Top Agriculture News

PERRY, Fla. (AP) — Massive rains brought by Hurricane Helene have left many people stranded or homeless as the cleanup begins from the monster tempest that killed at least 56 people. Helene has caused billions of dollars in destruction across a wide swath of the southeast U.S. More than 3 million customers were without power Saturday, and some face a continued threat of floods. Helene blew ashore in Florida’s Big Bend region as a Category 4 hurricane late Thursday and then quickly moved through Georgia, the Carolinas and Tennessee, uprooting trees, splintering homes and sending creeks and rivers over their banks and straining dams. Deaths from the storm have occurred in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.

BELLVUE, Colo. (AP) — The U.S. is struggling to replant forests destroyed by increasingly destructive wildfires, with some areas unlikely to recover. Researchers are studying which species are likely to survive — and where — as climate change makes it difficult or impossible for many forests to regrow. But researchers say the U.S. also lacks enough seed collection, nursery capacity to grow seedlings and workers trained to plant them on a scale needed to stem accelerating losses. The Forest Service says the biggest roadblock is the yearslong task of completing environmental and cultural assessments and preparing severely burned land for replanting.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Days of torrential rain in North Carolina culminating with tropical downpours from what was Hurricane Helene have officials keeping a close eye on a major dam. More than a foot of rain has fallen across much of the region in the past several days. The two main interstates in the mountains have closed. Crews have conducted 100 swiftwater rescues as of Friday morning. Officials in Rutherford County were warning residents who live on nearly 30 roads below Lake Lure Dam to evacuate immediately because water was coming over the top of the dam. Winds gusted to 108 mph atop Mount Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Mississippi River.

Its enormous size already impacting the Carolinas and very well may cause significant damage to crops in the western portions of North and South Carolina. Linda Pryor is a corn farmer and apple grower in Henderson County, North Carolina. “Over the last 24 hours, we have already received several inches of rain from a separate […]

Another storm is threatening the Carolinas. In fact, we’re already feeling its effects. I’m Mike Davis and I’m talking with Assistant State Climatologist Corey Davis from the State Climate Office of North Carolina. What can you tell us about Helene, and what can we expect? How long is this going to be around? “Well, Mike, […]

This is the SFN Market Report with Brooks Schaffer of Palmetto Grain. Reach him at [email protected] or 843-540-4540. Finally, we have a week with a lot to talk about. Soybeans finally found a spark starting with dry weather in Brazil. November beans traded as low as $9.55 on Sept 16th and traded as high as […]

CRAWFORDVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Hurricane Helene has made landfall in northwestern Florida as a Category 4 storm as forecasters warn of “catastrophic” flooding along the Gulf Coast. The National Hurricane Center says Helene came ashore Thursday evening in the Big Bend area of Florida’s Gulf Coast. Officials have forecast storm surges of up to 20 feet and warned they could be particularly “catastrophic and unsurvivable” in Florida’s Apalachee Bay. Hurricane warnings and flash flood warnings extend far beyond the coast up into northern Georgia and western North Carolina. The governors of Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia have all declared emergencies in their states.

Another year is well underway at the South Carolina Governor’s School for Agriculture. It’s the nation’s only residential honors high school devoted entirely to ag. Ty Morton is the student body president from nearby McCormick. He says at the Governor’s School, you never know what to expect. “Working in the greenhouse, we got the hort […]

Despite several requests for clarification by agriculture and other industries, the Environmental Protection Agency has failed to provide clear guidance on the 2023 revision of the Waters of the U.S. rule. Courtney Briggs, senior director of government affairs for the American Farm Bureau Federation, testified before Congress last week, saying the agency has made the […]

People are paying attention to dairy cows in a way you wouldn’t expect—by analyzing their burps. It may sound strange, but at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, groundbreaking research is using high-tech tools to track the gases cows emit and what that means for both their health and the environment. UW-Platteville’s School of Agriculture is advancing […]