The threat of deer eating the cotton grown on local farms sent University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Agriculture and Natural Resources agent Katie Burch searching for a solution. And the Burke County, Georgia, agent may have found one.

The University of Georgia Cotton Team recognized the best cotton producers in the state with the 2018 Georgia Quality Cotton Awards during the Georgia Cotton Commission’s annual meeting and UGA Cotton Production Workshop held on Jan. 30, 2019, in Tifton, Georgia.

Georgia cotton producers face two great weed control challenges this season — how to minimize the development of herbicide resistance and mitigating off-target herbicide drift, according to Stanley Culpepper, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension weed scientist.

As Georgia cotton farmers prepare for this year’s growing season, some are still trying to harvest what’s left of the 2018 crop, according to Jared Whitaker, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension cotton agronomist.

When University of Georgia graduate Stefano Gobbo received his master’s degree last week, he made history, both for UGA and for the University of Padova (UNIPD) in Italy.

A state program aimed at teaching farmers and other pesticide applicators how to properly apply pesticides continues to limit pesticide drift in Georgia. The educational training system, called “Using Pesticides Wisely,” was created by University of Georgia Cooperative Extension and the Georgia Department of Agriculture. UGA Extension weed scientist Stanley Culpepper, who developed the training, credits Georgia farmers’ excellent teamwork and decision-making for the low number of pesticide drift complaints in Georgia in 2017.

To avoid losing their farms following Hurricane Michael, Georgia farmers need financial relief as soon as possible, according to Jeff Dorfman, a professor and agricultural economist in the University of Georgia Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics.

University of Georgia agricultural economists believe that Georgia cotton farmers in the path of Hurricane Michael have only begun to feel the impact of the storm that took 90 or 100 percent of many area growers’ crops.

All farmers with crops and commodities affected by Hurricane Michael are invited to attend an agriculture disaster assistance information session to be held at the University of Georgia Tifton Campus Conference Center at 2 p.m. Monday, October 22.