EDIS Update

Interactive Urban Irrigation Tool for Florida (AE485)

April 10th, 2012
Topic(s):Lawn & Garden, Turf / Sod

A team from UF/IFAS has developed an app for optimizing your home irrigation system using real-time weather data from the Florida Automated Weather Network (FAWN). Learn more in this 5-page fact sheet written by K.W. Migliaccio, N.A. Dobbs, W.R. Lusher, J. Fan, M.D. Dukes, K.T. Morgan, and B. Ferraro, and published by the UF Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, March 2012.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ae485

Irrigation Scheduling for Tropical Fruit Groves in South Florida (TR001)

March 1st, 2012
Topic(s):Crops

Irrigation scheduling can be accomplished using different tools, each with its benefits and weaknesses. It is critical to use each tool as it is intended to ensure tropical fruit trees have the irrigation water they need. This 6-page fact sheet was written by K. W. Migliaccio and Y. C. Li, and published by the UF Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, February 2012.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/tr001

What is a Water Footprint?: An Overview and Applications in Agriculture (AE484)

March 1st, 2012
Topic(s):Crops, Water

Agriculture is by far the largest global consumer of freshwater. Comparing water footprints of different management practices in agriculture can help evaluate drought tolerance, water use efficiency, the effective use of rainfall, and the significance of irrigation. Scientists are thinking about ways to adapt agricultural systems to a changing climate, especially precipitation changes, so the water footprint is a useful measure to compare resilience of agricultural systems to droughts and dry spells. This 11-page fact sheet was written by Daniel R. Dourte and Clyde W. Fraisse, and published by the UF Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, January 2012.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ae484

Bio-based Products from Biomass (AE483)

October 20th, 2011
Topic(s):Crops, Sustainable Living

Biomass is renewable biological materials, such as trees, plants, grasses, vegetables, algae, food wastes, animal manures, and other organic wastes. Like fossil fuels, biomass can produce a wide selection of bio-based by-products while producing renewable energy. Learn more in this 5-page fact sheet written by Zhaohui Tong, Letian Wang, and Clay B. Olson, and published by the UF Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, September 2011.(AP photo/University of Florida/IFAS/Thomas Wright)
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ae483

Accounting for the Nutrients in Reclaimed Water for Landscape Irrigation (AE479)

August 29th, 2011
Topic(s):Lawn & Garden, Water

This 8-page fact sheet presents basic information for those using reclaimed water to irrigate lawns and landscapes. The information can serve as a guide to determine whether there is an opportunity to replace some of the fertilizer that might otherwise be applied and to offer guidance on avoiding runoff and leaching of excess nutrients. Written by Christopher J. Martinez, Mark W. Clark, Gurpal S. Toor, George J. Hochmuth, and Lawrence R. Parsons, and published by the UF Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, August 2011. (UF/IFAS photo by Marisol Amador)
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ae479

Net Irrigation Requirements for Florida Turfgrass Lawns, Part 1: Report of Gathered Weather Data and Quality Check (AE480)

August 22nd, 2011
Topic(s):Lawn & Garden, Water

Urban water users need specific recommendations to irrigate efficiently and for planning and regulatory programs.The first step in the process of estimating net irrigation requirements is to check the quality of 30 years of weather data at ten different locations in Florida and one in Alabama. This 9-page fact sheet was written by Consuelo C. Romero and Michael D. Dukes, and published by the UF Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, August 2011. (AP photo by Milt Putnam, University of Florida/IFAS)
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ae480

Net Irrigation Requirements for Florida Turfgrass Lawns, Part 2: Reference Evapotranspiration Calculation (AE481)

August 22nd, 2011
Topic(s):Lawn & Garden, Water

Urban water users need specific recommendations to irrigate efficiently and for planning and regulatory programs. As the second step in the process of estimating net irrigation requirements, This 9-page fact sheet calculates reference ET for ten locations in Florida and one in Alabama. Written by Consuelo C. Romero and Michael D. Dukes, and published by the UF Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, August 2011. (Image from ca.gov)
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ae481

Net Irrigation Requirements for Florida Turfgrass Lawns, Part 3: Theoretical Irrigation Requirements (AE482)

August 22nd, 2011
Topic(s):Lawn & Garden, Water

Urban water users need specific recommendations to irrigate efficiently and for planning and regulatory programs. This 21-page fact sheet estimates net irrigation, effective rainfall, and drainage by using a water balance equation for ten locations in Florida and one in Alabama from data during the 30-year period of 1980-2009. Written by Consuelo C. Romero and Michael D. Dukes, and published by the UF Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, August 2011. (UF/IFAS Photo: Josh Wickham)
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ae482

Application of Auto-steering Technology for Tree Planting (AE475)

April 25th, 2011
Topic(s):Citrus

Setting up new orchards or planting new trees on existing beds is one of those orchard operations that have not yet been fully mechanized. Auto-steering technology can be used in conjunction with a tree planting unit to mechanize this operation and reduce tree planting costs. Learn more in this 5-page fact sheet was written by Reza Ehsani and Esa Ontermaa, and published by the UF Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering,March 2011.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ae475

Citrus BMP Implementation in Florida's Gulf Citrus Production Area: Pesticides (AE473)

March 10th, 2011
Topic(s):Citrus

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

Drought Decision-Support Tools: Introducing the Agricultural Reference Index for Drought — ARID (AE469)

March 9th, 2011
Topic(s):Agriculture, Water

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

Drought Decision-Support Tools: Introducing the Lawn and Garden Moisture Index — LGMI (AE470)

March 9th, 2011
Topic(s):Lawn & Garden, Water

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)

March 9th, 2011
Topic(s):Agriculture, Forest Resources, Water

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

Sustainability of Agriculture in Miami-Dade County: Considering Water Supply (ABE380/AE429)

March 9th, 2011
Topic(s):Agriculture, Agriculture

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)

February 24th, 2011
Topic(s):Lawn & Garden

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)

January 26th, 2011
Topic(s):Water

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

December 9th, 2010
Topic(s):Livestock

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

October 20th, 2010
Topic(s):Citrus, Crops, Small Farms

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

September 8th, 2010
Topic(s):Agriculture, Spanish Language

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

September 7th, 2010
Topic(s):Ecosystems & Species, Forest Resources, Spanish Language

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

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