1st Quarter 2025 Weather Summary and 2nd Quarter Outlook
Rainfall The climate forecast of a warmer and drier than normal La Niña winter came true for the most part in the Panhandle. The maps above show the variation from normal rainfall in January, February, and March. In general. all of the gold, orange and red areas on...
Cotton Marketing News: Planting Intentions Overview and Considerations
Don Shurley, UGA Emeritus Cotton Economist Farmers say they intend to plant 9.87 million acres of cotton this year—down 11.8% from last year. This is based on a survey of producers conducted by USDA during the first two weeks of March. These estimates reflect farmer...
Friday Feature: International Scout Making a Come Back
This week's featured video was published by CBS Saturday Morning to share the story of the International Harvester Scout and the comeback planned for 2027. The last Scout came off the assembly-line in 1980. Since it was no longer in production, the Scout became a...
Pasture Management During the Spring Transition
The calendar and the weather agree, spring has sprung. Earlier today I made two observations which lend further credence to that conclusion. 1) my truck has turned yellow (under a thick coating of pollen) and 2) there was a line, literally out the door, at a...
MARC Across-Breed EPDs Updated for 2025
Expected Progeny Differences (EPDs) have been a major tool for genetic selection of breeding cattle for many years. One of the issues, though, is that EPDs are only useful within a single specific breed. Because each breed manages and presents its own data somewhat...
Join the 2025 STEP Cotton Competition!
Hardeep Singh, West Florida Research & Education Center, Vivek Sharma, UF Ag Engineering, and Olive Stewart, West Florida Research & Education Center Think you have what it takes to grow the best cotton in Florida? Put your skills to the test in the 2025 STEP...
Friday Feature: The Florida Cowboy Documentary
This week's featured video goes back a few years to a 2008, when Photo-Journalist Bob Hite filmed a documentary on the history and culture of the Florida Cowboy, and the birthplace of the U.S. Cattle Industry. In the video, Hite interviews key cattle families and...
Benefits of Manure Fertilizers and Analysis
Manure from livestock has been used by farmers and gardeners since the beginning of farming, with evidence of the benefits of manure are documented dating back nearly 8,000 years. Manure can help improve soil, but there are a couple common misconceptions about its...
Livestock Owners are Encouraged to be on the Lookout for New World Screwworm in the Wake of Outbreaks in Central America
New World Screwworm (NWS), Cochliomyia hominivorax is a type of fly found throughout the world. When Screwworm fly larvae (maggots) burrow into the flesh of a living animal, they cause serious, often deadly damage to the animal. NWS can infest livestock, pets,...
March 2025 Florida Cattle Market Update
The Importance of Record-Keeping in a Good Year Prices for steers, heifers, replacements, and cull cows in Florida are 9%, 7%, 22%, and 16% higher year over year. As more heifers are retained and culling slows, the value of female and feeder cattle will continue to...