Enjoy Wildlife In Your Backyard!

Editor Note:  Fayette County is a wonderful stop for birds who choose to winter over.  Have you noticed the beautiful American Bald Eagles in Peachtree City?  Right now, four have been spotted gracefully flying above our homes.  It's just, well, wonderful.

(StatePoint) Are you thrilled by the sight of wildlife in its natural environment? If so, you don't need to travel for the experience. With a little effort, your own backyard can become a stopover for some of North America's most colorful wildlife. 

Fall and spring are migratory season in America as flocks of birds migrate between hemispheres. Like any weary traveler, these natives look for places to rest and refuel. Welcoming them to your yard is a way to protect our natural heritage and enjoy their beauty at the same time.

"Transforming your yard or garden into a wildlife refuge is fun," says Spencer Schock, Founder of WindowAlert, makers of bird-friendly products for homes. "Children love an outdoor project and the sight of wild birds adds dazzle to your family's seasonal experience."

Here are some tips for watching and keeping birds safe during migration:

* Birds migrate because of food, not weather. The cooler months make it more difficult to find sustenance, so placing a bird feeder in your backyard with water and high energy foods like meal worms, black oil sunflower seeds, or suet will help them complete their journey.

* Birds don't just take one long flight. They need lots of stopover and staging areas during their travels. Encourage them to linger in your backyard by providing shelter, such as a bird house. Opt for water-repellant bird houses with hinged roofs so the house can be cleaned after nesting. Avoid perches, which make birds easy prey for predators like cats.

* Man-made structures, even in rural areas, can be hazardous to migrating birds. For example, birds don't "see" clear glass and as a consequence, millions of birds worldwide die every year when striking glass. To protect birds from hitting your windows, you can apply special decals that reflect ultraviolet sunlight, such as those made by WindowAlert. The decals have the appearance of frosted glass -- so they won't ruin your view -- but glow like a stoplight for birds, with their unique ability to see ultraviolet rays.

* The best way to enjoy wildlife is to avoid interfering in any way. To do so, invest in good binoculars and get out in the early morning when birds are most active. A field guide book can help you identify the creatures you see.

* Record-keeping is not just for ornithologists. By keeping a journal of feeding and housing patterns of birds populating your backyard, you can be better prepared for next year. In addition, consider becoming a "citizen scientist" by submitting your observations to The Audubon Society and Cornell University's database at ebird.org.

For more information on making your home and garden a bird haven, visit WindowAlert.com or call 877-733-2753.

"There are many ways to assist birds on their journey, from installing birdbaths to applying window decals," says Schock. "Once you have made a few modifications, don't forget to enjoy that flash of color by the feeder."


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New farm bill must chart a new course, not go with the flow

World population is swelling like a slow-moving tidal wave. In the past decade, the world’s population increased by almost 1 billion. Within the next four decades, experts expect the wave to grow by 50 percent, increasing to 9.4 billion people.

At the same time, food prices have risen, investment in food production has fallen and available land for growing food has dwindled. The wave of population growth and the ebb in available food has eaten away at food security, stirring concern for how we will meet future demand.

Last year, 1 billion people across the globe went hungry. The United Nations projects an additional 100 million will go hungry this year. Population growth is on track to outpace food production, if we don’t stem the tide.

And, we can. We have.

Between 1970 and 1990, the number of our neighbors going hungry decreased in large part due to U.S.-driven innovations in food production, particularly those put in place in Southeast Asia and Africa.

Visionary policy needed

We can turn the storm if we ramp up food production now. The southeastern U.S. is the ideal place to chart a brighter, secure future. But we must have visionary policy in the 2012 Farm Bill.

The five-year federal farm policy laid out in a farm bill influences areas of agriculture including farm payments, supplemental nutrition assistance programs (food stamps), international trade, conservation programs, rural community development, food safety and agricultural research.

Improving federal investment is more important to the survival of the nation’s agricultural research and education system as state support is quickly evaporating. As we explore new ways to increase food production, ensure safety and improve storage and delivery, investment in the proven U.S. system of agricultural innovation is as important as your next meal.

Many areas of the world simply will be unable to respond to this challenge.

Asia has poor soils and limited rainfall and will be hard-pressed to increase food production. Africa remains hopeful, but until political instability is resolved, the continent will never be able to feed itself.

South and Central America, while blessed with good soils and rainfall, will not likely cut down rainforests for enhanced production. And Europe, also with good soil and rainfall, will likely produce less food due to a variety of social policies that are causing the continent to stagnate.

This leaves North America as the world’s hope for expanded food production. But even here, production patterns are changing. Available water in the West is declining. A decade from now there will be less food produced west of the Rockies than is produced there today. In the northern U.S., temperature and sunlight limit the amount of new food that will be produced.

