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Wednesday, January 20, 2021

The BeefWatch Webinar Series is designed to highlight management strategies in grazing, nutrition, reproduction, and economics to increase cow/calf and stocker production efficiency and profitability. Each session will feature industry experts and plenty of opportunity to interact to get your questions answered. More information about the BeefWatch Webinar Series can be found on our webpage: https://beef.unl.edu/beefwatch-webinar-series.

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Paxton, Nebraska resident Mark McConnell received the Greatest Yield and Most Profitable awards in the TAPS sprinkler corn division. The fourth annual Testing Ag Performance Solutions (TAPS) competition winners were announced during the Jan. 16 virtual ceremony.

Figure 1. Ammonia loss can be significant where the surface applied urea is not timely incorporated. Nutrient Management Specialist Javed Iqbal analyzes the use of fertilizer stabilizers to mitigate nitrogen fertilizer loss and increase productivity.

This year's Nebraska Innovative Youth Corn Challenge will feature new tasks designed to challenge participants with real-world scenarios of corn production practices and issues.

Cody Creech and Amanda Easterly at the HPAL office and research building. UNL celebrates 50 years of research and education at the High Plains Ag Lab in Nebraska's Panhandle.

Registration for 2021 4-H Summer Camp is now open! Check out the selection of 4 and 5 day overnight camps being offered at the Nebraska State 4-H Camp in Halsey. The Nebraska State 4-H Camp is located within the Nebraska National Forests and Grasslands which provides a beautiful place for all youth to discover, learn, and grow. Youth do not have to be a member of 4-H to attend a 4-H Summer Camp. 

Chartered bus transportation is available for select camps for an additional $70 fee. Pick-up and drop-off locations for bus transportation will be available from UNL East Campus in Lincoln and Raising Nebraska in Grand Island. Please note that transportation is dependant on the number of sign-ups and may be canceled if numbers are low. 

Register by January 31st to receive a 10% discount per session. Use the code EARLYBIRD21 at checkout.

Camp scholarships are also available. Scholarships cover $100 of the registration fee and must be awarded prior to registration. 

Summer Camp Schedule

In a recent Farm and Ranch Management article, Nebraska Extension Educator Jessica Groskopf reviews several ways for producers to reduce their liability, from choosing insurance to creating an LLC.

Beginning February, the Animal Manure Management team will use a combination of virtual and in-person sessions to complete land application training for 2021.

Extension Entomologist Julie Peterson speaking on insect management at a 2018 Crop Production Clinic. Several options are available for Western Nebraska residents who need to recertify their pesticide applicator licenses, or those who need to obtain certification for the first time.

Image Source: Stock Photos

“Mommy you do it … It’s too hard for me … I can’t do this … I don’t understand.” The struggle is real. I think it is safe to admit we all have had moments where it seems easier to ask someone else to do something or just give up rather than to keep trying. Raising children can be difficult, and the pressure is on us to help our children be the best they can be. Too often, we might find ourselves jumping in to help the child accomplish something even though (with a little effort) they may be able to do it themselves. You might be thinking that jumping in and rescuing your child works for you. For instance, opening up the granola bar wrapper is relatively easy for you — but might take quite a bit of effort from your child. The child might whine or become frustrated when they cannot immediately open the wrapper. In the long run, our children need to be able to persevere, to fail and try again, to be disappointed and to put in the hard work.

Caregiving Adults

We might need to step back for our children to move forward. Dr. Carol Dweck is a researcher at Stanford University. According to Dweck, there are two types of mindsets — a fixed mindset and a growth mindset. In a fixed mindset, people believe their qualities are fixed traits and, therefore, cannot change. These people document their intelligence and talents rather than working to develop and improve them. They also believe talent alone leads to success, and effort is not required. Alternatively, in a growth mindset, people have an underlying belief their learning and intelligence can grow with time and experience. When people believe they can get smarter, they realize their effort has an effect on their success, so they put in extra time, leading to higher achievement.

