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| This Week's Titles: |
| Dairy
Partnership With New Zealand |
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Reducing Other Stress Factors
In Drought-Stressed Landscapes |
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| Organisms
Floating In Ponds Not Jellyfish |
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| Whiteflies
Make A Lot Of Tomatoes Sick |
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| Demand
For Corn Expected To Increase In 2008 |
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| Dairy
Partnership With New Zealand |
1:47 |
A partnership between the University
of Georgia's College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences,
and New Zealand may help boost milk production in the state. |
Georgia currently has about
270 dairies in operation. These dairies have a tough challenge
producing enough milk to supply the state's consumers. On the
other hand, New Zealand is a small country with about as many
dairy cows as people. Since the county is small, New Zealand
is running out of land suitable for dairy farming. The partnership
that recently became official between the College of Agricultural
and Environmental Sciences and New Zealand will help Georgia
and the University in several ways. "New Zealanders coming in
and creating some new farms. They're investing in agriculture
in Georgia, and, they are looking for hiring people to work
and they've signed a cooperative agreement with the University
of Georgia to work with our students on an internship program
that would allow students to get some experience." That was
Lane Ely with the College of Agricultural and Environmental
Sciences, who adds while in New Zealand students would learn
how to run an intensive-grazing dairy farm using technology
that would allow for a less labor-intensive system. New Zealand
will also invest in dairy farms in Georgia. They already are
working two dairy farms near Wrens, in East Central Georgia,
and are working to convert another farm to a grazing dairy,
to help increase milk production in the state. 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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| Reducing
Other Stress Factors In Drought-Stressed Landscapes |
1:35 |
Homeowners need to do all they
can to ease the pressure on drought-stressed plants. |
Many plants, shrubs, and
trees are wilting away in the landscape, as they cry out for
water. With several areas of the state under a complete outdoor
watering ban, landscape gardens are trying to hang on with less
moisture. But a horticulturist with the University of Georgia's
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences says other
things can increase the stress level of these plants. "Doing
things like digging around them, we want to avoid digging around
our trees because it will injure the plant roots and reduce
their ability to absorb moisture so that's very important. We
also want to avoid fertilizing plants this time of year because
fertilizer is chemically a salt and you can actually dehydrate
the roots of plants even further and cause a bad situation to
be worse." That was Gary Wade with the College of Agricultural
and Environmental Sciences, who adds weed control is very important
in plants and shrubs looking for water. Weeds also get thirsty,
so they drink up precious moisture the plants need. Weeds can
be controlled by hand removal, or using herbicides labeled for
weed control in landscape gardens. 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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| Organisms
Floating In Ponds Not Jellyfish |
1:55 |
A group of living organisms
in some ponds have pond owners thinking jellyfish have moved
in from the coast. |
The organisms floating in
ponds are harmless moss animals called bryozoa. Gary Burtle,
a scientist with the University of Georgia's College of Agricultural
and Environmental Sciences says people that see bryozoa floating
in a pond should not panic and think their pond is being attacked
by strange creatures. He adds these floating organisms are actually
a sign the pond is in good health. "And they're generally found
in clean water. They're not a symptom of pollution, they're
actually a symptom of relatively clean pond water. These organisms
provide food for fish and are an indicator of a pond that's
generally in good shape." Gary Burtle with the College of Agricultural
and Environmental Sciences, who adds these colonies are firm
and slimy to the touch and are most often attached to underwater
pipes, limbs, logs, or even boat docks. The only time bryozoa
cause problems is when they occasionally clog drain pipes in
ponds. The only way to remove these slimy pond creatures is
to remove them by hand. Fish present in the water will help
by eating away at the organisms. Treating algae with herbicides
containing copper sulfate will eventually get floating bryozoa
under control. 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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| Whiteflies
Make A Lot Of Tomatoes Sick |
1:32 |
Swarms of small flies caused
a lot of problems for Georgia's 2007 tomato crop. |
Whitefly numbers were extremely
high this year across Georgia. Numbers increase when the weather
is warm and dry. Scientists with the University of Georgia's
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences say whiteflies
also carries a disease called the tomato yellow-leaf-curl virus.
This disease is worse than the tomato spotted wilt virus, because
the tomato yellow-leaf-curl virus wiped out entire tomato fields
in some areas. "When we have bad outbreaks of tomato yellow-leaf-curl
or cabbage leaf-curl-virus which are two gemini virus problems
we have with whiteflies, we often see one-hundred percent loss
in fields that have severe outbreaks." That was David Langston
with the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
Research by university scientists may provide some varieties
resistant to the tomato yellow-leaf-curl virus in the near future.
But until that time, there is little commercial vegetable growers
can do if whiteflies swarm in during hot, dry weather, and make
a lot of tomato fields sick. 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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| Demand
For Corn Expected To Increase In 2008 |
1:40 |
Market prices, along with demand,
should increase for corn in 2008. |
With consumer prices for
gas and diesel soaring over three dollars a gallon, filling
up with ethanol has once again become a hot topic. Nathan Smith,
an agricultural economist with the University of Georgia's College
of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences expects the demand
for ethanol to increase in the United States in 2008, which
means there will continue to be a high market demand for corn.
"Industrial use includes ethanol, which is fueling this increased
demand for corn. Ethanol use is expected to increase this coming
year by fifty percent to 3.2 million bushels. Another way to
look at that is one out of every four acres of corn grown is
going now towards the production of ethanol." That was Nathan
Smith with the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences,
who adds U.S. corn exports are also expected to increase in
2008. With the demand for corn high, the chances are good farmers
will have a chance to forward price corn around four-dollars
a bushel next year. The university economists goes on to say
corn growers should watch the markets and watch for opportunities
to price their corn crop when market prices rally, and move
up. 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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