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The Nebraska Hall of Agricultural new members are (from left) Tom Field, Tom Hoegemeyer, Loren Taylor, Wes Ullrich, Kelly Heath, David Briggs, Dave Nielsen, and Aaron Berger (not pictured). (Courtesy photo) Two UNL faculty members were among those recognized for their contributions to ag research at the 2024 Nebraska Hall of Agricultural Achievement.

Figure 1. Projected precipitation Friday night, May 3 into Saturday morning, May 4. With two more rounds of storms inbound, the latest forecast includes another two to three inches of precipitation for eastern Nebraska by early next week and the potential for another round of severe weather on Monday, May 6.

The intake and onboarding process is a critical factor for employee success in the ag industry. A strong onboarding process has been shown to increase employee productivity by more than 70% and employee retention by 82%. Nebraska Extension Agricultural Economist Shannon Sand highlights strategies and best practices of intake and onboarding to help farm and ranch managers implement systems that will foster open communication and employee retention.

Nebraska Extension Educator Amy Timmerman explains how stand assessments can help growers determine whether a winter cereal crop should be terminated this spring.

Nebraska 4-H, a program of Nebraska Extension, reaches one in three youths in the state. Nebraska Extension staff and programs rea at the forefront of establishing agricultural practices to help ag producers save money and resources. This article highlights some of extension's recent successes and impacts in Nebraska.

Ana Vélez, associate professor of entomology, directs multiple projects in her lab, researching new genetic tools to help combat the western corn rootworm, one of the world's most devastating crop pests. (Photo by Craig Chandler, University Communication and Marketing) Husker scientist Ana Maria Vélez is pioneering a genetic technology that increases larvae mortality to suppress western corn rootworm, which annually causes up to $2 billion in yield loss and control costs in the Corn Belt.

Attendees of the 2023 crop scout training course examine plants during one of the hands-on activities. (Nebraska Extension photo) The 2024 training course will review a wide variety of crop scouting concerns, such as drone scouting best practices, identifying nutrient deficiencies and insect damage in corn and soybean, and detecting weed seedlings.

Wednesday, May 1, 2024

Targeted livestock grazing is the application of grazing animals at a defined time, intensity, and duration for vegetation or landscape management objectives. When planned right, targeted grazing management can accomplish those objectives without negatively affecting livestock production. Understanding plant growth and livestock grazing preference is important to the success of targeted grazing.

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Wednesday, May 1, 2024 As May is upon us, many will be turning cattle out to pasture shortly or have done so already.  Cool-season grasses across the state have started to grow. Current moisture conditions will be a strong driver of cool-season grass growth. The month of April began drier for much of the state outside the panhandle but has been wet—very wet in some cases—for most of the state in the last two weeks. As such, a majority of locations in Nebraska are above average on precipitation for the water year, with much of the panhandle, Sandhills, and northeast sections coming in well above average.Spanish: 

In a new manuscript, UNL researchers outline the soil health cycle — a systematic approach to improving soil management practices that highlights the importance of soil health knowledge and beneficial policies for producers.

A healthy wheat field with a state variety trial in Furnas County in the southern part of west-central Nebraska on April 24. (Photos by Stephen Wegulo) Diseases observed in Nebraska wheat fields so far this growing season have been minimal, but producers should be on the lookout for stripe rust, as heavy infections are ongoing in southern states.

To receive 2024 weekly crop water use reports via text message, subscribe on the PHREC AgLab site.

Nebraska Extension Educator Gary Stone shares details about some of the new features that will enhance crop water use reports in 2024.

Historical crop progress data for Nebraska is available at USDA. Planting continues to push forward at a good pace in Nebraska, with corn, soybeans and oats still near average for this time of year, and sorghum getting its start as of the April 28 USDA NASS report

Army cutworm larva chewing on a blade of wheat. (CropWatch file photo) Extension educators review timelines for turnout to summer pastures, calculating returns on fertilizing cool-season pastures, and tips for scouting army cutworm in alfalfa fields.

Nebraska Extension Educator Amy Timmerman shares details on the FieldWatch platform, including the FieldCheck app, which can help producers and pesticide applicators protect pesticide-sensitive crops and insects by preventing drift.

Calculating net farm income is an important part of annual accounting tasks, as it provides the most accurate summary of the profitability and performance of your operation. Nebraska Extension Educator Glennis McClure explains the process of analyzing net farm income and earned net worth change for the year.

UNL Ag Law Specialist Dave Aiken breaks down the Nebraska climate action plan, focusing on what the plan proposes to do to reduce agricultural climate pollution emissions in Nebraska.

Nebraska On-Farm Research Network's 2023 Research Results book is now available online for free download. Studies in the 2023 Research Results book cover various topics, including crop production, fertility and soil management, non-traditional products, cover crops, crop protection and equipment.

Planting may be sidelined over the weekend in Nebraska as rainfall is expected to continue across the region through Sunday, April 28.

Figure 1. A wheat field in the southern Panhandle of Nebraska in April 2024. Though rare for semi-arid regions, Fusarium head blight was present in the Nebraska Panhandle's 2023 wheat crop, and its effects have already been observed in this year's crop. This article highlights control options to mitigate yield loss in 2024.