Browse Environment Stories - Page 45

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The Great Backyard Bird Count - American Robin CAES News
Counting Birds
Become a citizen scientist Saturday, Feb. 15 and help Rock Eagle 4-H Center take an inventory of its wild bird population. Expert and beginner birders alike are invited to walk the 4-H center’s property and scout for waterfowl, songbirds, woodpeckers, raptors and other birds. The bird-scouting event is part of The Great Backyard Bird Count, an annual four-day event set for Feb. 14 through Feb. 17.
Calvin Perry, superintendent of the UGA CM Stripling Irrigation Research Park in Camilla, Ga., adjusts the controls of a variable-rate irrigation system. VRI uses computer maps, global positioning systems, soil sensors and software to control where and how much water the nozzles on a center pivot spray on crops. Perry and his colleagues recently added a 'push-button' feature to the system to make it easier for farmers to program. CAES News
Precision Agriculture
Auto-steer technology, variable rate irrigation, smart-phone apps — these are all precision farming techniques that University of Georgia professor George Vellidis believes farmers should be using in their day-to-day operations.
Ice covers plants outside the University of Georgia Extension office in Thomas County after the winter storm on Jan. 28, 2014. CAES News
Don't Prune Yet
A hard freeze sure can make landscapes look bad. The best advice for now is the “wait and see approach.” Give the plants time to recover, oh let’s say, until spring. No good will be done from pruning away what you think is dead; it may still be alive.
University of Georgia scientist Mussie Habteselassie is studying the affect of septic systems on water quality and quantity in the Metro Atlanta area. CAES News
Septic Systems Study
Waste from most Georgia homes is managed through centralized sewage treatment plants. But 36.8 percent of Georgia homes, and 25 percent of homes in the United States, use septic systems. A University of Georgia soil scientist is studying how on-site home septic systems affect the quality and quantity of water in Georgia’s rivers and streams.
Since 1990, Georgia has experienced almost annual fluctuations between drier than normal and wetter than normal years. CAES News
2013 Weather Recap
With 65 inches of rain observed statewide, conditions in Georgia were much wetter than usual in 2013. The state as a whole received its third largest annual total precipitation since state records began in 1895.
Amicalola Falls inn Dawson County froze into a beautiful spectacal during the winter cold snap that blew through Georgia Jan. 6 and 7. This photo was taken the afternoon of Jan. 7. CAES News
Below freezing temps
Even the most thick-blooded Georgians donned winter coats, hats and gloves Jan. 6 and 7 as a cold front blew across the state, dropping temperatures -- down to single digits and negative degrees in some places -- from the mountains to the coast.
Some parts of Georgia saw record-breaking warm temperatures just days before Christmas due to a wave of warm air. CAES News
Warm December
December was warm and wet across most of Georgia, a change from the cold and dry conditions that dominated November. Warm daytime high temperatures and higher than normal nighttime lows broke records.
Although there is no one-size-fits-all rule to rotational grazing management, to provide forage rest and recovery and improve grazing efficiency, the first step is to get cattle moving. CAES News
Hay Quality
Poor hay quality due to last year’s increased rainfall, has Georgia cattle farmers searching for alternative ways to supplement the hay they feed their herd.
Here's a look at some of the pecans being researched on the University of Georgia Tifton campus. CAES News
Pecan Breeding
Pecan scab — a fungal disease — reduced Georgia’s projected pecan crop by almost half this year. That’s extra motivation for Patrick Conner, who’s attempting to breed a scab-resistant pecan variety at the University of Georgia Tifton campus.
Rows of cotton at a farm on the University of Georgia Tifton Campus in 2013. CAES News
Crop Rotation
Pesticides are a costly but essential tool farmers use to control plant diseases and insects. Crop rotation continues to be a more reliable and economical management strategy.