A crowd gathers around the USDA NRCS live rainfall simulator which demonstrates the outcome of different soil health practices, led by Nathan Meuller, USDA NRCS state soil health specialist, at the WCREEC Water, Crops and Soil Health Field Day on Sept. 5. (Photo by Bijesh Maharjan)
The Nebraska Soil Health School successfully hosted its second annual series of programs across the state, educating over 600 stakeholders on region-specific soil health practices through collaboration, feedback integration, and targeted expert presentations.
Monday, September 23, 2024
Have you wanted to have more calves born earlier in your calving season, but did not want to deal with the increase in labor, cost and facilities to utilize estrus synchronization and artificial insemination? The protocol shown (Figure 1.) can increase the number of cows coming into estrus early in the breeding season, with one time through the chute, one injection, and breeding using only natural service.
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Monday, September 23, 2024
If your heifers are bangs tagged, those orange metal clips will soon be a relic of the past. Starting November 5, 2024, your veterinarian will not be tagging with metal clips, but instead will use electronic identification (EID) tags.
Veterinarians used metal clips to identify heifers receiving the brucellosis vaccine (“bangs”), and to identify animals moving between states.
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Monday, September 23, 2024
Establishing a fair rent for farm buildings and storage facilities involves multiple factors. There isn’t a universal formula, as conditions vary depending on building type, usage, and local market conditions. However, a comprehensive evaluation of both fixed and variable costs, as well as cash and non-cash expenses, is essential.Spanish:
Monday, September 23, 2024
Economic and financial risks on the ranch go hand in hand with other risks facing the operation.
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Farm families can use life insurance as part of estate and transition planning to ensure financial security and smooth business succession for future generations.
Life insurance can be a valuable tool in estate and transition planning for farm families, offering tax-free death benefits if structured properly. This article outlines the types of life insurance and their roles in debt coverage, estate equalization and income replacement.
In planting green scenarios, the timing of cover crop termination is critical for avoiding impacts to crop yield while maintaining optimal weed control.
One of the research team's goals in creating the Sustainability Index is to create a benchmark for sustainability practices that would enable producers to receive financial benefits for their efforts and discover new ways to improve their sustainability scores.
Elliott Dennis, associate professor of agricultural economics, highlights details about UNL's new Sustainability Index, which measures the sustainability practices currently used by producers to help protect the environment.
Setting accurate custom rates for harvesting operations is essential for balancing fuel, labor, and equipment costs to ensure profitability for producers.
The article discusses how to set custom rates for fall harvest operations in Nebraska, using the latest 2024 Custom Rates Survey data.
Properly timing the final alfalfa harvest using growing degree days (GDD) helps ensure winterization and prevent winterkill, allowing stands to thrive in the next growing season.
Insights on using growing degree days for alfalfa harvest to ensure winterization before dormancy, managing nitrite levels in annuals for foraging livestock, and sampling hay for a comprehensive quality test.
Thursday, September 19, 2024
Nebraska Beef Extension has planned several online learning opportunities that cover a variety of topics. Spanish:
After a cooldown and much-needed rain to usher in the first day of fall this weekend, a summer-like sizzle will return to Nebraska next week, likely bringing worsening drought with it.
Young prairie strips planted in between corn rows in Tama County, Iowa. (NRCS/SWCS photo)
Discover how implementing prairie strips through the CRP CP43 program can boost farm profitability while enhancing soil health, water quality and biodiversity at this event in Grant next week.
Overall, the 2024 corn yield forecast is 6% above the historical trend, with 46% of rainfed sites near average and 36% above average. Irrigated corn is also expected to be near average for most sites.
In this Session, participants had the opportunity to explore leadership beyond community boundaries. Together the participants and hosting educators explored how regional partnerships can be linked and leveraged to support growing community leadership capacities. Watch the recording to learn more about how regional partnerships are a focus of Rural Prosperity Nebraska.
Hops have emerged as a minor specialty crop in Nebraska, a result of rising demand of locally sourced ingredients grown in unique and local environments by the craft beer industry.
Managing weeds in a hop yard is complex, given the diversity of annual and perennial weeds, limited herbicide options and labor-intensive mechanical control methods. This herbicide guide discusses best weed management practices and the herbicides suitable for hops in Nebraska.
Millet growing in the Panhandle of Nebraska. (Photo by Chabella Guzman)
In the final crop water use report for 2024, Extension Educator Gary Stone shares harvest progress and an update on irrigation water deliveries for the Panhandle.
Historical crop progress data for Nebraska is available at USDA.
Nebraska farmers have begun harvesting all spring-planted crops as of this week, with soybean and sorghum harvest officially underway.
Friday, September 16, 2022
Hay production has been reported to be 50% of average or less in many areas of Nebraska. The U.S. hay supply is at a 50-year low (Table 1). Couple this information with rising costs (Figure 1) and it becomes prudent to plan fall, winter, and next spring’s hay needs sooner rather than later. Inventory your feed and hay resources now to know what you need. Checking prices and availability now will go a long way to reducing the anxiety of what we will feed our cows this fall and winter.
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Monday, September 16, 2024
Net wrap is an efficient forage binding method and significantly reduces harvest and storage losses compared to twine. According to a forage binding survey conducted by South Dakota State University (SDSU), net wrap was the most preferred method of forage binding (67%) compared to twine (26%) or both (6%) depending on the crop harvested or livestock being fed. Spanish: