It’s an unfortunate reality that agriculture and wildlife do not always coexist as well as they should. Take, for instance, the case of a 2006 outbreak of E. coli in bagged spinach grown at a California farm. According to an NPR piece, the spinach was contaminated on the farm, and about 200 people were made [...]
There’s no denying that Florida has great tropical weather featuring a lot of sunshine that’s advantageous for Agriculture, tourism and outdoor recreation. However, all those weather and climate-related characteristics about the Sunshine State that reel in vacationers in droves also attract more than a fair share of nasty diseases and pests. Those pests then attack [...]
Hurricane season is in full force with the official season lasting through November, but hurricanes and other natural disasters can affect the Sunshine State and Florida Agriculture at just about any time of the year. It’s important that you are prepared for bad weather. […]
The USDA’s annual Farm Income Forecast has been released, and it predicts that profitability will continue a weakening trend that started in 2014. Net Cash Income is projected to fall by 21% to $100.3 billion, due to lower crop and livestock receipts. Net Farm Income is projected to be down by 26%, to $58.3 billion [...]
The age-old Agriculture tool, The Old Farmer’s Almanac has been around since 1792 predicting the weather and charting natural events like the tides and the cycles of the moon to keep those in Agriculture and folks in general in the know. Even in this technology-driven age we live in, The Old Farmer’s Almanac’s forecasts and [...]
Man’s best friend has long been a trusted hand on the farm or ranch, but did you know that a group of lovable canines also work hard every day at the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, FDACS, to protect the Sunshine State’s $120-billion dollar industry? Five different dogs utilize their sensitive noses and [...]
New Jersey is known as the ‘Garden State,’ a name which has led to many jokes considering the tiny state’s dense population numbers—it has long been one of the most densely populated states in the nation—but New Jersey natives are no strangers to farming. Farming is one of the main industries in the state, albeit [...]
The results from a recent study conducted by the UF/IFAS Center for Public Issues Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources are in: Floridians care about the endangered species in the Sunshine state. Nearly 90 percent of people surveyed support imposing fines on those who harm endangered species. Another 88 percent maintained that damaging habitats and [...]
In this day and age of billions of mouths to feed (and counting!), Agriculture and technology go hand-in-hand. Technology helps farmers to grow more with less, it tracks data and conditions and it can keep everyone and everything connected. The USDA and Microsoft are teaming up and challenging App developers with the “Innovation Challenge” contest to combine [...]
The United States Department of Agriculture enjoys world-wide recognition, but it is usually for their programs and incentives that are directly tied to farming and ranching. However, the USDA is tasked with providing many other services; one important service the USDA provides is ensuring that all Americans have access to healthy food. One area of [...]
