A survey was conducted in cooperation with Gulf Citrus Growers Association (GCGA) and FDACS to quantify the current level of BMP implementation and to identify the BMPs that might be adopted with the help of cost-share programs. This 10-page fact sheet describes the survey and discusses the results for pesticide-related BMPs. Written by S. Shukla, R.E. Rouse, S.S. Shukla, E.A. Hanlon, K. Portier, and T.A. Obreza and published by the UF Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, August 2010.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ae473
Tag: Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department
Drought Decision-Support Tools: Introducing the Lawn and Garden Moisture Index — LGMI (AE470)
Recently, researchers at the University of Alabama developed an index called the Lawn and Garden Moisture Index or LGMI, which monitors the capacity of current soil moisture to sustain healthy lawns and gardens. This 4-page fact sheet explains the nuts and bolds of the LGMI and how to monitor and forecast the index on agroclimate.org. Written by Clyde W. Fraisse, Prem Woli, and Keith T. Ingram, and published by the UF Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, February 2011.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ae470
Drought Decision-Support Tools: Introducing the Keetch Byram Drought Index — KBDI (AE471)
The Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI) is generally used to determine potential wildfire hazards across the southeastern United States and is calculated daily by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Forestry. KBDI is a continuous reference scale for estimating the dryness of the soil and duff layers. Forest managers have identified several uses for the KBDI in wildfire management. This 5-page fact sheet explains the nuts and bolds of the KBDI and how forecast the index on agroclimate.org. Written by Clyde W. Fraisse, Norman E. Breuer, and David Zierden and published by the UF Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, February 2011.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ae471
Drought Decision-Support Tools: Introducing the Agricultural Reference Index for Drought — ARID (AE469)
Researchers at the University of Florida have developed a new index called the Agricultural Reference Index for Drought or ARID. ARID is a simple and reliable index to monitor and predict agricultural drought. It is based on a reference crop (grass) and takes into account the soil-plant-atmosphere relationships.
This 5-page fact sheet describes the nuts and bolts of ARID and how to monitor the index on Agroclimate.org. Written by Clyde W. Fraisse, Eduardo M. Gelcer, and Prem Woli, and published by the UF Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, February 2011.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ae469
Sustainability of Agriculture in Miami-Dade County: Considering Water Supply (ABE380/AE429)
Developing sustainable agricultural practices in Miami-Dade County (Figure 1) is important to ensuring the future of its economically significant winter vegetable, tropical fruit, and ornamental nursery plant production. This 8-page fact sheet discusses water availability, factors that influence water availability, agricultural water use, and irrigation efficiency as they relate to Miami-Dade County. It was written by Kati W. Migliaccio and published by the UF Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, January 2011.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ae429
Frequency of Residential Irrigation Maintenance Problems (AE472/AE472)
The majority of Florida in-ground irrigation systems have some type of maintenance problem that could be causing excessive water use. Inspections should be done on a regular basis. This factsheet describes the five residential irrigation problems that represented half of the problems found in 3,416 audits by Urban Mobile Irrigation Labs in Florida. This 7-page fact sheet was written by Thomas R. Olmsted and Michael D. Dukes, and published by the UF Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, January 2011.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ae472
Evolution of water quality regulations in the United States and Florida (AE431)
Water is essential to sustain life. Not only do we all need a certain quantity of water each day, but the quality of the available water is also critical. Water quality protection in the United States evolved from initially ensuring navigability of waterways to protecting our natural ecosystems. This 5-page fact sheet provides a background for understanding water quality and how it is evaluated and regulated in the U.S. with particular focus on the state of Florida. Written by Kati W. Migliaccio, Yuncong Li, and Thomas A. Obreza. Published by the UF Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, January 2011.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ae431
AE468/AE468 Opciones de Manejo Basadas en el Clima para Productores de Ganado Vacuno en el Centro-Norte de Florida
AE468, a 9-page illustrated fact sheet by Norman Breuer, Víctor Cabrera, Peter E. Hildebrand y James W. Jones, is the Spanish language version of CIR1476/AE289 Climate-Based Management Options for North Central Florida Beef Cattle Producers. It presents the results of a study interviewing ranchers and extension agents in North Central Florida, with an aim to developing user-friendly decision support systems for the agricultural production clientele. Includes references.
