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Partnering with Nebraska On-Farm Research Network, North Platte farmer Cameron Kolling is conducting research this year on interseeding a variety of cover crops in corn.

Soy2023, the Biennial Cellular and Molecular Biology of the Soybean Conference, was held Aug. 10-13 at the Embassy Suites by Hilton in Lincoln, Nebraska. Over 160 scientists from national and international public and private sector institutions gathered to exchange ideas and research outcomes, and to share this information with soybean growers for improved production practices.

The University of Nebraska–Lincoln team working on the MICRA project includes (from left) Taro Mieno, agricultural economics; Daniel Schachtman, agronomy and horticulture; Saleh Taghvaeian, biological systems engineering; and Seunghee Kim, civil engineering. (Photo by Nick Kumpula, Research and Economic Development) The research team will experiment with soil amendments and biochar to measure their impact on soil water-holding capacity to find ways to improve preservation of soil moisture in farm fields.

Historical potato production reports for Nebraska are available at USDA. Nebraska's potato production in 2022 was up 4% from the previous year, and acreage also increased by 5%.

When it comes to stalks residue, grain sorghum stover will retain nutrient grazing value longer than corn, so prioritize grazing corn residue first to achieve optimum nutrition. Extension educators review important factors to consider when entering a land lease agreement, overgrazing pastures in preparation for interseeding legumes, and using drought-stressed crop residue as a feed source.

In the final week of this series, let’s look at “change” as the central piece that brings everything together and gives meaning and purpose to the rest of the C’s.

Change is often the primary goal of leadership—to make the world (or at least your little corner of it) a better place. What usually sparks change is the feeling that something needs to be done, that things aren’t working as well as they should by just following what we’ve done in the past.

The Soil Health Exchange is a new discussion forum, designed to give producers and ag stakeholders an avenue for direct communication with some of Nebraska's leading soil health experts for help with their soil health concerns, interpreting test reports and more. The Soil Health Exchange is a new discussion forum designed to give producers and ag stakeholders an avenue for direct communication with some of Nebraska's leading soil health experts for help with soil health concerns, interpreting test reports and more.

Sunday, October 1, 2023

Cattle prices have responded to lower cattle inventory.  If you are keeping up with cattle production news media, nearly every week, someone declares how much feeder calf prices have increased since last year.  Sales of 500- to 600-cwt feeder calves are getting close to $300/cwt.  Expecting a gross revenue of $1,600 or more for feeder steer calves this fall is not out of the question.  Yet, with increasing costs of maintaining a cow, some cow-calf producers may wonder:  to increase revenue in 2023, is it worth it to retain calves for feeding during a backgrounding o

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Sunday, October 1, 2023

As we near the feedlot fall run, and cattle are newly received into the feedlot, there are key considerations to keep in mind to achieve best cattle performance. The goal of a receiving strategy is to make the transition from calf origin into the feedlot or backgrounding yard as seamless as possible. The first 14 days upon feedlot arrival are critical in calf development and set the performance trajectory of the calf for the remainder of the feeding period. The main goal at receiving is to help with any bovine respiratory disease (BRD) concerns and improve upon the health of the calf.

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Sunday, October 1, 2023

Grain production regions allow cattle producers to harvest grain crops as grain (dry or high moisture) or green chop to be preserved as silage for cattle feeding (feed crop).  Corn grain production is particularly well suited for this purpose.  Harvesting the ears and shank (earlage) or husk, grain, cob, and shank (snaplage) represent options intermediate to harvesting grain or chopping the whole plant. 

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Sunday, October 1, 2023

Stockmanship and low-stress cattle handling is a topic that receives a lot of attention. Even the latest report of the National Beef Quality Audit (2022) identifies cattle handling as an area for “focused improvement,” due in part to the persistence of bruising.

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Historical crop progress data for Nebraska is available at USDA. Harvest of Nebraska crops was ahead of average pace as of Sept. 24, with the exception of dry edible beans, which remained slightly behind last year's progress.

Sunday, October 1, 2023

Treating cattle for lice when it’s convenient—usually during preconditioning and preg-checking—isn’t necessarily the most effective approach.

While late summer and early fall endectocide (drugs that kill both internal and external parasitic insects) treatment may work on most internal parasites and horn flies, lice may escape.

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Sunday, October 1, 2023

Grazing corn residue is common practice in the Midwest and a quality resource for cattle producers to utilize.  While the forages available can provide the necessary nutritional requirements, there are a few health conditions that need to be planned for prior to turn out.

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Sunday, October 1, 2023

Fall weaning and transportation can be a high-stress period for calves that may be transitioning from one operation to another. As animal care providers, it’s our job to take that into consideration and do all we can to reduce the stress load on these animals.

