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| This Week's Titles: |
| Learning
Money Management To Fight Poverty |
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2007 Peanut Crop Surprising
Growers |
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| Water
Smart Program Being Developed |
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| Tough
Challenges Ahead For Cattle Farmers |
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| Digging
Around To Learn Lessons |
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| Learning
Money Management To Fight Poverty |
1:38 |
Young people in Southwest Georgia
are learning money management skills to help turn the tide on
poverty. |
Poverty is a serious problem
in the Southwest corner of Georgia. Many times youth affected
by poverty miss out on opportunities to learn financial management
skills. To help young people in Randolph and other Southwest
Georgia counties learn money management, a Financial Literacy
retreat was held in May, 2006. Kris Peavy, a county extension
agent in Randolph County says those attending the retreat learned
about the personality of money. "Money personality, where they
actually talked about their money and based on their personality
were they a spender or a saver, and they would actually talk
about if you had X number of dollars how would you spend that
money, you had so many dollars you could spend to make the difference
between wants and needs." Kris Peavy with the University of
Georgia's College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
Around one-hundred young people in grades seven through nine
from Randolph and twenty-one other counties in Southwest Georgia
took part in the Financial Literacy retreat. When the retreat
was over, eighty-three percent of those attending chose to select
a savings plan, and worked out the details on how to achieve
it. Youth leaders are hopeful another retreat on money management
for young people will be held in the near future. 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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| 2007
Peanut Crop Surprising Growers |
1:45 |
Georgia's peanut farmers are
getting a pleasant surprise during this year's harvest season. |
Many growers were afraid
hot, dry weather would cause their 2007 peanut crop to wither
away on the vines. Farmers also had tough fights with leafspot,
white mold, and other diseases. Despite these problems, an agronomist
with the University of Georgia's College of Agricultural and
Environmental Sciences says this year's peanut crop is better
than expected. "Thankfully to some scattered showers throughout
the summer and just some timely rainfall events , our crop is
looking considerably better than we ever thought. One thing
about it is we do have some areas or some fields that were devastated
by the dry weather. Fields that will not be harvested. So we
do have that in there but overall it's going to be a much better
crop than we thought." That was John Beasley with the College
of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Farmers will also
benefit from higher market prices this year. The U.S. peanut
surplus is forecast to be around 490,000 tons. This is down
from one million tons in 2005. University economists say this
is a good situation for peanut growers, and sets farmers up
for a good marketing year in 2008. 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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| Water
Smart Program Being Developed |
1:42 |
College scientists and other
state officials are working on a smart plan to help the state
conserve water. |
As the record-setting drought
continues it's tight grip across Georgia, state officials began
working on a program to promote water conservation. Mark Risse,
a scientist with the University of Georgia's College of Agricultural
and Environmental Sciences says the Water Smart program emphasizes
water conservation for both outdoor and indoor use. "Yeah, we're
really trying to do that and we're trying to let landowners,
and homeowners know of the direct benefits to them, not just
during the drought but using less water means using less energy
and allows us to better utilize our natural resources and our
groundwater is not a limitless resource either, we've got to
be concerned about making sure that well out there is still
working twenty years from now, and the more you pump it now,
the less likely that is going to happen." Mark Risse with the
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. State officials
believe positive benefits will flow from the Water Smart program.
The program will help Georgian's realize they must do all they
can to conserve water during a drought like we're currently
experiencing, and when conditions return to normal. More information
on the Water Smart program is available at www.conservewatergeorgia.net.
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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| Tough
Challenges Ahead For Cattle Farmers |
1:37 |
Georgia cattlemen will continue
to feel a financial squeeze as we close out 2007 and move into
2008. |
Hot, dry conditions baked
away pastures and hay crops this summer. This forced many cattle
producers to sell off most of their cows, because they couldn't
feed them. Scientists with the University of Georgia's College
of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences say cattlemen will
have a hard time feeding their cows this winter, because hay
supplies are still short. It will also cost more to buy cottonseed
and other feed supplies. "From a feeding standpoint it's a very
delicate situation, because our hay production was down this
year plus we've had to feed a lot this year and we actually
started the year off with really low inventories. Put on top
of that the fact that corn prices are up as well as soybean
meal and our cottonseed prices are up. The overall feed costs
are going to be up this year." That was Curt Lacy with the College
of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, who adds hay prices
have increased seventy percent over the last ten years. Cattle
farmers could end up selling five to ten percent of the state's
beef cow herd in the coming months. If cattlemen must sell cows,
it is a good time to sell. The markets are not saturated with
beef cows, and market prices for cattle are in the good range
right now. 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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| Digging
Around To Learn Lessons |
1:52 |
Students in a Central Georgia
county learned their lessons by getting their hands dirty. |
Several years ago, Putnam
County elementary school teachers realized the need for students
to learn more about agriculture, and environmental awareness.
So Putnam County Extension agents went to work developing a
Learning Garden at an elementary school, so students in grades
three through six can learn while they dig around in the dirt.
Keith Fielder, a county extension agent in Putnam County says
students also learned some cold, hard lessons about gardening.
"This past spring our early plantings got frozen out by that
killer frost or freeze we had there at Easter time and then
the drought. They were put under watering restrictions so they
were actually capturing rainwater to water the garden, and watering
accordingly to the watering ban that we had in place so they've
gotten a picture of harsh reality." Keith Fielder with the University
of Georgia's College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
The Learning Garden program that began in Elementary Schools
will be expanded at the Middle School Level, to a more advanced
Junior Master Gardener curriculum. As students move on to high
school, plans have been developed to allow students to take
part in a duel enrollment program between Central Georgia Technical
College, and Putnam County High School. 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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