Published by the UF Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, November 2010.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ae468
AE467 Grower Expectations of New Technologies for Applications in Precision Horticulture
AE467, a 4-page article by Reza Ehsani, Sindhuja Sankaran, and Cristian Dima, reports the results of a needs assessment focus meeting. It provides a synopsis of perceived apple and orange growers’ needs, expectations, and concerns related to the new technologies being developed for various precision horticulture applications. Published by the UF Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, October 2010.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ae467
AE463 Los Pronósticos Climáticos y la Toma de Decisiones en Agricultura
AE463, an 8-page illustrated fact sheet by Norman E. Breuer, Clyde Fraisse and David Zierden, is the Spanish-language version of ABE352/AE267 Climate Forecast and Decision Making in Agriculture. It describes the type of strategic pre-season decisionmaking that should take into consideration climate forecasts, how climate is predicted, how to interpret the forecasts, the climate of Florida, and climate forecast applications to agriculture in Florida. Includes references. Published by the UF Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, June 2010.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ae463
AE464 El Uso de los Pronósticos de la Variabilidad Climática Estacional para Planificar el Establecimiento de la Plantación de Bosques
AE464, a 3-page fact sheet by Norman Breuer, Matthew Langholtz, David Zierden and Clyde Fraisse, is the Spanish language version of ABE354/AE282: Using Seasonal Climate Variability Forecasts to Plan Forest Plantation Establishment. It provides strategies to consider for pine plantation establishment in Florida and southern Alabama and Georgia, where seasonal climate conditions can be better predicted because it is affected by the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon. Includes references. Published by the UF Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, July 2010.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ae464
AE466 Increasing Field Efficiency of Farm Machinery Using GPS
AE466, a 3-page illustrated fact sheet by Reza Ehsani, shows how Global Positioning Systems data can provide very useful information about the efficiency of agricultural equipment. Published by the UF Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, August 2010.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ae466
AE465 Seepage Meters for Measuring Groundwater–Surface Water Exchange
AE465, a 5-page illustrated fact sheet by Christopher J. Martinez, aids those who are engaged in surface water–groundwater exchange studies in cost-effective construction, installation, and use of seepage meters. Includes references. Published by the UF Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, July 2010.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ae465
AE248 Fertilizer Application Best Management Practices for Citrus Grove Workers
Revised! AE248, a 12-page fact sheet by Brian Boman, Darren Cole, Steve Futch, Ward Gunter, Jack Hebb, and Chris Wilson, instructs citrus grove workers in fertilizer application best management practices. Includes references and quizzes throughout. Published by the UF Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, March 2009.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ae248
AE460 Interpretation of Soil Moisture Content to Determine Soil Field Capacity and Avoid Over-Irrigating Sandy Soils Using Soil Moisture Sensors
AE460, a 4-page illustrated fact sheet by Lincoln Zotarelli, Michael D. Dukes and Kelly T. Morgan, demonstrates how to correctly interpret capacitance-based soil moisture measurement devices to accurately measure volumetric soil moisture in sandy soils common to Florida. Includes references. Published by the UF Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, February 2010.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ae460
AE457 Evapotranspiration-Based Irrigation Scheduling for Agriculture
AE457, a 6-page fact sheet by Isaya Kisekka, Kati W. Migliaccio, Michael D. Dukes, Jonathan H. Crane, and Bruce Schaffer, focuses on the main concepts related to ET-based irrigation scheduling and reviews the use of "smart" irrigation scheduling controllers for agricultural applications. Includes references. Published by the UF Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, January 2010.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/AE457
AE458 Evapotranspiration-Based Irrigation for Agriculture: Implementing Evapotranspiration-Based Irrigation Scheduling for Agriculture
AE458, a 4-page fact sheet by Isaya Kisekka, Kati W. Migliaccio, Michael D. Dukes, Jonathan H. Crane, and Bruce Schaffer, outlines step-by-step procedures to follow when implementing a "smart" evapotranspiration (ET)-based irrigation schedule and a do-it-yourself irrigation schedule. Includes references. Published by the UF Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, January 2010.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/AE458
AE455 Evapotranspiration-Based Irrigation for Agriculture: Sources of Evapotranspiration Data for Irrigation Scheduling in Florida
AE455, a 4-page fact sheet by Isaya Kisekka, Kati W. Migliaccio, Michael D. Dukes, Bruce Schaffer, Jonathan H. Crane, and Kelly Morgan, lists some of the public sources of ETo data for irrigation scheduling in Florida. Includes references. Published by the UF Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, January 2010.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/AE455
AE459 Step by Step Calculation of the Penman-Monteith Evapotranspiration (FAO-56 Method)
AE459, a 12-page fact sheet by Lincoln Zotarelli, Michael D. Dukes, Consuelo C. Romero, Kati W. Migliaccio, and Kelly T. Morgan, provides a step-by-step calculation of the reference evapotranspiration (FAO-56 method) for a given location from the available weather data. Includes references. Published by the UF Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, February 2010.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ae459
AE454 Mini-piezometers for Measuring Groundwater to Surface Water Exchange
AE454, a 6-page illustrated fact sheet by Christopher J. Martinez, aids those who are engaged in surface water to groundwater exchange studies in cost-effective construction, installation and use of mini-piezometers. Includes references. Published by the UF Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, December 2009.