Browse General Agriculture Stories - Page 40

Fraser firs top the list of favorite Christmas tree varieties, but almost all the Fraser firs sold in Georgia come from North Carolina. One University of Georgia horticulturist is working to change that by popularizing a hybrid that combines Fraser firs with their Japanese cousins — Momi firs.

The government of Gabon has tapped Georgia’s agricultural experts to help the central African nation develop a more self-sufficient agricultural system.

From wood pellet and biodiesel production or mining landfills for methane to running county patrol cars and busses on everything from propane to peanut oil — Georgia has become a laboratory for testing new energy technologies.

Temperatures in Georgia were within one degree of normal across the state in October. Rainfall continued to be light across most of the state, continuing a trend from a dry September. A narrow band stretching from Columbus to the northeast mountains was the only area of the state that received higher than normal rainfall.

As emerging international markets for Georgia agricultural products continue to grow, Georgia farmers need to be aware of the impacts the global marketplace can have on their bottom line. This year, in recognition of the growing importance of the global marketplace to Georgia farmers, Georgia Department of Economic Development Director of International Trade Kathe Falls will deliver the keynote talks at the 2013 Ag Forecast series. The Farm-to-Port Ag Forecast will be held in locations across the state Jan. 25 to Feb. 1.

The glaring summer heat may have you convinced to add more shade to your landscape. Fall is the perfect time to plant trees to create that needed shade.

Daniel Hillel, the 2012 World Food Prize Laureate and a 1950 graduate of the University of Georgia, spent the better part of his career perfecting arid- land farming methods in Israel and sharing them with farmers across the Middle East, Africa and parts of Asia. On Nov. 8, Hillel will return to Athens to deliver the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences’ 2012 D.W. Brooks Lecture at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education.

Sweeping changes were approved in last year’s House Bill 386 that exempt inputs used in agricultural production from Georgia sales tax collections. For certified producers or farmers this means most of the items they buy to use in agricultural production will be sales tax exempt beginning in 2013.

If something appears to be chewing off the ends of tree branches in your landscape, that something is most likely a twig girdler.

A survey of local food hubs in Georgia found that the state already has some working models for providing local produce for growing local markets.