Southeast in perfect position

U.S. food production must increase, and the Southeast can lead the way. It’s an obligation and opportunity. In 2009, the U.S. imported $72 billion of agricultural products while we exported $98 billion of the same. We can widen the surplus even more.

But past federal policies haven’t always focused on agriculture in the Southeast. This farm bill should.
Congress is now holding listening sessions for the new farm bill that will see us through the next five years. Federal farm policy can either promote production in the Southeast, meeting the need, or limit production, putting more of the world’s poor in peril. We must explore every avenue for increasing production to keep more people fed.

The only way the Southeast can increase food production to the region’s full potential is through science and technology. They aren’t making any more land. We must efficiently use what we have. U.S. agriculture is largely dependent on federal funding for research, development and training that leads to higher production. Yet, many agriculture funding streams are shrinking or drying up.

More research needed

More research is needed to find ways to reduce production costs and increase farm profitability. While some research is generated from private companies, the private sector has no incentive to reduce inputs, which reduces their profits. No private business will invest in technologies that have limited economic return, but are vital to increasing food production.

Reduced pesticide and fertilizer use, integrated pest management, water-use efficiency and natural resource conservation are important for the public good. We need these research and outreach programs. Only local, state and federal governments will support them.

The land-grant university system was established to fill this void. Our federal, state and local partnership is the envy of the world. Many studies credit much of the success in American agriculture to the land-grant system.

Our country has come a long way since the Great Depression, when nearly four out of every 10 Americans worked in food production. Today, less than 2 percent of the country’s population works on the farm.

In the U.S. today, we spend much less on food than when 40 percent of Americans worked on farms. Many of the improvements that help farmers produce abundant, affordable food for exponentially more people came through technology developed at land-grant institutions.

The land-grant system is ready to meet the challenges ahead. But the system requires commitment and funding to continue research into new technologies and to get them into the marketplace to improve the livelihoods of farmers around the world and to produce enough food to alleviate hunger.

U.S. agriculture has a bright future. Strategic security needs for the U.S., pressing economic need for a positive trade balance and the humanitarian need to feed the world are coming together in a way that makes agriculture more important today than ever. Policies set forth in the next farm bill will dictate the direction we take.

By J Scott Angle
University of Georgia

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Use deer-tolerant plants in your home landscape to keep wildlife at bay

Spring is the perfect time to add new flowers and trees to your home landscape. However, deer may love the new addition as much as you do.

“Deer like nutrient-rich plants, especially in spring and summer when does are pregnant or nursing, when young deer are growing and when bucks are growing antlers,” said Michael Mengak, wildlife specialist with the University of Georgia Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources. “Fertilized plants, such as those in home landscapes, provide protein, energy-rich carbohydrates, minerals and salts.”

Asiatic lilies, jessamine, daylily, hibiscus, hollyhock, hosta, Japanese maples, pansies and roses are a few deer favorites.

Adding deer-tolerant plants to the landscape will keep deer at bay, says Gary Wade, a UGA Cooperative Extension horticulturist.

“A good way to prevent deer from browsing in landscapes is to plant ornamental plants that deer do not like to eat,” Wade said. “Deer generally do not like plants with pungent aromas. They also shy away from plants with prickly or rough leaves and plants with a bitter taste.”

Deer-tolerant plants to try include:
Trees: bald cypress, crepe myrtle, Eastern red cedar, ginkgo, pawpaw, pine, spruce and tulip poplar.
Shrubs: boxwood, butterfly bush, common witchhazel, gardenia, Japanese rose, junipers, oleander, pomegranate, primrose jasmine and yucca.
Ornamental grasses: fountain grass, lemongrass, pampas grass and sedge.
Vines and groundcovers: columbine, creeping lantana, junipers and thyme.
Herbaceous perennials and bulbs: African lily, amaryllis, bee balm, butterfly weed, Christmas fern, daffodils, elephant ears, foam flower, iris, lantana, marjoram, peony, purple coneflower, tarragon, toad lily and yarrow.
Annuals: annual periwinkle, baby’s breath, basil, California poppy, snapdragon and sweet pea.

“There is no such thing as a deer-resistant plant, and when deer populations are high and food becomes scarce, deer may feed on plants that are thought to be deer-tolerant,” Mengak said.

By April Reese Sorrow
University of Georgia

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Gassy vegetables could naturally fuel the produce industry

University of Georgia researcher Gary Hawkins looks at rotting fruits and vegetables differently than most people. Where they may see useless balls of moldy fuzz, he sees fuel.

As they break down, fruits and vegetables can be harvested for methane, or natural gas, he said. This gas can be used to heat greenhouses, shops or homes. It can also fuel electricity-producing generators or can be used to heat areas where vegetables need to be cured.

Giving fruit and vegetable growers and packing houses the ability to produce their own natural gas – both easily and affordably – is one of Hawkins’s goals. The other is to see waste put to good use.

