News Stories - Page 111

Camden County Agriculture and Natural Resources agent Jessica Warren (pictured) worked with Martin Wunderly, area water agent for UGA Extension’s Northeast District, to develop the Georgia Green Landscape Stewards curriculum. CAES News
Green Landscapes
For some residents, a pristinely manicured lawn free of weeds and undisturbed by insects is the ultimate goal. However, a new program from University of Georgia Cooperative Extension encourages creating a more natural landscape that reduces chemical use and incorporates native plants to promote biodiversity and protect the environment.
UGA Animal and Dairy scientist Sha Tao researches heat stress and its effects on dairy cattle physiology. As principal investigator on this project, he directed the experiment to understand cellular reactions in real-world circumstances for dairy cattle. CAES News
Dairy Research
With increasing global temperatures, dairy cattle face heat stress more frequently throughout the year than in the past. Thanks to cooling technology, dairy cattle can enjoy a better quality of life, but farmers and consumers may wonder if cattle comfort results in more milk.
From left, Josh Fuder, Ray Covington and Stephen Mihm have been UGA’s driving forces behind the creation of the Heritage Apple Orchard. (Photo by Mike Terrazas) CAES News
Heirloom Varieties
The names tick off like racehorses or colors from some fancy catalog: Carolina Red June, Duchess of Oldenburg, Hewe’s Crab and Rabun Bald, Limbertwig, Nickajack, Parks’ Pippin and many more. But these aren’t paint chips — they’re apples, hundreds of varieties that thrived in orchards across North Georgia a century ago, before an evolving apple industry swept them off shelves and tables, never to return.
AmeriCorps engages 270,000 Americans each year in sustained, results-driven service. CAES News
4-H and AmeriCorps
From March 7 through March 13, Georgia 4-H joins thousands of 4-H Americans across the country to celebrate the valuable contributions of AmeriCorps members during AmeriCorps Week. AmeriCorps engages 270,000 Americans each year in sustained, results-driven service. AmeriCorps Week is a time to celebrate the impact of AmeriCorps programs and thank members for their service.
Frank McGill was born on a family farm in Tift County, Georgia, on Dec. 16, 1925, in the area where he spent most of his working career and retirement. In his autobiography, he joked, "It's obvious I didn't get very far in life!" CAES News
Frank McGill dies
J. Frank McGill, affectionally known throughout the Georgia agricultural community as “Mr. Peanut,” passed away surrounded by family on March 3 at age 95 in Tifton, Georgia.
Critical pesticide application training for pest control professionals and producers will go online for 2020. CAES News
Pesticide trainings stay virtual
University of Georgia Cooperative Extension and the Georgia Department of Agriculture are partnering to offer the Using Pesticides Wisely training program in a virtual format again this year.
UGA Extension and UGA Small Business Development Center are teaming up to offer a four-part agricultural marketing webinar series beginning March 8. CAES News
Marketing webinars
Farmers and agricultural producers have faced numerous challenges in recent years, affecting the day-to-day tasks of running their operations. Add in a global pandemic and a push toward direct-to-consumer sales, and sustaining an agribusiness can seem overwhelming.
Trap-jaw ants show remarkable diversity in the length of the jaw and how wide it opens. CAES News
Fast Snaps
Trap-jaw ants are famous for having one of the natural world’s fastest movements, and a new study led by a University of Georgia graduate shows that the core mechanism that allows this speedy movement evolved multiple times within a single ant genus, leading to the spectacular diversification of mandible shape each time.
Eric Cohen walks through his family's pecan orchard at Pecan Ridge Plantation outside of Bainbridge. The Cohens cleaned up downed pecan trees and planted new ones after the destruction of Hurricane Michael in 2018. CAES News
Growing Pains
It’s been a rough three years for Georgia pecan farmers, whose cash crop has been battered by a hurricane, a fungal tree disease, and a global pandemic — all in relatively rapid succession.