The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that it will be investing at least $500 million in wildlife conservation over the next 5 years. This includes using the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Farm Service Agency (FSA) to assist farmers, ranchers, private forest owners, and tribes by focusing on working lands and hiring for those key positions.
Lab-grown chicken products from the companies GOOD Meat and UPSIDE have been cleared by the USDA for sale in the United States. This lab-grown meat is made by taking stem cells from an animal and then feeding it with the required nutrients in a machine called a bioreactor before it is separated by a centrifuge.
A program that is currently implemented in South Dakota and California to pair up landowners with grazing land and ranchers with livestock is making its way to Florida. The project leader, Jose Debeuax, a forage agronomy professor at the UF/IFAS North Florida Research and Education Center, informs us that this program is free to users and seeks participants in Florida, Georgia and Alabama.
In some cases, pesticides are not needed to control an undesirable pest, simply releasing the undesirable pest's predator can naturally eradicate the problem. Ayanava Majumdar, an Alabama Extension entomologist says that this option is commercially available to specialty crop growers. One example of a predator is the green lacewing who feeds on aphids, mites and whiteflies, and also the larvae of fruitworms, armyworms and loopers. Majumdar said....
The demand for watermelons has fallen on the North Florida watermelon farmers shoulders this season. With the season being done in South Florida, and not quite ready in Georgia, North Florida farmers are feeling the pressure of providing high quality fruit for as long as possible. Given the circumstance, they’re holding up very well,” said Bob Hochmuth, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Regional...
A new species of snail has emerged for citrus growers in Florida (Bulimulus bonariensis). These snails were found in citrus groves in late April to early May with the smallest size being 3 millimeters, which makes them difficult to detect when at a young age. There are currently 6 baits and one liquid molluscicide registered to use on snails in citrus groves, and in a study, all of these methods were found to be effective in killing B....
The United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced last week that an atypical case of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) was found in a 5-year-old cow during routine surveillance. A radio frequency identification tag was found on the cow that traced back to a ranch in Tennessee. A thorough investigation will be conducted by USDA APHIS to determine how this happened.
Ginger, a calf born on July 19, 2021, is the first gene-edited calf born with a resistance to bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV). The calf was born healthy, and once it was a few months old they housed it for a week with a BVDV-infected dairy calf. After the week was up, Ginger showed no symptoms of BVDV. Gene editing could be the new normal in the cattle industry to help offset the billions of dollars that ranchers lose each year to this virus....
A 2020 report showed that by 2025 there will be 73,500 heavy equipment operator positions open. Also, this report showed equipment manufacturing possesses a job opening rate three times higher than the national average. Julie Davis, Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) Senior Director of Workforce and Industry Initiatives, says, “Equipment manufacturers can and should embrace and adopt a number of short-term and long-term strategies...
One field in North Florida has confirmed the presence of Downy Mildew in watermelon fields, South Georgia and South Alabama should be on the lookout as this disease spreads rapidly by wind. “The way that this disease typically moves, it moves from south to north." said Bob Hochmuth, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Regional Specialized Extension agent in Live Oak, FL.
