When it comes to giving young pecan trees a jump-start, Georgia growers need to focus on improving the soil over applying fertilizer, according to University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Pecan Specialist Lenny Wells.

University of Georgia Cooperative Extension cotton economist Don Shurley says that Georgia cotton farmers can expect prices to remain low for their crop until worldwide demand improves. Shurley will give a detailed report on Georgia’s cotton crop at three of the 2016 Georgia Ag Forecast events set for January 2016.

Todd Applegate, associate head of the Department of Animal Sciences at Indiana’s Purdue University, has been tapped to lead the University of Georgia’s Department of Poultry Science. He will take the helm starting on Jan. 8.

A fundraising opportunity for one University of Georgia Cooperative Extension office has turned out to be a key insect detection tool for local pecan growers in Dougherty County, Georgia.

End-of-year rainfall and poor harvest conditions have been tough on Georgia’s cotton crop and tested Georgia’s cotton farmers, says University of Georgia Cooperative Extension’s new cotton agronomist.

Good information is the best defense against the unforeseen circumstances — like changing governmental regulations and weather patterns — that can impact agriculture. That’s why the University of Georgia’s team of agricultural economists kicks off each year with the Georgia Ag Forecast seminar series. There, they present valuable insights into what the upcoming year will hold for the state's largest industry.

As a young man working on his family’s farm in Perry, Georgia, Jerry Johnson loved the sight of wheat growing in the fields. Decades later, Johnson, now a respected plant breeder and crop and soil sciences professor, received the 2015 Inventor’s Award from the University of Georgia Research Foundation (UGARF) for his work breeding wheat varieties for farmers in Georgia and across the Southeast.

University of Georgia Cooperative Extension pecan specialist Lenny Wells fears Georgia’s pecan crop will fail to meet initial production projections by as much as 20 million pounds.

The current highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5 outbreak in the United States is a concern for the commercial poultry industry, not the general population, says a University of Georgia poultry expert. Humans won’t be infected with avian influenza by eating chicken or other poultry products. Nearly all previous cases of human infections with other avian influenza viruses involved close, direct contact with infected poultry, but little to no direct transmission from person to person. While the HPAI H5 virus has caused some severe devastation for the U.S. commercial poultry industry, there have been no reports of infections in humans, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) considers the risk to people from this virus to be low.