A report this week from the Foreign Agricultural Service and the USA Poultry & Egg Export Council shows U.S. poultry meat exports in February increased by 15 percent in quantity and nearly 18 percent in value over the same month last year. This signals an improvement in the world economy, but also shows the value of our ports and agriculture’s driving force to improve our economic situation.

For many years commodity and food prices have been so low it’s been hard for American farmers to make a profit and consequently a decent living for their families. Like any business, no profit means farmers will go out of business, forcing food production overseas.

Farming is a volatile business, one with enthusiastic highs matched with devastating falls.

Georgia farmers are staring at record prices this year for the crops they grow. But high crop prices aren’t good for all, particularly for those who raise animals, said a University of Georgia economist.

The new agribusiness major focuses on the “money side” of agriculture, giving students a head start on the diverse management, marketing and financial strategies associated with agriculture, the state’s No. 1 industry.

Agriculture is the food you eat, clothes you wear and the fuel that runs your life. When these products are made locally, it helps communities thrive.

The Environmental Protection Agency has issued new regulations for on-farm soil fumigation.

Jean Kinsey suggested her 2010 D.W. Brooks Lecture might well have been titled “A Tale of Two Food Cultures.” Her talk this week in Athens, Ga., on “Feeding Billions: Local Solutions or Global Distributions” concluded that sustainably feeding the world will require both.

Tal DuVall and Gene Ragan, two pioneers in Georgia agriculture, were inducted into the Georgia Agricultural Hall of Fame during a ceremony in Athens, Ga., Sept. 17. The hall of fame is a program of the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.