“If we can get the process down, packers and producers should be able to make money off of it,” said Hawkins, a pollution prevention and alternative energy specialist with the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

He’s got plenty of produce to work with. In Georgia, fruit and vegetable growers harvested 390 million pounds of produce in 2007, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service. Up to 8 percent, or 31.2 million pounds, of that was discarded at packing houses.

And packing houses aren’t the only sources for produce. About half of the fruits and vegetables grown in Georgia each year are left in fields after the harvest ends.

Testing produce

Not all produce is created equal when it comes to methane-producing potential. On the vegetable side, onions have the highest energy density and have the potential to produce the most methane. On the fruit side, blueberries are the winners from those tested by Hawkins.
Georgians grew 13,839 acres of onions in 16 counties in 2007, according to the Georgia Farm Gate Value Report. They grew 10,664 acres of blueberries that same year.

The energy from the onions discarded by packing houses in Georgia each year is enough to provide electricity for 15 houses annually.

Despite their high standing as one of the top three vegetables in the world, tomatoes were a disappointment when it came to their fuel-producing potential. The energy from all the discarded tomatoes in Georgia each year would only power one house annually.

The process

Hawkins uses a process called anaerobic digestion to get fruits and vegetables to give up their fuel. Anaerobic digesters are containers that are void of oxygen and contain bacteria, kind of like large stomachs where fruits and vegetables decompose and methane forms.

Hawkins has to be careful how much produce he puts in the anaerobic digesters.

“We will kill it if we put too much in there,” he said. “A pH below 4.5 kills the system. The bacteria get obese, overeat and kill themselves.”

Anaerobic digesters have to be fed a steady stream of produce or the bacteria in them die. Changing the amount or kind of material fed to the digesters frequently can cause too much acid, and the increased acid level will kill the bacteria.

Besides researching fruits and vegetables, Sarahi Garcia, one of Hawkins’ graduate students, is working with CAES engineer K.C. Das and UGA microbiologist William B. Whitman to find better specific anaerobic bacterium. She is looking at bacteria found in cow rumen, the Okefenokee Swamp, ponds and botanical gardens.

“If she can isolate a better bacterium, we can start the digester doing what it’s supposed to be doing faster,” Hawkins said.

Smell control

“If a digester goes bad, it smells real bad,” he said.

A well-run digester has an odor, but it’s not overwhelming. And it’s definitely better than the smell of produce rotting in the field.

“Digesters are a good way to reduce odor around farms,” Hawkins said.

They’re also a good way to reduce rotten-produce runoff, which can pollute waterways if not cared for properly.

Eventual goals

Hawkins imagines a day when there’s the potential to have digesters in areas where produce fuel sources are plentiful. The sources may include high-density packing houses or a combination of packing houses and other organic waste like yard debris.

With culled fruits and vegetables flowing in all year, they’d have a steady stream to feed their anaerobic digesters – and a steady stream of heat and electricity to power their packing houses.

By Stephanie Schupska
University of Georgia

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UGA to host statewide agricultural forecast

Pending changes in food safety policy will make 2010 complex for agriculture. Anyone interested in the latest information about Georgia’s current agricultural and agribusiness price and profit prospects, pending U.S. farm and energy policies or food safety updates and policy changes should attend one of the five informative meetings planned across the state January 25-29.
The University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences will host its fourth annual Ag Forecast Breakfast Series 7:30 a.m. -10 a.m. Jan. 25 in Rome, Jan. 26 in Gainesville, Jan. 27 in Statesboro, Jan. 28 in Tifton and Jan. 29 in Macon. Participants will hear from farm and food safety experts and be able to ask them questions.

Registration is $40 per person and includes breakfast and a copy of the 2010 Ag Forecast publication. Reserve a table for eight for $300. Registration is required and closes Jan. 22. For more information and to register, visit the Web site www.GeorgiaAgForecast.com.

The series is sponsored by Georgia Farm Bureau.

University of Georgia

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Dry food to preserve the harvest

Preserving produce doesn’t have to happen over a hot stove or by finding more room in the freezer. It can be as simple as slicing it, laying the slices in a dehydrator and storing the dried pieces.

“Some of the advantages to drying food is it’s inexpensive, no cost other than a little electricity if you use a dehydrator and packaging to store it because you can sit it out at room temperature,” said Elizabeth Andress, a University of Georgia Cooperative Extension food safety specialist.

Dried food doesn’t have to be refrigerated because the moisture that would cause it to spoil has been pushed out.

Andress’s favorite foods to dry are apples, figs and pineapple. Last year, she experimented with drying Roma-type tomatoes, which she sliced and sprinkled with oregano.

“It smelled like a pizza kitchen when we were drying them,” she said. “They were great just eaten as is.”

