News Stories - Page 27

Hay can’t be evaluated by touch, smell, color or any other on-the-spot technique. To get a true measure of forage quality, hay has to be tested.

The Georgia Agricultural Hall of Fame has two new members: former U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss and the late Thomas Richard Breedlove Sr., a pioneering northeast Georgia dairy farmer. Breedlove and Chambliss were inducted Sept. 25 as part of the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Alumni Banquet and Awards Ceremony.

Women own 13.6 percent of America’s active farms and their farms produce almost $13 billion worth of goods each year. Just like male farmers, they need access to business and technical information to help make their farms successful. But while many pride themselves on not needing a “women’s only” class on how to work the land or run a business, many other women simply feel more comfortable learning around other female farmers.

For more than 100 years, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension has provided farmers, ranchers and gardeners with research-based training and on-demand information to help them improve their farms and gardens. Starting Oct. 1, a new leader will oversee these vital Extension services in Georgia.

From vineyards and vegetable patches to state-of-the-art food processing and food safety operations, agriculture in northeast Georgia is made up of a large and diverse set of enterprises.

Georgia 4-H is piloting an educational series aimed at teaching children how to help prevent the spread of animal diseases like swine flu, salmonella, E. coli and rabies.