Mindsets

Dweck has found that mindsets can change, and when a mindset changes, learners do better. History shows us there are a lot of famous people who have displayed a growth mindset. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team but went on to become a famous professional basketball player. The Beatles were rejected by Decca Recording Studios who said, “We don’t like their sound; they have no future in show business,” yet they went on to become a very popular group. Oprah Winfrey was demoted from her job as news anchor because she “wasn’t fit for television” yet she hosted the longest-running talk show on television which ran for 25 years. Growth mindset is real and attainable.

Graphic by Nigel Holmes

Fostering Growth

So how do we foster a growth mindset in the children we care for?

• Consider the language you are using with children. Words have meaning and communicate an important message to the receiver. The language we use tells others what to believe and what we think of them. Example, instead of saying, “It’s not that hard;” say, “You can do hard things.”

• Explain to children our brains can learn and grow. For young children, try reading stories to them which focus on growth mindset. Examples include Your Fantastic Elastic Brain by JoAnn Deak, The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires, Listening With My Heart by Gabi Garcia and The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds.

• Have daily learning discussions. Encourage children to be their best each day, to put their heart into their work. Remind children it is okay to start their day over whenever they need to. Failure does not mean we are finished; instead, see it as an opportunity to begin again.

• Encourage and model positive self-talk. If you notice your child being critical of themselves, ask them what they would say to a friend who is in a similar situation. Explain to the child it is important to treat ourselves with the same care and respect we treat others. It is small, but when a child tells you something (they cannot tie their shoes), add “yet” to the end of their statement. “You cannot tie your shoes, yet.”

• Encourage risk, failing and learning from mistakes. Remind children disappointment, setbacks and making mistakes are a part of growing up. Focus on effort by saying, “I like how you tried a new way to solve that.”

Suggested Resources:

JACI fOGED, EXTENSION EDUCATOR | THE LEARNING CHILD

Peer Reviewed by Leanne Manning and Lynn DeVries, Extension Educators, The Learning Child

Make sure to follow The Learning Child on social media for more research-based early childhood education resources!

Leanne Manning

The TAPS Award Banquet has been shifted to a virtual announcement of the winners on social media this month, with an in-person event tentatively planned for March.

The Testing Ag Performance Solutions (TAPS) program is looking for participants for the 2021 competition as it tailors the upcoming season to accommodate new technologies, methods and practices in farm management.

The 2021 Soils School, set for Feb. 17-18, will provide research and Extension updates on the advanced application of the principles of soil management.

Friday, January 1, 2021 Spanish: 

Friday, January 1, 2021

This article was first published by In the Cattle Markets.

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Friday, January 1, 2021

A two-day workshop this February will provide hands-on learning for cow-calf producers to learn how to calculate unit cost of production (UCOP). The meeting will take place February 3 and 4 (Wednesday and Thursday) at the Niobrara Lodge, 803 E Highway 20, Valentine, NE, from 8:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. CST.

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Friday, January 1, 2021

When looking at annual cow costs and doing an economic analysis, three categories tend to make up the largest percentage of total costs:  feed, labor/equipment and cow depreciation.  Other expenses occur, such as breeding expense and veterinary costs, but they tend to be significantly less than the “Big Three.” To conduct an economic analysis, break the ranch into enterprises to understand where value is being created and costs are occurring. Land ownership, hay production, cow-calf and replacement heifer development are four of the major enterprises on many ranches.

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Friday, January 1, 2021

This article is a summary of the December 10, 2020 Cornhusker Economics article titled: “The Livestock Indemnity Program: A Case for Managing Risk with Good Recordkeeping.”

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Friday, January 1, 2021

For bulls coming out of the breeding season, body weight loss may have occurred, and we need to make sure that we get bulls back in condition before the next season. Also, with the weather starting to change, starting to think about how we are going to manage our breeding bulls through the winter to prepare them for the next breeding season will be important. This will be a good time to evaluate body condition and ensure that bulls have adequate protection from harsh weather.

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