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USDA Announces Grants and Technical Assistance Funding for Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is providing a total of $14.4 million in grants and technical assistance through two separately funded projects to support urban agriculture and innovative production. USDA’s Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production (OUAIP) is making available $2.5 million for Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production (UAIP) grants, building on $53.7 million invested in UAIP grant projects by OUAIP since 2020. In addition, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), which oversees OUAIP, is providing $11.9 million in funding through an interagency agreement with the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) to promote the hiring of Urban Agriculture Conservation Extension Educators through the Cooperative Extension programs at Land-grant Universities.
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Precision agriculture new frontier: Crop digital twins
Crop farmers in South Texas are witnessing the future of agriculture unfold with the advent of digital-twin technology. Spearheaded by Texas A&M AgriLife Research, this cutting-edge approach combines remote sensing, big data and artificial intelligence to simulate and predict real-world crop production scenarios. Juan Landivar, Ph.D., director of the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Corpus Christi, leads a multidisciplinary team of experts, including agronomists, computer engineers, electrical engineers and civil engineers.
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Private water well screenings set for Jan. 17-18 in Goliad
The Texas Well Owner Network, TWON, is hosting an upcoming event in Goliad Jan. 17-18 to allow residents to have their well water screened. Water samples will be screened for contaminants, including total coliform bacteria, E. coli, nitrate-nitrogen and salinity. “The TWON program was established to help well owners become familiar with Texas groundwater resources, septic system maintenance, well maintenance and construction, and water quality and treatment,” said Joel Pigg, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service program specialist, Bryan-College Station.
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Feral hogs terrorizing Texas town, infuriating locals
A passel of feral hogs has been terrorizing the city of Irving, Texas, frustrating residents as their properties are destroyed by the invasive animals. As many as 10 hogs have been tearing up yards and rooting through trash left for garbage collectors, according to WFAA. Locals have become frustrated after they repair their yards dug up by the hogs, just for the animals to return to wreak havoc again. "A couple of weeks back, I started seeing some diggings on the ground," homeowner Eric Mendez told WFAA, noting that he set up a camera on a tree to capture the culprit.
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