The Panhandle Ag Extension Team would like to thank our email subscribers and social media followers for your interest and support of Panhandle Ag e-News in 2024. Keep sharing those emails, posts, and tweets to help us spread the word, so more farmers and ranchers sign up for this service. The Panhandle Ag e-News project began in 2012. Over the past 13 years, 2,722 articles have been published that are searchable by topic area, keyword, author, or by using the search box provided at the top right-hand corner of the website.
In 2024, the Panhandle Agriculture Extension Team was made up of 21 county agents and 22 state specialists that serve the agricultural industry in Northwest Florida. This team published 255 articles this year that provided timely information to farmers and ranchers related to farm management, pest management, best management practice recommendations, interesting videos, plus numerous announcements of educational events and assistance programs. Each week links to the most recently published articles were shared through 42 electronic newsletter issues (emails) to 5,981 subscribers, as well as to 2,866 Facebook and 1,203 X (twitter) followers.
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Reader’s Choice Awards
At the start of each year, the statistics are compared for the articles that were published on the Panhandle Ag e-News website over the previous year, with the authors of the most popular articles given recognition with Reader’s Choice Awards. There were a number of the articles that were very popular this year, but there were several that really stood out. The following are the top 30 most popular articles published by our author team members in 2024. If you missed some of these when they were published, you should check them out. Congratulations to the following authors for putting together interesting articles with excellent information.
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1st Place
Freemartin: A Heifer Calf Born as a Twin to a Bull Calf – 2,511 views
Kalyn Waters, UF/IFAS Extension Holmes County Director
Kalyn Waters, Holmes County Extension Director, won top honors for the second straight year with the most popular article, published on February 23rd. Her article explains freemartin calves. A freemartin is a female heifer that is born a twin with a bull and is born with reproductive tract deformities, and in most all cases is infertile. While twinning only occurs in about 0.5% to 1% of beef cattle pregnancies, if a bull and a heifer are a result of that pregnancy there is a 92-95% chance that the heifer will be infertile. On the fetal development timeline testicular development occurs prior to ovarian development, this is where the issues start for the female calf.
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2nd Place
Arnie – A New Peanut Variety Released by the University of Florida – 1,321 views
Dr. Barry Tillman, UF/IFAS Peanut Breeder
Dr. Barry Tillman, UF/IFAS Peanut Breeder, had the second most popular article that was published on February 2nd. In his article, Barry shared that a new runner-type peanut variety named ‘Arnie’ was released by UF/IFAS. The Arnie peanut cultivar was developed at the North Florida Research and Education Center near Marianna. The ‘Arnie’ peanut cultivar is named after Arnie Forrester, who was an outstanding farmer in Jackson County. The characteristics of ‘Arnie’ include high yield potential, high TSMK grade, excellent tolerance to tomato spotted wilt virus, and normal oleic oil chemistry. Arnie is medium in maturity requiring 140 days until maturity.
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3rd Place
2024-25 Deer Hunting Regulations in the Panhandle – Check Before You Hunt – 1,316 views
Mark Mauldin, UF/IFAS Extension Washington County Director
Mark Mauldin, UF/IFAS Extension Washington County Director, had the third most popular article published on August 2nd. His article was shared to be sure all hunters understand the current regulations related to deer hunting in our area, as it’s more complicated than it used to be. Following last summer’s discovery of Chronic Wasting Disease in Holmes County, the Chronic Wasting Disease Management Zone and its modified regulations will remain in place for the 2024-25 hunting season, but with some notable changes. There are also some considerable differences in the hunting regulations north and south of I-10.
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Honorable Mention
Poor Food Plot Performance – 3 Simple Solutions to Common Problems – 1,000 views
Daniel Leonard, UF/IFAS Extension Calhoun County Director
Daniel Leonard, UF/IFAS Extension Calhoun County Director, had the fourth most popular article that was published on January 5th. In his article he shared that managing a deer herd isn’t without its annoyances. One of the main complaints I hear each winter from hunters is that their food plots did not perform as well as expected. While all manner of things could be at fault, there are three common reasons for poor food plot performance and a few possible solutions to each. Most hunters can improve their forage situation by simply soil testing and amending accordingly ahead of planting, enlarging food plots where possible, and harvesting a few more deer than they have been.
