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| This Week's Titles: |
| Rollover
Vehicle Protection For Soldiers |
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Tobacco Quality Appears
Good In 2006 |
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| Small
Pecan Crop Expected In 2006 |
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| Health
Myth That Should Be Ignored |
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| Discovery
Could Help Improve Insect Control |
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| Rollover
Vehicle Protection For Soldiers |
1:32 |
Uncle Sam wants some military
vehicles with rollover protection, to help keep soldiers alive
if they are involved in a rollover accident. |
Last winter, the United
States army enlisted the help of the Georgia Traffic Injury
Prevention Institute. The army wanted to inquire about rollover
protection on military vehicles called humvees, and view demonstrations.
Andrew Turnage, a Public Information Manager with the University
of Georgia's College of Family and Consumer Sciences says soldiers
taking part in the training get a close up experience with the
rollover protection. "What they'll do in the training, they'll
take five soldiers, that's four men and then the gunner that
stands in the turrent, that opening in the middle of the cab,
they put them in wearing full battle gear, and they'll turn
that humvee at an angle, the point where the weight of that
vehicle is inevitably going to shift, it's going to turn over,
and they pull it to that point so that soldiers can get the
feel for when that's going to happen." Andrew Turnage with the
College of Family and Consumer Sciences, who adds the training
is designed to stress the importance of wearing seat belts,
and in helping soldiers successfully escape from a crash. Several
humvee military vehicles with rollover protection are currently
being used in Iraq and Kuwait. Around fifteen thousand soldiers
have been trained using humvees with rollover protection. 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
Quality Appears Good In 2006 |
1:38 |
After sweating out several
problems, tobacco farmers are harvesting a good crop of tobacco
in 2006. |
Farmers transplanted around
eighteen thousand acres of tobacco in Georgia this past spring.
Scientists with the University of Georgia's College of Agricultural
and Environmental Sciences predict around eighty percent of
this acreage will be harvested. The quality of the crop appears
to be good, despite problems with tomato spotted wilt virus,
and drought conditions. The extreme heat also scalded some of
the tobacco leaves and plants. "We've also experienced some
excessively hot temperatures recently and we're now beginning
to see damage to the tobacco plants from essentially sun scald
where the plants may have been predisposed to injury by other
diseases, making them a little weaker and then the sun scald
causing some damage that's followed up by bacteria that works
inside the plant and causes the leaves to turn yellow and drop
off." That was J. Michael Moore with the College of Agricultural
and Environmental Sciences. Growers still harvesting tobacco
should not rush, but allow the plants to take up all the nitrogen
in the soil, so they will fully mature, and reduce the chances
of harvesting leaves too green, which would lower quality, and
paychecks, when tobacco goes to the market to be sold. 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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| Small
Pecan Crop Expected In 2006 |
1:46 |
Georgia's 2006 pecan crop is
expected to be the smallest in years. |
Last year pecan growers
in Georgia were looking forward to a good harvest, but dry weather
in September reduced quality and yields. Lenny Wells, a horticulturist
with the University of Georgia's College of Agricultural and
Environmental Sciences says there aren't many nuts on pecan
trees in Georgia this year. Dry weather has once again caused
some problems, along with several insect pests. "We've had some
insect problems this year probably because of the dry weather
throughout the early part of the summer. Pecan nut case bearers
which attack the pecan nuts usually arrive in mid-May. They
were a little early this year, and as a result we had a little
more nut loss then normal. Also right now we're seeing some
nut drop from hickory shuck worm which is another caterpillar
pest that will feed on the nuts." Lenny Wells with the University
of Georgia's College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences,
who predicts growers should harvest around thirty-five to forty
million pounds of pecans this year. Despite a small crop, and
smaller nut size, the quality of Georgia's 2006 pecan crop could
improve if the state receives plenty of rainfall in September
to provide needed moisture to the nuts. 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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| Health
Myth That Should Be Ignored |
1:32 |
Changing habits to prevent
serious diseases in the human body does not begin at the age
of fifty. |
Many people assume they
can get that well fed feeling by eating what they want the first
four decades in their lives. They also believe they don't need
a regular exercise program. But a nutrition and health specialist
with the University of Georgia's College of Family and Consumer
Sciences says these myths are not true. She adds chronic diseases
like cancer and heart disease are occurring in people at a younger
age, because they aren't active, and don't eat right. "They've
actually done sonograms actually of the arteries of teenagers
in California. And they actually found that those teenagers
had narrowed arteries leading up to the risk of heart disease,
so, it doesn't have to be a person in their forties and fifties
to see the negative effects of bad eating habits and bad activity
habits." That was Connie Crawley with the College of Family
and Consumer Sciences, who adds working to prevent serious illnesses
like cancer and heart disease must start well before the age
of fifty. Low-fat eating and increasing vegetable intake are
important disease prevention strategies people of all ages need
to practice, as well as increased physical activity, and weight
loss when needed. 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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| Discovery
Could Help Improve Insect Control |
1:41 |
College scientists recently
got an unexpected boost while studying ways to control insect
pests naturally. |
Every year farmers have
an expensive fight on their hands, trying to keep insects under
control. To keep insects from eating their yields and profits,
they must use chemicals that costs thousands of dollars. To
help growers reduce their dependence on chemicals, as well as
help the environment, scientists with the University of Georgia's
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences have been
working with biopesticides called Bt that fight pests naturally,
with less chemicals. The research also led to an interesting
discovery regarding the use of a bt booster. "We discovered
a way of making this Bt technology work better, so essentially,
you need less Bt protein to kill the insect, and we think also
it's going to be able to be used in some cases where insects
may be resistant to Bt. It's going to make them more susceptible."
That was Mike Adang with the College of Agricultural and Environmental
Sciences, who adds Bt chemicals are safe and won't harm humans.
More testing and research must be conducted before farmers and
even foresters can put this Bt technology into widespread use.
But in the coming years, Bt and Bt boosters could help growers
win the war with insect pests by using biopesticides that land
a knockout punch, and help 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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