News Stories - Page 58

The search for a perfect job can feel like a major quest. That quest turns literal for a group of University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) students for one week each summer.

Last year many lawns across the state didn’t receive enough rainfall for the grass to grow, photosynthesize and make carbohydrate reserves. Turfgrass that experienced this lack of rainfall will likely be slow to green up this spring. If rainfall totals return to normal this spring, lawns will recover, but they may do so at a slower rate because the production of reserves was compromised last fall. For example, a lawn that would typically be fully green and growing in mid-May might take until late May or June to green up. A two- to four-week delay in green-up of warm-season grasses may be common this spring.

Decreasing irrigation for cotton crops during the early season may not affect yields and could save growers more than 54,000 gallons of water per acre, according to University of Georgia researchers.

University of Georgia plant breeder and geneticist Katrien Devos’ work unraveling the mysteries of pearl millet aims to make subsistence farming communities more food-secure. The pioneering and globally engaged nature of her work earned her one of UGA’s top research awards: the Creative Research Medal.

Two University of Georgia Cooperative Extension faculty members received Walter Barnard Hill Awards in recognition of their public outreach. Melanie Biersmith, Georgia 4-H environmental education coordinator, and Dennis Hancock, Extension forages specialist and associate professor of crop and soil sciences, both received 2017 Walter Barnard Hill Awards for Distinguished Achievement in Public Service and Outreach (Hill Award) at UGA’s Public Service Outreach Annual Meeting and Awards Luncheon on April 17.

Knowing wet bulb temperature could help farmers protect crops from hard freezes while saving money, water and energy.