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Nutrition Software Used: ESHA Food Processor

Ingredients:

• 4 large bell peppers, scrubbed with clean vegetable brush under running water
• ½ pound fresh pork sausage
• 2 cups cooked brown rice
• 1 cup canned corn, drained
• 1 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup salsa
• ½ teaspoon chili powder
• ½ teaspoon cumin
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 cup reduced-fat Cheddar cheese, shredded
• ½ cup cilantro, gently rubbed under cold running water, chopped (optional)

Directions:

1. Wash hands with soap and water.
2. Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray.
3. Cut bell peppers in half and remove core, membrane and seeds. Place on prepared baking sheet and set aside.
4. In a large skillet, brown sausage until the internal temperature reaches 160°F when measured with a food thermometer. Drain fat and turn off heat.
5. Add cooked rice, corn, beans, salsa, spices and ½ cup of cheese. Stir well.
6. Evenly distribute meat mixture into the bell pepper halves. Top with the other ½ cup of cheese.
7. Bake for 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and peppers are hot and softened. Sprinkle with cilantro, if desired, and serve.
8. Store leftovers in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to four days.

Category:  Main Dishes Yield: 8 servings Calories: 250Total Fat: 9Saturated Fat: 3.5Potassium: 10Total Sugars: 5Iron: 10Vitamin D: 0Calcium: 15Protein: 15Fiber: 5Added Sugars: 0Total Carbohydrates: 27Sodium: 580Cholesterol: 30Photo by Marusa Jonas

Nutrition Software Used: ESHA Food Processor

Ingredients:

• 1 pound fresh pork sausage
• 1 onion, scrubbed with clean vegetable brush under running water, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 5 cups low sodium chicken or vegetable broth
• 5 medium red potatoes (about 1 pound), scrubbed with clean vegetable brush under running water, sliced
• 2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning
• 3 cups kale leaves, gently rubbed under cold running water, stems removed and chopped
• 1 cup low-fat milk
• ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Wash hands with soap and water.
2. Using the sauté function on your multi-cooker. Add sausage to the pot and cook stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes, until browned. Remove from the pot and set aside.
3. Wash hands after handling uncooked meat.
4. Add chopped onion to the pot and cook stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes until softened. Add garlic, stir and cook for 1 minute.
5. Pour in the broth and stir well, scraping the bottom to deglaze the pot. Add sausage, potatoes and Italian seasoning and stir.
6. Place lid on multi-cooker and lock according to manufacturer’s instructions. Make sure the valve is set to sealing position.
7. Cook on high pressure for 5 minutes followed by a 10-minute natural release, then a quick release. Once pin drops, remove lid.
8. Add chopped kale and stir. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes to soften the kale.
9. Stir in milk. Season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes, if desired.
10. Store leftovers in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to four days.

Category:  Main Dishes Soups Category Description: 

Try a few of our favorite soup recipes!

Yield: 10 servings Serving Size: About 1 cupCalories: 260Total Fat: 13Saturated Fat: 4.5Potassium: 15Total Sugars: 3Iron: 6Vitamin D: 6Calcium: 4Protein: 14Fiber: 2Added Sugars: 0Total Carbohydrates: 22Sodium: 420Cholesterol: 40Photo by Marusa Jonas

Nutrition Software Used: ESHA Food ProcessorNotes: 

*Try this Quick Pickled Daikon Radish and Carrots recipe. 

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground pork
• ¼ cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 Tablespoon corn starch
• ½ teaspoon ginger powder
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder 
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• ½ cup low-fat sour cream
• 1-2 teaspoons Sriracha sauce
• 3 cups cooked brown rice
• 1 cup cucumber, scrubbed with clean vegetable brush under running water, sliced
• 1 cup carrot, scrubbed with clean vegetable brush under running water, peeled and shredded
• 1 jalapeno pepper (optional), scrubbed with clean vegetable brush under running water, sliced
• ½ cup cilantro, gently rubbed under cold running water, chopped
• 1 cup pickled vegetables or kimchi (optional)*

Directions:

1. Wash hands with soap and water.
2. In a large skillet, brown ground pork until internal temperature reaches 160°F when measured with a food thermometer. Drain fat.
3. In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, corn starch, ginger powder, garlic powder and sugar. Add to cooked meat and mix well. Cook for 1 minute or until the meat is coated and the sauce has thickened.
4. Divide rice into 6 bowls. Top with meat, cucumber, carrot, jalapeno and cilantro. Add pickled vegetables, such as pickled daikon radish, carrots or kimchi, if desired. Drizzle with spicy sour cream and enjoy!
5. Store leftovers in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to four days.

Category:  Main Dishes Yield: 6 servings Calories: 330Total Fat: 10Saturated Fat: 2.5Potassium: 10Total Sugars: 4Iron: 10Vitamin D: 0Calcium: 6Protein: 29Fiber: 3Added Sugars: 1Total Carbohydrates: 33Cholesterol: 60Photo by Marusa Jonas

Sunday, October 1, 2023

This article was originally featured in Progressive Cattle and is a summary of the 2023 Nebraska Beef Cattle Report, Timing of Implant Use in the Backgrounding System.

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Sunday, October 1, 2023

The trend in cattle prices over the last year has been dramatically toward the upside. Prices have risen higher and faster than many market analysts thought possible for 2023. These changes in market value are having an impact on beef cow share and cash lease agreements in determining what is “fair” to both cow owners and those who are leasing the cows.

For a cow owner, the following are the four major drivers that determine what is "fair" in terms of a cash lease or percentage of the calf crop the cow owner should receive. Those factors are:

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