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| This Week's Titles: |
| Income
Tax Changes For Farmers |
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New Program Teaches Students
Marine Science |
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| Cattle
Grazing Being Studied On Popular Forage |
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| Helping
Vegetable Growers Improve Farm Security |
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| Pigeon
Peas On Beef Cattle Menu |
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| Income
Tax Changes For Farmers |
1:22 |
Farmers in the state will soon
move from the harvest season into the pencil pushing and income
tax season. |
Farmers' understanding
of income taxation of farm businesses is limited, due to the
complexity of income tax preparation. Keith Kightlinger, an
agricultural economist with the University of Georgia's College
of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences says the biggest
change that became effective in 2005 is the domestic production
deduction. "This is a new deduction for manufacturing businesses
and it includes farms. There are a few changes every year of
course as congress acts ." Keith Kightlinger with the College
of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, who adds tax management
is a very important part of farm business management. When the
harvest season ends, and farmers have more time, they should
check and make sure they have all their records and receipts
organized and in order. They should also schedule a meeting
with their tax practitioner before the end of the year, and
get familiar with the new changes in tax laws that affects farmers.
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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| New
Program Teaches Students Marine Science |
1:37 |
A new marine science program
is helping students in a Southeast Georgia county learn what
keeps the ocean alive and well. |
The Southeast Phytoplankton
Monitoring Network uses volunteers and school groups to perform
scientific research in the Atlantic Ocean near St. Mary's, in
Camden County. Jacob Price, a county extension agent in Camden
County says students in grades six through twelve are involved
in the project. He adds students taking part in the project
get hands on experience with several areas of marine science.
"A program where we monitor phytoplankton. And phytoplankton
is microscopic plants that live in the water. We're taking a
sample every two weeks. We have a special net to do that, and
we take some more data like the salinity of our sample sites,
and we record the tides, water temperature, air temperature,
and then we take our sample and look at it under a microscope."
That was Jacob Price with the University of Georgia's College
of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, who adds the Marine
Extension Service in Savannah, and the Hollings Marine Lab in
Charleston, South Carolina are also involved in the project.
After the samples are examined with a microscope, the findings
are recorded and sent to the Hollings Marine Lab, for further
examinations. Meanwhile the county extension agent and others
in Camden County are busy mapping out plans to continue the
project in 2006. John Harrell, University of Georgia College
of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, reporting from Tifton.
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Links to audio files:
(files include a brief quote from the source for your use.)
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| Cattle
Grazing Being Studied On Popular Forage |
1:41 |
College scientists are studying
cattle grazing on a popular forage, to help improve weight gains
in young calves. |
Tifton 85 bermudagrass
was released to cattlemen in 1992. The forage has provided excellent
results in terms of hay and pasture yields, as well as hay and
forage quality. But no research was done with Tifton 85 using
cow-calf herds. Scientists with the University of Georgia's
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences recently
conducted creep grazing research on pastures with Tifton 85.
"Where you take a larger pasture and establish some kind of
higher quality forage in a small area in that pasture and you
allow access to that area only by the calves and not the cows."
That was Gary Hill with the College of Agricultural and Environmental
Sciences, who adds most of the research was done from June through
September, in 2004, and 2005. Results indicate calves with access
to creep grazing had higher average daily gains. Calves grazing
Tifton 85 pastures had nineteen percent higher weight gain,
compared to cows grazing coastal. So creep grazing cow-calf
herds on Tifton 85 pastures should help improve calf gains,
and help cattlemen put more money in their wallets. 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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| Helping
Vegetable Growers Improve Farm Security |
1:33 |
College scientists are helping
vegetable growers and packers improve the security of their
farms and packing houses. |
Since nine-eleven, there
are fears our supply of fresh fruits and vegetables could get
hit by a chemical or biological terrorist attack. There is also
the potential for an accidental food borne disease outbreak.
To help vegetable producers protect this important food source,
scientists with the University of Georgia's College of Agricultural
and Environmental Sciences made visits to farms and packing
sheds in Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina to study and assess
the situation. "We actually did what we consider visitations
and audits at the same time where we visited locations in the
three states, both farm operations, packing shed operations,
and some fresh cut produce operations, and we had a multi-state
audit form that we used and went down the list of the operators
facilities." That was Mark Harrison with the College of Agricultural
and Environmental Sciences. Once the visits and audits were
complete, a master blueprint was developed on how Georgia growers,
packers, and shippers can improve the security of their farms
and packing houses. University scientists will do follow up
visits and studies in the coming months to see if any changes
need to be made to protect the state's vegetable supply from
a possible terrorist attack. 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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| Pigeon
Peas On Beef Cattle Menu |
1:24 |
Certain peas may soon be added
to the menu of beef cows, thanks to college research. |
Pigeon peas are grown in
many countries with tropical climates, so they can be eaten
by humans. Many varieties of pigeon peas exist, but animal scientists
and horticulturists with the University of Georgia's College
of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences are conducting research
on those that are combine-friendly. They also don't require
a lot of management to grow. "They require no nitrogen fertilizer,
they can be no-till planted into stubbles of wheat or rye, and
they are highly drought and heat tolerant. Pigeon peas planted
in May or June and harvested after frost can be fed to cattle
as a dietary supplement to hay." That was Gary Hill with the
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Results
from the research indicate weight gains of cows fed pigeon peas
is the same as those cows fed with a corn-soybean meal supplemlent.
The university scientist goes on to say Georgia's climate should
be favorable for cattlemen and farmers to grow pigeon peas to
be used as a feed source for beef cattle. 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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