Its size makes it seem like it is the composite, or aster, that ate New York. It is big, bold and wonderful, and this is the time of the year it shines the most.
Watermelons sit in a truck after being harvested on the UGA Tifton campus. CAES News
Watermelon Crop
Georgia farmers had fewer opportunities to effectively harvest watermelons in June thanks to an increase in rain, but disease pressure is what truly led to lower yields in the crop this year, according to University of Georgia Cooperative Extension vegetable horticulturist Tim Coolong.
Across most of Georgia, temperatures were between 1 and 2 degrees cooler than normal during June 2017. CAES News
Cool June
June’s heavy rains meant that many Georgia farmers were able to cut back on irrigation, but the rain also contributed to fungal diseases in vegetable crops and hampered vegetable farmers’ harvests.
Planting a variety of plants, or the same plant at different times, extends the usefulness of a dove field and provides diversity for the doves' diet. This sunflower field on the University of Georgia's Westbrook Farm in Griffin, Georgia, is ready for dove season. CAES News
Dove Season Prep
Opening day of dove season is a little over two months away, so it’s time to start planning for and planting dove fields. A prudently planned dove field can provide family entertainment and economic benefits through most of the dove season, which starts Sept. 2.
An Asian longhorned beetle chews through wood. CAES News
Invasive Species
Over the next 10 years, the number of cargo containers operating out of the Port of Savannah, Georgia, is expected to double. While additional cargo means increased revenue for the state, Chuck Bargeron, associate director of the University of Georgia Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health, is concerned it could also lead to the establishment of more invasive species.
Much of Georgia received 1 to 6 inches more rain than usual during this rainy May. CAES News
May Showers
May’s warm, wet conditions brought relief to the parched areas of the state, and Georgians can expect more of the same in June.
A deer in its second year, a yearling, is caught by the lens of a wildlife camera. His small rack of antlers has grown over the past year. Antlers have the fastest growing tissue known to man. With the right nutrition, a buck can grow an excess of 200 inches of bone on his head in a matter of 120 days. CAES News
Deer Antlers
Deer antlers are not horns, though the two words are often used synonymously. Horns are permanent, keratinized epithelial cells. The protein keratin is required to harden those cells. Antlers, on the other hand, are derived from endothelial cells that are grown and shed annually. These cells are grown from the tip of the sequential antler and are made of osteocytes, or bone cells, that calcify and harden.
Rainfall in Georgia during April was highly varied. Some southern parts of the state received 2-3 inches less rain than normal, while parts of north Georgia received as many as 4 inches above normal. CAES News
Record Highs
April brought plentiful spring showers to north Georgia but little rainfall to the southern half of the state, resulting in moderate drought conditions, delayed planting, and conditions conducive to wildfires near the Okefenokee Swamp.
Pesticide use is critical in controlling pests like thrips, whiteflies, aphids and beet armyworms. CAES News
Drift complaints
As a result of two years of aggressive training to improve on-target agricultural pesticide applications, the number of pesticide drift complaints received by University of Georgia Cooperative Extension has gone down 65 percent, according to UGA Extension weed specialist Stanley Culpepper.