CLIMATE PREDICTION TOOLS FOR FARMERS

20180905

Florida’s farm families can develop strategies for producing food in advance of volatile weather patterns with tools provided by the Southeast Climate Consortium.

The consortium, a collaborative project of University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) faculty members and other researchers, has created a specialized website for this purpose.

Visit www.agroclimate.org to access a large amount of information, including long-term climate forecasts. The site is housed at the University of Florida.

Clyde Fraisse, a UF/IFAS agro-meteorologist, said, “The bulk of our program is to make information usable by a farmer so that a decision can be made or confirmed.”

He explained that the farmer must make a judgment about the probability of climate predictions and integrate them into current operations.

“In Florida we talk about the market window,” Fraisse said. “We want to get a crop out of the field as soon as possible so we have a better marketing window. But sometimes, the early variety may not be as resistant to diseases as another one.

“That’s where the strategy comes in. It can make a big difference in your return at the end of the season.”

The long-term forecast for this fall calls for above-average rainfall and warmer temperatures. But freezes are still possible.