While we had an early start to the growing season, it was followed by colder conditions in March that slowed things down quite a bit. Since that time, we have seen periods of very warm weather alternating with much cooler conditions. As soil temperatures rise and fall, it has been tough for farmers to know when to plant. The big player in the weather the rest of this growing season and next winter is the rapidly developing El Niño.

Four graduate students in the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences have been honored with an E. Broadus Browne Award for Outstanding Graduate Research. Given in honor of the former director of the Georgia Agricultural Experiment Stations, the award is presented to outstanding CAES master’s and doctoral students recognized for both their research and effective communication.

What began as a grassroots growers cooperative in the 1970s has become one of the Southeast’s most prestigious, member-supported nonprofit farming organizations. Having just wrapped up its 25th annual conference in Perry, Georgia, the organization continues its long-standing partnership with the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and UGA Cooperative Extension.

High school 4-H’ers are bridging technology gaps in the agriculture community with Georgia’s new 4-H Ag Tech Changemakers program, part of the national 4-H Tech Changemakers initiative. Students trained as Tech Changemakers create educational opportunities for adults to learn essential workforce-related technology, and Georgia 4-H created the 4-H Ag Tech Changemakers program to expand the subject area coverage to include agriculture-specific skills.

The Integrative Precision Agriculture International Conference, “Local Solutions Through Global Advances,” will be held May 18-19 at the University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education & Hotel. Hosted by UGA’s Institute for Integrative Precision Agriculture, the conference will feature speakers who solve problems around the globe and offer new perspectives on common challenges in the field.

There’s a world of information under your feet. Just ask UGA Assistant Professor Matt Levi, who maps and models soil data for use across disciplines, from precision agriculture to fire prediction research. A pedologist by trade, an earnest respect for soil and its critical functions underlies his interdisciplinary work in predictive GIS mapping.