It’s too humid in the Southeast to dry foods outside, Andress said. In other parts of the country, like California, people can lay their food out on a tray and place it in the sun.

From branch to shelf

Fruits are one of the easiest types of produce to dry. Unlike vegetables, which usually require blanching before they can be dried, fruits can be sliced and placed on a dehydrator.

But some fruits don’t work, like kiwi. “The slices ended up shrinking so much that it was just a mouthful of seeds,” she said.

To dry an apple or another fruit, follow these steps:

1. Choose good quality. If it’s moldy, mushy or browning, throw it out.

2. Wash the fruit, and slice it evenly. “The more even the width and sizes, the more even drying will be,” she said.

3. Place it on a tray in an electric dehydrator. If your oven can be programmed for low temperatures, you can use it. Set the dehydrator’s temperature at 140 F. Food dried at lower temperatures might never fully dry. At higher temperatures, it dries faster on the outside becoming hard but leaving the inside moist and likely to rot.

4. Wait a few hours and keep a close eye on the slices as they get nearer to the end of drying. Food close to being done will dry faster at the end than at the beginning.

5. Seal the finished pieces in freezer-weight plastic bag or in plastic storage boxes.

Follow the same steps with vegetables, except blanch them first. Blanching time depends on the vegetable. The only vegetables that don’t have to be blanched are onions, okra and peppers (all types).

“You might also want to use some pretreatments with light-colored fruits to prevent rapid browning,” Andress said.

Other foods that can be dried are meat jerky, seeds, herbs and greens like kale and collards. Foods can also be pureed and dried flat, much like Fruit Roll-Ups.

Health benefits

For people worried about preservatives, extra sugar or, in some cases, added oils, home-dried fruits and vegetables can be a healthier solution.

“One advantage to me of doing some of the fruits I like, like apples and pineapples, is sometimes commercially, they’ve added sugars and sugar coatings to them,” Andress said. ‘This way, you can just have them plain.”

As a diabetic, she says she still has to watch how much she eats. A whole dried apple has the same amount of sugar as a fresh apple; it just has a smaller volume.

It’s not just sugars that consumers have to consider. “Those hardened banana chips that you buy commercially often have some tropical oils in them, as well as sugar infused to give them that crispness,” she said. “Homemade bananas will be chewier, but you can get them in their natural forms without the additives.”

Using dried foods

Fruits can be mixed with nuts as a trail mix or eaten straight. So can homemade jerkies. Dried vegetables make a good starter for soup mix.

Drying “tends to be popular with people who do hiking and backpacking and kayaking and such,” Andress said. “A real advantage is the condensed volume, lighter weight and small storage space.”

For more information on drying food, visit www.homefoodpreservation.com.

By Stephanie Schupska
University of Georgia

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Tips for Dealing with the Wild Side of Fayette County This Fall

NF Note: Some tips from the HSUS as the wildlife in Fayette County becomes more visible this fall.

Autumn is here which means a wild feeding frenzy for wildlife in preparation for their long winter ahead. Deer, turkeys, squirrels, mice and raccoons are among the animals busy feasting on fallen acorns.

Laura Simon, field director of urban wildlife for The Humane Society of the United States explains, "These animals need to fatten up for winter, whether they are true hibernators like woodchucks or whether they merely hunker down and remain inactive during cold spells like raccoons. If wild animals do not go into winter in good condition, their chance of surviving times of minimal food and extreme cold lessen significantly. And, acorns are the hottest item in town! Even deer are leaving shrubs alone this time of year if they can get their acorn fix."

While this frenzy can sometimes mean frustration for homeowners, The HSUS has some tips for co-existing with the four most common human "side effects" of the season:

Problem 1: Holes in house siding

Woodpeckers drill mightily on house siding, looking for rotted wood and insects beneath. On cedar, this loud sound -- and resulting damage -- can be alarming.

Solution: Mylar

Attach silvery Mylar bird tape or balloons above where the drilling occurs, to scare the birds away.

Problem 2: Holes in the lawn

Squirrels are burying acorns and other nuts in the lawn.

Solution: Do nothing

Do nothing! These holes are merely cosmetic and do not hurt the lawn.

Problem 3: Garbage raids

Mammals like raccoons may tip garbage cans and skunks, opossums, crows and gulls may join in the feast.

Solution: Put garbage cans out in the morning of trash collection rather than leaving them out all night for nocturnal opportunists to tip. Use cans with secure lids to keep birds out or purchase an Animal Stopper™ garbage can which keeps the trash secure by holding the lid in place.

Problem 4: Porch visitors

People who feed pets outdoors are shocked by the appearance of opossums, skunks and others waiting for the free buffet.

Solution: Limit food

Feed your pets indoors only, or pick up and remove any uneaten food after 20 minutes of offering it outside.

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