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| This Week's Titles: |
| Egg
Prices Going Up |
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Georgia County Helps Farmers
And Consumers |
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| Tobacco
Quota For 2004 Announced |
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| Peach
Trees Get Chilly Christmas Gift |
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| Recycle
Those Live Christmas Trees |
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| Egg
Prices Going Up |
1:32 |
Those who love to start the
morning with eggs on their plate will shell out more money in
the new year. |
For many years people shied
away from eating eggs because of health concerns. But with low
carbohydrate-high protein diets gaining attention, and becoming
more popular, the demand for eggs has increased. Bruce Webster,
a poultry scientist with the University of Georgia Extension
Service says tight egg supplies have also caused prices to go
up. "And the reason for the decreased supply of eggs is the
egg industry in the United States for the most part has adopted
a new set of animal care or animal welfare guidelines, which
means they're putting fewer birds in each cage and giving each
bird a little more space and that's a process they're going
to continue with for a number of years." Bruce Webster with
the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. So a
tighter supply of eggs on the market, and a higher demand because
of changing diets is a recipe for higher egg prices in 2004.
John Harrell, University of Georgia College of Agricultural
and Environmental Sciences, reporting from Tifton. |
Links to audio files:
(files include a brief quote from the source for your use.)
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| Georgia
County Helps Farmers And Consumers |
1:43 |
A small grant helps farmers
and shoppers in a West Central Georgia county come out winners. |
With much of Atlanta only
an hour away, much of Carroll County' agriculture was quickly
losing ground to urban sprawl. In 2002, the Carroll County Farmland
and Rural Preservation Partners began looking for ways to reverse
the trend. Scientists with the University of Georgia's College
of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences worked with Southern
region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program
to receive a grant. The money helped bring agriculture into
the city. "This project is one of our most important ones because
what it does, the idea of putting a downtown farmers market
into the cities in these counties is what draws the people that
live in the cities and agricultural producers, farmers, markets
in counties together, and we found some extremely effective
community development tool." That was Jeff Jordan with the College
of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, who is also director
of the Southern SARE Program. Results were extremely positive.
In the first season, twenty-eight vendors sold more than $150,000
worth of fruits, vegetables, cut flowers, grass-finished beef,
honey, and a few traditional handmade crafts, which made both
farmers and consumers in Carroll County winners. John Harrell,
University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental
Sciences, reporting from Tifton. |
Links to audio files:
(files include a brief quote from the source for your use.)
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| Tobacco
Quota For 2004 Announced |
1:36 |
It appears tobacco farmers
in Georgia will grow less tobacco in 2004. |
In mid-December, the USDA
announced the 2004 tobacco quota will be 10.45 percent lower
than the 2003 Basic Quota. Based on the expected 2004 Effective
Quota, tobacco growers in Georgia are expected to plant sixteen
percent less acreage in 2004, compared to 2003. J. Michael Moore,
an agronomist with the University of Georgia Extension Service
says farmers should also expect smaller paychecks, despite a
slight increase in price support. "The crop will be smaller,
the potential income will be less in spite of the fact that
the price support has been increased by 2.7 cents per pound
from the 2003 level to make it $1.69 per pound ." J. Michael
Moore with the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
The No-Net Cost Assessment for 2004 is set at ten cents per
pound of tobacco marketed, up from five cents per pound in 2003.
The ten cent per pound is split between the producer and the
purchaser of the tobacco, with each paying five cents. John
Harrell, University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental
Sciences, reporting from Tifton. |
Links to audio files:
(files include a brief quote from the source for your use.)
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| Peach
Trees Get Chilly Christmas Gift |
1:28 |
Mother Nature has given Georgia's
peach trees a chilly Christmas present. |
After a mild November,
December turned cold, as several cold snaps sent temperatures
below freezing across the entire state. This allowed peach trees
in Georgia to get off to a good start collecting the chill hours
they will need. Kathy Taylor, a scientist with the University
of Georgia's College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
says despite being behind last year's numbers, peach trees are
still doing well storing up chill hours this year. "We are at
about four-hundred hours for Middle Georgia for chilling, compared
to close to five hundred at this time last year, but compared
to a low of 140 the year before. In South Georgia we're at 225
hours this year, which is very good for the varieties grown
in that area." Kathy Taylor with the College of Agricultural
and Environmental Sciences, who adds chill hours are collected
until February 15. If the state continues to receive cold weather
during January and early February, Taylor says the 2004 peach
crop should meet their needs for chill hours without help from
chemicals. John Harrell, University of Georgia College of Agricultural
and Environmental Sciences, reporting from Tifton. |
Links to audio files:
(files include a brief quote from the source for your use.)
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| Recycle
Those Live Christmas Trees |
1:35 |
Consider having your live Christmas
tree recycled after the holidays. |
After the lights and ornaments
come off, a decision must be made on what to do with the now
bare live tree. David Moorhead, a forester with the University
of Georgia's Warnell School of Forest Resources says there are
many ways these former Christmas trees can be useful after the
holidays. "Other people will take those trees and utilize them
for brush piles to provide cover for small game and birds and
fields and open areas. Some hunting clubs will tend to collect
a number of trees to do this and in private ponds we still have
a lot of folks that create fish attractors by tying weights
to a group of trees and sinking them in a selected spot." David
Moorhead with the Warnell School of Forest Resources, who adds
most communities in Georgia have some form of recycling program
for Christmas trees. In most cases this involves bringing the
tree to a designated site in early to mid January, where the
trees are run through a chipper and turned into mulch, which
provides help for the environment. John Harrell, University
of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences,
reporting from Tifton. |
Links to audio files:
(files include a brief quote from the source for your use.)
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