weather

Weather expert forecasts conditions for 2023 apple crop

The U.S. Apple Association is presenting a webinar featuring weather expert Drew Lerner and his outlook on this year’s weather and how it could affect the apple crop. The webinar, scheduled for 45 minutes, begins... more »

California growers determine options in wake of flooding

With the rains that flooded much of California since late December abating, growers are beginning the complicated process of calculating the damage. Norm Groot, executive director of the Monterey County Farm Bureau, joined experts from... more »

Commentary: A cautious smile after Salad Bowl ‘storm watch’

After three long years of drought impacts, California has shifted climate gears into a monumental precipitation cycle that has brought deluges to many parts of our state. Here on the Central Coast, many areas have... more »

California farms, crops damaged by storms

While the water from the storms that hit California during the past two weeks brought some hope for agriculture’s water needs, it also damaged crops. The historic storms damaged crops from broccoli to strawberries in... more »

Weather-related damage lowers California blueberry crop

California blueberry harvest is in full swing, and some growers are picking a smaller crop this year after losing fruit to spring frost and hail. The California Blueberry Commission estimates farms will produce 55 million... more »

Colorado ag industry challenged by multiple woes

Specialty crop growers are all too familiar with the vagaries presented by damaging weather impacts, pest and disease intrusions, market fluctuations, labor shortages and any number of obstacles that come their way in pursuing a... more »

Georgia’s peach farmers hoping for colder winter

Georgia needs colder temperatures this winter to avoid a second disastrous peach season, says Jeff Cook, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension County coordinator in Taylor and Peach counties. Last year’s mild winter contributed to Georgia’s... more »

Enviroweather improves degree-day maps

The Michigan State University Enviroweather’s “Current Degree-Day Maps” tool shows accumulated growing degree-days (base 50) across Michigan from March 1 to the present (or a user-selected date). Additional maps depict degree-day accumulations compared with normal.... more »

Researchers work to boost Michigan raspberry production

Though Michigan is a national leader in fruit production, some crops, such as raspberries, account for a relatively small percentage of the larger industry. The National Agricultural Statistics Service estimates that approximately 590 acres of... more »

Survey details impact of 2016 New York drought

A survey of more than 200 New York farmers late last summer – during the worst drought in two generations – found that more than 70 percent of unirrigated, rain-fed field crops and pasture acreage... more »