Tifton, Georgia

Tifton is a city in Tift County, Georgia, United States. The population was 16,869 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Tift County.

The area's public schools are administered by the Tift County School District, including two high schools. Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College has its main campus in Tifton. Moultrie Technical College and the University of Georgia also have Tifton campuses.

Sites in the area include the Coastal Plain Research Arboretum, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, and the Georgia Museum of Agriculture & Historic Village. The Tifton Residential Historic District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Tifton Gazette is a daily paper published in Tifton. The Georgia Firebirds, defending champions of the NIFL, play in Tifton.

Geography

Tifton is located in south central Georgia along Interstate 75, which runs north to south through the city, leading north 167 mi (269 km) to Atlanta and south 45 mi (72 km) to Valdosta. Other highways that pass through the city include U.S. Route 41, U.S. Route 82, U.S. Route 319, and Georgia State Route 125.

Tifton (soil)

Tifton soil is the official state soil of the state of Georgia.

Profile

A typical Tifton soil profile consists of an 11 inches (280 mm) topsoil of dark grayish brown loamy sand. The subsoil extends to about 65 inches, strong brown fine sandy loam to 22 inches; yellowish brown sandy clay loam to 40 inches; yellowish brown mottled, sandy clay loam to 60 inches, and strong brown, mottled sandy clay to 65 inches. Two distinctive features of the Tifton soil profile are the presence of more than 5 percent ironstone nodules in the upper part of the soil and more than 5 percent plinthite in the lower part of the soil.

Tifton soils are on nearly level to gently sloping uplands of the Southern Coastal Plain. They formed in loamy sediments of marine origin. Tifton soils are among the most agriculturally important soils in the state. Twenty-seven percent of Georgia's prime farmland is on Tifton soils, more than twice as much as any other soil series. Cotton, peanuts, soybeans, and corn are the principal crops grown on these soils.

Tifton 85

Tifton 85 is a hybrid strain of Bermudagrass Cynodon dactylon, a forage perennial grass that originated in Africa and was brought to the United States as a pasture and hay crop for the humid Southern states. This variety was incorrectly reported by CBS News to be a genetically modified organism (GMO).

History

In the 1750s, several superior hybrid varieties were developed via cross-breeding. Tifton 85 is a conventionally bred hybrid essentially created by conventional cross pollination methods.

Tifton 85 was developed at the USDA Agricultural Research Station at Tifton, Georgia in 1992 by Dr. Glenn Burton. He developed Coastal Bermudagrass in 1943.

Poisoned cattle

Tifton 85, like some other grasses (e.g. sorghum), produces cyanide under certain conditions and has been implicated in livestock deaths due to a condition commonly known as 'bloat', or Prussic Acid Poisoning.

In June of 2012 15 head of cattle in Bastrop County, Texas (near Austin) died of Prussic acid poisoning related to the consumption of Tifton 85. Before this event the cattle had been fed this grass for 15 years with no toxicity issues.