All Climate Events

Friday, February 19, 2021. 12:00 PM. Webinar: Using the CSF Growing Degree Day Calculator for Cropping Decisions. Kitty O’Neil and Brian Belcher, Cornell University. Sponsored by The Cornell Climate Smart Farming Program. More information here.

The Cornell Climate Smart Farming Growing Degree Day (GDD) calculator calculates heat accumulation to predict crop plant, pest and pathogen development for any field selected from a map. This CSF tool provides heat accumulation for the current season, as well as historical average and extreme accumulations calculated from over 40 years of high-resolution temperature data. First and last freeze dates from the past 15 years are also provided for reference. Flexible starting dates, base temperatures and target thresholds allow for use of this tool in a wide variety of applications.

The CSF GDD Calculator tool may be used by growers, crop consultants and other ag professionals to time crop management operations or to predict pest or pathogen pressures. The combination of GDD accumulation and frost dates permits a visual analysis of current average season length for crop species and variety selections. This webinar will provide an in- depth look into the inner workings of the tool and how some Extension specialists and farmers are using the tool to make decisions to optimize varieties, yields, and optimize labor costs.