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Other popular articles published in 2024 included:
5 – Horse Feed and Cattle Feed Don’t Mix: 70 Horses Die After Ingesting Feed Contaminated with Monensin – 836 views
6 – USDA Animal Disease Traceability Update: EID Tags and More – 583 views
7 – 2023 Weather Summary and 1st Quarter 2024 Outlook – 579 views
8 – Can Mixing Sunn Hemp with Corn Produce High-Quality Silage? – 534 views
9 – 2023 Average Farmland Rent and Farm-Worker Wages – 516 views
10 – Perennial Peanut Hay – An Alternative Crop Worth Serious Consideration to Diversify Farms in North Florida – 493 views
11 – Does Planting Perennial Peanut in Bahiagrass Pastures Pay Off? – 490 views
12 – Changes Coming to Florida Pesticide Applicator Exam Format and Testing Sites – 469 views
13 – Status Update on Wild Turkeys in the Panhandle – 462 views
14 – Farmers and Ranchers Can Now Apply for Florida Farm TEAM Sales Tax Exempt Cards – 454 views
15 – Results from the 2023 UF/IFAS Silage Corn, Sorghum, and Millet Variety Trials – 383 views
16 – Cattle Market Update: Bi-Annual Cattle Inventory and Market Report – 379 views
17 – What Horse Show Organizers Should Know about the Horse Protection Act Revisions – Effective February 1, 2025 – 372 views
18 – Pest Alert: Invasive ‘Yellow-Legged Hornet’ Poses Threat to Honey Bees – 368 views
19 – 2024 Cool-Season Forage Variety Recommendations – 353 views
20 – The Granberry Farm: Sustainably Managing a Cattle Ranch in the Chipola River Basin – 345 views
21 – 2024 Florida Bull Test Sale – Bull Selection Cheat Sheets – 343 views
22 – Citrus Sunburn: A Physiological Disorder – 336 views
23 – Birdshot in Beef: The Hidden Defect – 335 views
24 – Crop Damage from Deer in the Panhandle – 329 views
25 – G Morata is New Ag Extension Agent in Santa Rosa County – 327 views
26 – 2024 Cotton Economics Update – 314 views
27 – How Stress Impacts Cattle Reproduction – 312 views
28 – Fall is Here – It’s Time to Spray Cogongrass – 292 views
30 – 2024 Update on Cold Hardy Citrus – 260 views
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The top 10 Featured Videos of 2024
In addition to the articles shared each week, a short YouTube video was shared under the title of “Friday Features.” In general, these videos related to some form of agricultural interest, farming techniques, new innovative tools and equipment, or farm humor. The following were the top 10 videos shared in 2024, so you may want to check out some of the popular videos you may have missed:
1 – $4 Million Brazilian Nelore Cow Sets Record as World’s Most Expensive Cow – 1,783 views
2 – Jackson Laux 8-Year-Old Farming Expert – 401 views
3 – 1940s Documentary on the Turpentine Industry in the South – 245 views
4 – Jerry Clower tells the Story of Uncle Versie’s Trial – 198 views
5 – Harvesting the Sun for Both Solar Electricity and Farming – 189 views
6 – Peanut Season Kicks Off at McArthur Farms – 170 views
7 – 2024 Farm Dog of the Year – 169 views
8 – Rocking K Cattle Company – Ranchers and Environmental Stewards of a Nature Preserve – 142 views
9 – Ryan Jenkins Wins Peanut Efficiency Award – 141 views
10 – How to Read Weather Radar – 136 views
You also might want to scan through the complete library of 320 videos in the Friday Feature Video Archive.
If you come across an interesting, inspiring, humorous or something new and innovative related to agriculture, please send in a link, so we can share it with our readers. Use the share button from the YouTube or Facebook video you like and send the link via email to: Doug Mayo
demayo@ufl.edu - 850-482-9620
Follow me on Twitter
@UFCowman
- 2024 Annual Weather Summary and 1st Quarter 2025 Outlook - January 10, 2025
- 2024 Panhandle Ag e-News Reader’s Choice Awards - January 10, 2025
- Friday Feature:U.S. Farming from 1865 to 1900 - January 10, 2025